So I bought a 3-speed...
 

1973-74 Sports:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...14a9517f27.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7e2c7e8df4.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c419a55f0e.jpg
Pretty original, just missing its chainguard. And Brooks, but it seems like the mattress saddles were also an option. No matter, it's getting the Antique Brown B17 off of the GT Karakoram, which I'm going to sell off. (Hopefully I can recover the $120 I spent on the Raleigh.)

The paint is all there, and no rust, but it's definitely got some wear. I'd call it about a 7-footer:
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...af3110b7a9.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...77eabfdc72.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a8e17975a3.jpg

I'm pretty sure it got ridden...
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2b3bc1ad9f.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...feea5c94de.jpg
I replaced them with the pads from one of the Weinmanns (Weinmen?) I took of the '71 Competition. Kool Stop Continentals will be forthcoming. As will a new shift cable. And I might try routing it up top... I'm not sure if that matters.

Still sorting the shifting... it's my first IGH, and they're weird. It's looking to be a fun bike to work on, and to ride. (Once I put a 22t on it... 46x18 is ridiculous.)

--Shannon

Are those the self-adjusting brake levers? I think it was Raleigh that had them.

I think it would have this style of chainguard for a '73.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...47f6d75cdc.jpg

Looks like very little to do cleaning it up etc. You might want to get a bigger cog in the back, like a 21T people tend to like. The stock gearing is pretty tall.

Looks like a fun bike.

If those had a little thumbwheel behind the lever body, then these would be those.

--Shannon

If you're looking, the appropriate chainguard usually isn't too hard to find. You can also buy a lady's model for low dollars. Then you'll have your chainguard and some spare parts. Set free whatever you don't need. Also, congrats on picking up a nice three speed. Perfect for short commutes.

I feel that a 24 tooth cog is more appropriate than a 22 for these bikes, but 22 is far better than 18 of course.

For the shifting adjustment you want to shorten the shifter cable till the cable goes "very tight" just a bit when shifted into 1st gear, and then lengthen the cable just a smidge so the force at the shifter is just that of the springs in the hub, but there is no additional slack when the shifter is in first gear.

Running the shifter cable down the seat stay has the advantage of the shifter cable not needing to be adjusted when the rear wheel gets moved back due to chain stretch rear wheel adjusting.

Reomve spring
 

For better modulation in the brake lever I would pop the clip open, rotate the plastic piece down and remove the spring from inside and snap it back together. You can turn the thumbwheel easily to adjust, and you get a much better action form the levers.

Just ordered a 22t cog and a new shift cable.

I'm also going to route the cable along the top tube, instead of down by the BB, where it is now, but I'll need the right fulcrum clip... 25.4 for the top tube, yes? (P/N HSJ512)

--Shannon

With a 46t front sprocket, I like the 22t rear cog size the best. I found 46 to 24 to be too low in third gear.

With a 48t front sprocket, I like a 22t or a 24t rear, depending on crank length and wheel size.

I agree either way 18t creates gearing that is too high for hilly areas.

Possibly peak utilitarian human-powered mobility!

The left-side cotter pin has come loos twice now, even after using a press, so I assume that means the cotter's roasted, correct?

--Shannon

And there's a broken (drive side, of course) spoke.

The internet machine sez 290-292mm is the length. (36 holes, 3x) Does that sound about right?

--Shannon

The later bikes with the cable along the down tube to the chain stay, I think the housing went the full way to the chain stay and used I think it's the HSJ548 to transition. It's hard to tell what you have going on. The earlier bikes where the shift cable went along the top tube to the seat stay I think used the same HSJ512 ( I think you have that clamped to the down tube already?) but the HSJ515 inserts into it and acts as a ferrule. The bare cable goes to the pulley on the seat tube (clamp-on in the later ones) — HSJ520? and directly down to the hub with a HSL759 "Anchorage Assembly" in there.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f058df7ae9.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...609c27e1c8.png
From the '73 catalog

Calling cudak888 for some help! Smiles, MH

You need to hit/tap the cotter pin with a hammer as you tighten the nut, with each tap you will get significantly more rotation on the nut.

If only there were a thread devoted to English three speeds.

The cotter pins typically need to be hammered in again after you ride for a week or two. But if the cotter has grooves worn into it, you won't ever be able to get it fully set (unless the grooves are shallow enough that you can file the cotter flat and still have enough pin left over).

Mega-threads on this site are super annoying to navigate. Nobody should be expected to participate in them (or even read them) if they don't want to.

There is indeed.

I start a specific thread for every bike I acquire. It's mostly about me... my vanity, of course, but also to avoid having to deal with vBulletin's terminally-broken, never-to-be-sufficiently-damned search function. ("Search sucks. Deal with it," to quote the developers.)

It helps me keep things organized in my chaotic ADD brain. (I also do a separate photo album for each bike.)

But, yeah, there is that thread. I've been reading the whole thing, like a novel. I've even given it its own bookmark, which I update from time to time to be the last page I read... beats having to remember where I was, in and amongst its ~1000 pages and nearly 30,000 posts.

And trust me, this bike will get plenty of airtime over there.

--Shannon

A cotter press is the preferred way of seating the cotters.

Check the face of the cotter for damage; if it has been ridden while loose, the face can get gouged, which prevents it from seating properly. If you're lucky, the gouge is shallow enough to be filed away; otherwise, the cotter will need to be replaced. This one is terminally damaged:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8672e1f9c7.jpg

Once I have the new ones, I'll be calling King Kog for a quote to press them out and in. I'd like to avoid buying one, since I only have one cottered bike.

They have the only press in town, and I don't want to ask to borrow it, or to use it in the shop. Since I don't drive, I need a place that I can get to by bus.

--Shannon

ShannonM ,
You are the very reason I worked out a deal with cudak888 to create the pass around cotter press. If you search the thread pass around cotter press you will find the current user of the tool and they will send it to you to repair your crank arms. Smiles, MH

Thanks be unto the Honkster!

We're working out the details now, and the pins should arrive early next week, so that'll be awesome.

Also, somebody* should totally make 50.4 chainrings for all the old cool Brit-bike brands. It'd be nice to lose the extra avoirdupois without giving up those rings.

--Shannon

* And by 'somebody' I mean 'somebody else'. I can't do it... it's hard enough riding a bike with a full set of limbs! (And I'd likely manage to remove my own head.)

Shift cable came on Saturday, cotters today, C&V pass-it-around press and 22t cog later in the week...

Hope to have this thing back on the streets by the weekend... we'll see. Lotsa new things to learn!

--Shannon