Seizedpost

Hello all,
My dad just picked up this old Hercules 3 speed for my mom. I am not home and will try to remotely help him tune it up. Aside from fixing the brake cable and cleaning it up, he says that the rear wheel does not spin freely, which I assume means the nds cone needs adustment. Also, I'm sure it needs oil. He has 75w-90 gear oil, 5w30 motor oil, chain oil of unknown weight, and Harbor Freight compressor oil. Would any of those work or does he need to go out and buy some straight 30w?

Dumb question, I've never had a 3 speed. The pedals should freely spin backwards right? (Meaning no coaster brake)

He has no experience with old bikes, and neither of us have any experience with internally geared hubs, so any input is appreciated.

(Not my legs, I'm almost 1000 mi away)

Seizedpost

First question: He has Harbor Freight compressor oil. We think it's 30w but don't know for sure. Is that okay to use, or should he go buy a quart of 30w motor oil?

Seizedpost

I just did a little more reading and found that 20w was the recommended oil, and he has some Marvel Mystery Oil. That should be okay right?

RobbieTunes

No clue, but the "love of 3-speed" thread would be the place to go. I'm in the same boat, just picked one up.

BigChief 

If you're going to use the bike without a complete teardown, Just flood the hub with regular motor oil, not gear oil. 5W30 would be fine. Use a pump oil can or syringe. It will leak out and be messy for a couple of days. You just don't want to ride the bike with dry bearings. Plus, the oil will loosen up the moving parts and help with shifting. Same with the bottom bracket. Pour enough oil down the seat tube to fill up the bracket. It will be messy, but it will get you by until you can do a proper service. From the look of it, the bike has been sitting for years. It's a good bet the bearings are bone dry. After the initial flooding, the hub will only need a few drops of oil each season.

clubman 

I prefer the straight 20w machine oil, no detergents to eventually gum up, so the folklore goes.

jamesdak 

I'll echo the 20w. I got the 3 n 1 oil in the blue can that is supposed to be straight 20w with no detergents. I sorting out an old 3 speed myself and the guidance from BigChief and others has proven very sound.

I oiled the heck out of the bottom bracket too and then let it drip for a day or two. Everything is working really well right now. Don't forget about the headset. Mine was bone dry and appears to be missing a few bearings. There should by 25 of them, size 5/32.

BigChief 

This bike appears to be from the mid 60s. It's possible that the bearings haven't been greased in 50 years. Not running them dry is the important thing. I don't know if there would be any difference between detergent or non detergent oils here. I can say that you wouldn't want to flood the hub with an oil that was too heavy because it might interfere with the lightly sprung pawls engaging the way they should. Oil won't last as long as a good marine grease, but I think it should protect the bearings pretty well. There was some discussion of this subject on the 3 speed thread a while back. It was suggested that an oil flood might work as well as grease if you did it at much more frequent intervals. I think there may be merit to this and it would be handy for those who don't want to bother taking things apart they way some of us 3 speed hobbyists do.

Salamandrine 

Good point. 50 year old grease can have the consistency of parmesan cheese.

The 3 in 1 blue stuff is 20w and probably the most similar to the old SA oil. Should be fine. IME those hubs are fairly rugged and not that picky. Most people used to lube them with whatever 30w they had left over from their car.

If it is really sticky now, I would probably flush it out first with WD40 or something, drain well, and then oil.

A rebuild would be appropriate of course, but it depends on the mechanical aptitude of the dad in question.

gna

Yes, they should. Oil in the rear hub will help.

I use the Blue 3-in-1, but I've also used leftover 5w30 motor oil or even ATF in 3 speed hubs. Squirt a bunch in and ride around. I don't know that you need to fill up the hub and bottom bracket with as much oil as these guys say, but if you do, park the bike on old newspapers until oil stops drooling out of it. Give the shifter a drop of oil, too, as well as the brakes. The rear brake cable faces up and catches water--squirt some oil in there as long as you've got the oil out.