Originally Posted by
Mos6502
Rack, bell, block generator. 20T cog on the rear (48T in front) so the normal gear is a little low, but low gear is now low enough for going up hills. Next upgrade will be the biggest thing which is to fit some alloy wheels.
That is a really sharp looking bike... just switched to a 48:20 on my old 3 speed to give me a better all round gearing as upping the wheel size to 700:35 increased the gearing to where 3rd was only good for descending.
Our gearing is almost identical, yours is approx 49/65/87.
It is always a bit of a compromise with 3 speeds but these old bikes tended to be geared rather high and designed for lower cadence pedaling... if you can spin along at 90 rpm that bike will cruise along at a nice 23 mph.
CR18 rims are probably the best choice out there for vintage rebuilds... they are better than most rims that cost twice as much and look like they belong.