Shifter on Raleigh Twenty
07-14-06, 08:18 PM
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Shifter on Raleigh Twenty
Fixing up a raleigh twenty that I found on the street (mostly workable, too!) and I've got it up and running but I'm having problems with the shifter. Since I've read about how reliable the hubs are, and how hard they are to fix I'm ignoring that as a source of my problem. In any case, here's the prob:
Third gear works fine, but when I shift it into second its very loose. At the point on the lever where second gear "feels" like it should be, it shifts into second but occaisonally the pedals will just come loose, basically, and not turn the wheel. Pushing it down a bit farther, into what feels like first has it stay in second, but become very reliable. Shifting into first is nearly impossible, but if I hold down the lever real hard I can get it to be there temporarily but it won't stay when I release the lever.
One more detail: When I roll the bike back and forth, the pedals move too. I vaguely remember reading that this was a sign of too tight a chain?
Third gear works fine, but when I shift it into second its very loose. At the point on the lever where second gear "feels" like it should be, it shifts into second but occaisonally the pedals will just come loose, basically, and not turn the wheel. Pushing it down a bit farther, into what feels like first has it stay in second, but become very reliable. Shifting into first is nearly impossible, but if I hold down the lever real hard I can get it to be there temporarily but it won't stay when I release the lever.
One more detail: When I roll the bike back and forth, the pedals move too. I vaguely remember reading that this was a sign of too tight a chain?
07-14-06, 08:53 PM
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You need to adjust the tension on the shifter cable. Tighten it a turn at a time until it will stay in first without you pressing it further than the clickstop. Second will probably magically appear with a little further fiddling.
07-15-06, 10:48 AM
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About 3/4 of the way down this page, Sheldon Brown explains in more detail how to adjust the Sturmey 3 speed hub. Essentially, you should be in first gear to do the adjusting:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer.html
good luck! When they are adjusted right, they are really good
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer.html
good luck! When they are adjusted right, they are really good
07-31-06, 12:32 PM
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One more detail: When I roll the bike back and forth, the pedals move too. I vaguely remember reading that this was a sign of too tight a chain?
Could be that the axle bearings are too tight. There should be just perceptible play at the wheel rim.
Could be that the axle bearings are too tight. There should be just perceptible play at the wheel rim.
07-31-06, 07:29 PM
#5
Raleigh20 PugFixie, Merc
it's possible. Luckily the Twenty was designed for hub gears so you should be able to slacken the nuts (not sure what you meant about bearings) and move the wheel along the near-horizontal dropouts a millimetre or two to allow a greater amount of slack in the chain. With vertical dropouts this wouldn't be possible.
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My Raleigh Twenty site | foldr : A flickr pool | #6460, #5632 & #3407 on the fixedgeargallery
My Raleigh Twenty site | foldr : A flickr pool | #6460, #5632 & #3407 on the fixedgeargallery
