Originally Posted by
supton
Well, I took apart the AW hub a bit, mostly just so I could get to the bearings. Very dry, with varnish too. I wasn't able to clean out much of the junk, but I did lube it pretty well with 10W40. Odds are, it won't gather many miles before being taken apart again.
I did what I could on the spokes, and the rims are so-so for trueness. It does have the John Bull front brake pads, something else rear, and the brakes sorta work. Big mattress saddle. What I can't get over is the gearing--I think first is a nice cruising gear! I knew that going in, but had to ride it across the yard to see just how high geared it was. That, and I have to be careful with turning--very easy to clip a knee on the handlebars.
The pawls are a bit funny, it seems to take a quarter of a turn of the crank for it to "catch". And it certainly won't shift under any amount of power--really have to let off and then it will shift. Could be just lack of oil; I did try to add some when I had it apart.
Fun stuff. Bike is not as heavy as I though it would be, 27-29lb (old analog bathroom scale). Granted, that's minus chainguard and fenders, but less than I thought it would be.
The WD-40 didn't do much good except, perhaps, to help loosen up some of the oil varnish. I would soak the whold thing in solvent. I admit that what I do is remove the face and pour gasoline into the hub (or whatever is the lowest cost solvent at the time). Of course, you have to allow the solvent to completely dry before re-lubricating. Then, add a thin coat of grease to the bearings and very light oil to the internals of the hub. I use Phil Woods oil for SA hubs.
Let me know what you need for parts. I have a lot of parts, including seat posts. I have fenders too, but I don't think I have any British fenders left. I should have some other fenders you can paint black.