3 speed conversion
 

I am new to cycling and bicycle mechanics but i am eager to learn. I currently have a late 70s Puch Cavette (road bike) i purchased used for $180 a few months back. I took it to another bike shop in the area and the guy there said it was like $500 brand new back in the 70s. It has a bunch of modifications on it like different gearing (not sure what. The guy said a home mechanic had his way with it before selling it but it was good work.), two sets of brake levers and a rear rack. Currently it is a 10 speed bike but i do not need all 10 speeds and would like to get rid of some. I know i am not ready for a fixed gear yet, even though some of my friends have them and they look cool and ride rather nicely but my muscles are not up to the challenge just yet for longer rides which i regularly do.

What do i need to convert it to maybe a three speed like those old English bicycles? I just need one gear to go fast on the roads, one for moderate speed on campus where pedestrians are around and the last speed for going up hills, many of which would be steep. I don't know what gear ratios or the numbers i would need for this. Again i am new to mechanics and have not done much work on the bicycle so i figured just jumping in and getting my hands dirty right away would be great for me, especially now over the summer when i have extra time. Also any recommendations for a good book for general road bike maintenance and stuff so i can do basic repairs at home?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

If you plan to do a fixed conversion, don't make the bike a threespeed. Just wait until you have ridden for a while and built your strength up(Not really that big a deal as long as you get the gearing right) then do the fix conversion.

If you really want a threespeed, for what it might end up costing(Unless you luck into a wheel that fits you are going to need to have one built), you will probably want to leave it that way.

You might also find that after riding it for a while you are happy with it like it is.

It will be a bunch of work to turn it into a 3 speed. But if you like tinkering, go for it. I suspect you will find that you don't like the 3 speeds a 3 speed gives you. They're pretty close together. You'd need to change the cog and possibly your chainring to get it to work right.

Pick up a cheap used 3-speed wheel and see if it fits in your frame.
If it does, then make sure your brakes can reach the rim.
After that, change the front chainring 'cause your Puch uses a "derailleur chain" while your 3-speed hub uses a standard single-speed chain.

Another thought: maybe pick up an old 3-speed at a yard sale or craigslist....

The two primary challenges that you will face in converting your bike to a three speed are: 1) finding or building a wheel with a three speed hub and 2) figuring out what gear ratios you want to use.

The most common three speed hub used on “those old English bicycles” that you refer to is the Sturmey-Archer AW. Millions of these were made so they are very easy to find and they are also very durable so even if you get one that’s 30 or 40 years old, chances are that it will still work just fine (I use one that’s 60 years old and have no problems with it). The challenge is that most of these hubs were attached to 26” wheels and your bike, most likely, has 27” wheels, so finding one attached to a wheel that will work with your bike could take a while. The alternative would be to buy a hub separately (easily done) and build a wheel or have one built. You could use the rim from the wheel that’s currently on the bike but I would suggest finding another one to use. That way, should you ever decide to switch back to ten speeds, it will be more easily accomplished. In addition, your bike won’t be out of commission while the wheel is being built. Other than the wheel, you’ll just need a shift trigger, cable w/hardware, fulcrum clip and pulley. If you refer to the websites of Sheldon Brown or Tony Hadland you should be able to find answers to any questions you may have about operating and maintaining a three speed (as well as lot of other information about bike maintenance).

With regard to gearing, typically AW hubs came with an 18T sprocket and were used with a 46T chainring. If you do end up with an 18T sprocket, you’ll probably want to change it. There are a number of reasons. First of all, your chainring is probably not a 46T and even if it is, most people find the 46 / 18 gearing to be too high. In addition, using this combination with 27” wheels instead of 26” wheels make the gearing higher still. I would suggest that you find the gear on your ten-speed that you consider to be the best all around gear and then go to a gear calculator (there’s one on Sheldon Brown’s website) and see what combination that converts to on the AW.

Another thing that you need to consider if you buy an AW hub separately is that they were sold with different numbers of spoke holes. For many years English bikes used 40 hole rear hubs while American bikes used 36. I believe that three speed stingrays used 28 hole hubs and Moultons (and some other small wheeled bikes) may have used even fewer holes. All this is a long winded way of saying that you need to be sure that the hub you get has the same number of spoke holes as the rim. Here in America, you’re most likely to find a 36 hole hub which is fine because it’s pretty easy to find a 36 hole rim to go with it.

Good luck with your project.

Regards,
Alan

I think you've got a very good idea. In fact I'm in the process of converting a '59 Carlton to a 3 speed right now. It's a single speed for now, while I collect the parts for the conversion.

http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/66...500x500Q85.jpgIt's going to be expensive, but I like the bike. It can be done more cheaply by using less expensive parts than I'm using.

You don't need to change your chainring. there's no problem with running a 1/8" chain on a 3/32" ring.
You can also change the cog on your hub and run a 3/32" chain.

You can buy 3 speed wheelsets with 700c rims online at places like NYC Bikes.

I've never heard anyone complain the three speed gears are too close before.

You might want to consider converting your bike to a single speed. It can be done very cheaply using the wheels you've got. They're not as cool as fixies, but you can coast down hills.

Beautiful bike, Dirtdrop-

Thank you! That means a lot.

I've got a long way to go on it, but I coudn't resist putting it together as a single speed so I could try it out and take some pictures. It rides really nice with those fat tubulars, but they're not very practical. It's going to have one of the new aluminum SA hubs, but with a vintage shifter and other hardware.

I changed the picture to one I like better.

It isn't a comment I've come across before either.

Great bike, Dirtdrop.

I have a similar vintage Viking that I'm thinking about using an FW on. The original rims are in pretty bad shape and the FW (laced to a 700c) is left over from another experiment. It would be a pretty easy conversion as it's a five speed and I think I can use the derailleur cable routing for the FW.

What's the pump on yours? The Viking has the same type of top tube braze-ons and I haven't found a pump that I thought would work.

Regards,
Alan

Have I got a deal for you! I looked everywhere until I found this:
http://www.xxcycle.com/lapize,,en.php
$3.15!!!
I paid about $18 for two with rush shipping. I got them in a week.

I'm glad I got two. The aluminum is very thin and easily dented.

They've also got great prices on things like Stronglight headsets.

Thanks for letting me know about this. Looks like a great deal.

Regards,
Alan

dirtdrop that is a pretty bike(Make it fixed, come on)

Threespeeds are usually on the wideside altho there are some close ones out there. Most "English" three speeds start with a pretty tall first, but that can be got around with the proper chainring.

Why not ride it for awhile like it is? To be honest, not everybody is going to use all the gears they have on hand anyways...BUT you will appreciate them being there when or if you need them. Since you are getting back to cycling, a wider range of gears might be better at this point in time before you decide to make the conversion or buy a 3-speed bike (might be cheaper).

I have been riding this bike since i believe March now. Up at school it was very hilly and i only used 3 gears, maybe 4. Now back at home where everything is flat i only use two of the gears. Maybe if the 3 speed is not worth it just a singlespeed would work well if i could figure out the right gear ratio for what i need.

thanks for the input guys. I am still going to keep my eyes peeled for maybe a 3 speed on craigslist or at some garage sale.

I have built a 3 speed out of a triple butted Nishiki with a 700c wheel from ebay for $50. It was great but sold the frame to put the 3 speed on a Raleigh Competition frame. The purity of it appelaed to me. My first was a Lenton Sports that I used a wheelset from a Raleigh DL1 (27" and 18 tooth cog) to try it out and went hunting for a wheel. The most common are the AW that has a 25% differance between 1st and 2nd and 25% again to third. Second is the direct drive and you gear the bike by changing the rear cog to the cadance you peddle at for the speed you want to go on the flats with 1st and 3rd for the hills. Cogs are cheap and range from 16 to 24 and you can make them from old Shimano. Build it; 22 pound 3 speed is a lot of fun!

This is my next bike Project.
- Sturmey Archer 3 speed built into a 700c Wheel
- Road or Track frame
- Flat Bars


But i'm wondering is it better to go with Coaster brake + Front Brake or a Freewheel with both brakes.

Are there drawbacks to a Coaster Brake?

I have a "Suntour" 3speed Hub at home but its on a 20" wheel.

I'm going to use a new Sturmey-Archer S-RF3 hub on the Carlton. It's the updated version of the AW, with an aluminum case and thicker spoke flanges. It has no neutral position like the AW had, and that's a very good thing. I was looking for a n.o.s. or very clean Vintage AW, but I found that they cost more than I could get this new one for. It was around $54 from AE Bike. I'm going to use the old style hardware instead of the plastic stuff that came with the hub. The hub just arrived today. It's a good looking piece. I'm tempted to take it apart and put a full polish on the case.

Are they easy to find new then?
is that $54 USD?


That sounds much better. THe "Neutral posiiton" is evil - I recently came off a bike because of that.

woah they have a lot of differnt hubs.

what are the SRAm like compared with the Sturmey Archer? / 5 speed with a better gear Range.

http://aebike.com/page.cfm?PageID=30...ory=475&type=T

Lukc- Coaster brakes are quite heavy and you need a stronger wheel but you'll probably have 36 or 40 spokes so that shouldn't be a problem. Rim brakes stop better on alloy wheels than the coasters. The coasters were good in the old days of wet chromed steel rims that the brakes couldn't heat enough to dry the water.

Dirtdrop- beautiful pre-Raleigh Carlton! I love the ride of my Professional but it must be fun to have one lightened down like yours. Have you thought of a top tube shifter from the early 50's for the SA? They are harder to reach but look cool.

ronpr

I thought of the top tube shifter, but I couldn't find one in decent shape. I ended up buying a n.o.s. early trigger shifter for it. I can always change that later.

I haven't weighed it, but the bike feels very light. I hope I still like it after heavier clinchers and two pounds of rear hub.

I guess I paid $53 not $54 for the hub. Harris sells them for $100 when they have them. It comes with all the hardware, but it's modern plastic stuff that doesn't belong on a '59 Carlton.