jefnvk

Well, my Salvation Army habit turned up something I've always wanted: a British 3 speed utility bike. Anything I should know about this, beyond it was apparently just a rebadged Raleigh, not particularly high end, and needs a good bit of cleaning?

Lascauxcaveman 

You just bought a $19 Phillips 3-speed. it is apparently just a rebadged Raleigh, not particularly high end, and needs a good bit of cleaning.

What else is there to know? You didn't overspend, I don't think.

nlerner

The rear hub will have a date code to tell you year of mfg.

bikemig 

The OP needs some reassurance that he got a good deal,

bikemig 

That's a lovely bike. Now all you need to do is to clean the bike up, a cotter press so you can overhaul that BB (but there are other ways to install cotters) and a pair of alloy 26 x 1 and 3/8 rims to turn that old jalopy into a speedster.

mixteup

I'll give him $25 for it
Seriously, that's a nice bike, and he DID get a good deal on it - I've paid much more for much less.

clubman 

Mid 60's? Post-proprietary brakes and pre-pedal reflectors. Carmine Red polishes up nicely in the sun, you can see the gold base coat in your headbadge shot. Nice.

jefnvk

The bike cost me less than two pints and a burger I had immediately afterwards, so I can't consider it a bad deal regardless

Heck, the tires even still hold air, took it for a ride immediately upon leaving the store!

Cool, that was my next question. Its caked in a good layer of gunk, I'll have to wipe it off and check it out.

And yeah @clubman, the red glistened nicely even with a layer of dust on it, can't wait to see it clean and with some wax!

ryansu 

It appears in good nick as the Brits would say, under that layer of Grime. An English 3 speed is also on my list but I need to move somewhere flatter first and overcome fear/awe of opening up a IGH have fun OP

Velo Mule

Nice find. I am glad to hear that it will be cleaned and ridden.

One thing that is different between the Raleigh and the Philips is the fork crown. I don' t know when Raleigh took over Philips. Perhaps this bike pre-dates that takeover or they Raleigh used different forks for Philips.

davester

That is exactly the same as my very first bike (though mine was only a one-speed), which I got for christmas in about 1965.

sykerocker 

I'll show you it's twin: A 1969 Ranger, obviously a rebadged Phillips.



Back in the day (say, a century or so ago) Ranger was one of Schwinn's biggest competitors. Like Schwinn, they were a Chicago-based outfit.

By the time this bike was made, Ranger was merely the house brand of the Marshall-Fields department store.

It's a nice riding bike. At present, my wife gets primarily use of it due to frame size, when I've got one of my 3/5-speed Raleighs out for the evening.

gna

That's a Raleigh-built Phillips. The fender stays attach to the ends of the dropouts, and it was made in Nottingham. Raleigh ended up with Phillips about 1960, IIRC. I'd guess that bike is mid-60s, as was stated above.

jefnvk

Hehe, can't wait to get home and clean off the hub and see!

Road Fan

I'll tell you guys what, I'd love to get a nice red man's Phillips three speed for $19!

Pompiere

Overhauling a 3 speed hub is not as hard as it sounds. There are a lot of diagrams on the internet. Also you can get a larger rear cog to make the hills easier.

BigChief 

The stem is too high. The expander should always be lower than the threaded section of the fork tube and I don't think this is. I think if you lowered the stem to a safe position, it may also give the shifter cable enough slack, but it's hard to say from the picture.

jefnvk

And the winner is: 1968! Looks nice and shiny under the gunk.

Yeah @BigChief, the position is all screwed up, just hadn't bothered with it yet! Definitely way too high for me!

BigChief 

This bike looks to be in good condition under all the gunk. I think it's going to be very pretty cleaned up. Darn reflective tape. I usually win that battle with patience, an old credit card and Goo Gone. Luckily, this one still has the nice pedals with the diamond shape end plates. It was right around that time when Raleigh changed to the reflector pedals which had rectangular end plates that clinched the rubber blocks so they wouldn't rotate. They're just not as elegant.

Alloyboy

You are my man. I love good deals like this, you and I are kindred spirits. Jim.

jefnvk

Yeah, I've done enough cleanups to have a pretty good eye for what is and isn't salvageable. I kinda expected the hub to look like that, the gunk on there reminds me of the cosmoline that the military used to preserve all their metal goods. The only concern I have is the handlebars, but I think most of the corrosion is light surface and should clean up well enough. The brakes work surprisingly well for appearing to be original (or vintage replacement) John Bull pads.

Heh, I love the deals too, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention I have been going to thrift shops quite regularly for years, and this is the first English three speed I have come across that wasn't a total pile of rusted or crashed crap.

stardognine

Yep, that old dusty grime actually protects the metal pretty darn good. 🙂 I'm a thrift store junky too, and actually pass on a lot of sweet deals, just because I don't have a place for things. 😩 Good grab. 👍

jefnvk

Yeah, I'm gonna get yelled at when the wife notices. We're in the process of buying a home and moving, I really don't need another bike to deal with right now, but I couldn't pass up that color!

I just gotta get a few of the other bikes I need to sell on CL soon I guess...

sykerocker 

A suggestion: On all my Sturmey-Archer IGH bikes, I inevitably replace whatever the stock rear sprocket (usually 15 or 16t) with a 23t Shimano (S-A doesn't make one, mounting is identical for both brands). Coupled with the usual 48t front sprocket (by feel, I haven't bothered doing the math) third gear is now what used to be second, second gear is now what used to be first, and the new first gear is actually useable for hill climbing. I needed to do this because I ride three-speeds using my regular road bike cadence, and I'm convinced that these bikes were intended to be ridden with a slower pedaling cadence. With this change, my S-A bikes are my mandatory commuters on anything under a 6 mile one-way distance, terrain notwithstanding.

And I've learned that hipsters and their fixies are utterly ridiculous by comparison. THIS is how you want to get around town, not some harsh riding, spindly, no-brakes fashion statement.

This setup really worked well on my Raleigh Sprite, because 5th gear has now become something resembling what was stock 3rd on a three-speed (aka, 4th on the Sprite), and is still pedal able on a mild downhill. With the S5 however, your mileage may vary being that overdrive (5) and under drive (1) are such kludges to bring up that I usually ride the bike as a 3-speed.

3speedslow

Looks like your red is the Christmas cousin to my green one. Just got this, dated 1967.