I love my Breezes. I have a blue '69 single speed coaster brake, and a green 3 speed. both in nice shape. the green one was free and I payed $15 for the blue one. I have a question about seats. both have the black seats, but I'm parting out a '52 traveler and it has a two-tone blue and white "S" seat on it. I was wondering how to get it looking closer to new so I could maybe put it on the blue '69.

Cool Breeze

I redid my wifes 74 red Breeze and screwed up the decals

Anyone know a source for these?

Bearings and cones for the SA hub came in, so I'm ready to reassemble it. I posted a thread in mechanics re: pawl springs, and received conflicting advice about greasing/not greasing bearings and oil type. Searching the archives turns up similar "conflict." I know there are likely to be many viable options, but I'm curious to have more opinions:

1. Do you grease the bearing balls (internal and "external")? With what lube?
2. What oil do you use to lubricate the hub?

These questions are a can of worms sitting on a land mine...
from the SA Technical information, "Lubricate the bearings with high quality lithium based grease...lubricate the hub once every three months (or as necessary) with a few drops of Sturmey-Archer oil (SAE 30).

if the bearings are not dull and I don't see any signs of rust or pitting, even with a visible ring where the bearings run i don't hesitate to reinstall. On old cones like that which I suspect are fairly soft compared to say campy records, I would guess that that mark would appear in a new cone within a few months or even weeks of riding. That is how it is with the cheep suzue cones I often use to rebuild sunshine and suzue hubs. they are a dark colour, almost black, when new and the first time you open them up after installing them and a few rides that silver rings has appeared. I will agreee with the "think of it as broken in" school of thought.

Sorry, I've come late to this conversation, I was away on vacation. The Weinmann brakes will serve you well and as others have mentioned, new shoes/blocks, new cables and housings (even inexpensive ones), and a complete cleaning will do the trick. Also adjust them with enough "play" between fully open and contact with the rim. Leverage is what you are looking for. The more leverage the better the stopping power.

I cleaned the ones off my '66 Collegiate with Blue Magic (found it at my local ACE), and they gleam! Heres a picture of one before I installed them and swapped out the original blocks and holders. I find that they stop my big mass + the 40 lb. EF Schwinn, just fine. Good luck with your project.

Progress report: The SA is back together, freshly oiled with new bearings. I think I reassembled it properly. I'll have to see if it tears itself to bits when I finally get the bike back together:



It's almost ready for reassembly. I need to wax the frame and fork, polish the wheels and other crome, and clean the pedals.



A couple questions:

1. How can I lubricate the pedals? It doesn't appear that they are built for servicing? I assume there are bearings in there, but how do I get to them? I've tried prying what looks like the inside ball race, but to no avail. Do I have to try harder? Or should I just spray a teflon or like lube in the the joints? BTW, they are not frozen, but they do sound gravely when they spin.



2. What is the proper adjustment for the front wheel hub? If I tighten it just enough to eliminate any play, I can feel a sort of pulsating resistance from the bearings. If I loosen it just a fraction, it rotates more smoothly (although still a faint detection of that pulsation), but there is play in the hub. I spent well over an hour trying to find the sweet spot, but that's the best I could do. Hints? Suggestions?

2: it sounds like a bearing problem, race, balls or cones... maybe even some dirt. That's where I'd look.

I overhauled the hub. New bearing balls, races looked good, lots of grease. I reused the cones which had no pitting, just a very minor groove path from the previous balls (wore off the original surfacing, nothing very deep). I did, however, abandon the bearing ball retainers in favor of 10 loose bearing balls per side vs. the original 7 per side.

Besides, I was advised to consider these hubs broken in!

Maybe the problem is my perception. How smooth should these be? When I had the axle in a vice and spun the wheel, it seemed very smooth. It's when I hold both axle ends in my hands and spin the wheel that I feel the slight pulsation. Maybe what I'm feeling is of no real concern?

Ok, you got me there It's probably perception, they're not campy hubs

That would be heresy, wouldn't it, putting Campy hubs on an EF Schwinn? To think, bastardizing the pure pedigree of a Chicago built Schwinn with flimsy Italian components!

Those pedals aren't really made to be serviced, but it is possible. You need to grind off the mushroomed end of the pins that hold the rubber blocks in place. That will allow the end plates to be removed from the pedals so you can service the bearings. If there is still enough left of the pins, you can reuse them by flaring them with a ballpeen hammer, or you can get some #10-32 all-thread and some acorn nuts to replace the pins.

For all you Sturmey experts: I have the AW hub and crank installed, with a chain between the two. The shifter cable is not yet installed, and the bike is not yet rideable, but I wanted to test the hub. It turns smoothly enough when I turn the cranks, but when I stop, it "freewheels" or continues to push the pedals forward. I can stop the cranks, allowing the wheel to spin, but then the hub produces a loud, but even, grating sound (it also clicks, but I assume this is the normal functioning of the pawls).

When it is in "idle" like this, the driver spins freely against the right hand ball ring, right? I replaced those bearing balls, and I only lightly greased the inside of the dust cap with white lithium grease. Could it be that I secured the dust cap too tightly, and the balls are not freely spinning?

I lightly oiled all internal parts, and I added two tablespoons of SAE 30 oil as per one of SA's earlier service manuals.

Oh, and I also positioned the indicator at different points, and it did seem to minimize the grating at certain positions.

Any thoughts?

SA hubs are really finicky about adjustment. Install and adjust the cable, and it may stop doing that. Internal 3 speeds of all makes will do odd things when out of adjustment. Including but not limited to grinding/grating/powering the pedals/slipping out of gear while you're accelerating, causing you to land on the top tube, etc etc etc.,,,,,BD

Also make sure to oil the shifter as well. I had one that I could not get to act right while downshifting. I found out the shifter was hanging up. It was a big D'OH, moment.,,,,BD

And.....another biggie! The anti rotate washer(s) must be aligned so they set into the dropout slots. Not real hard to notice
though, so you may know that already.....

Thanks. I suppose I'll fully assemble it, attempt ajustment of the shifter cable, and see where that lands me. Hopefully not onto the pavement over the handlebars.

I found this article online regarding the tendency for the hub to rotate the sprocket, and the writer mentions that it will occur with the indicator fully disconnected from the shifter.

I have no experience with 3-speeds (obviously), but my first rule of riding will be to never stand on the pedals or rest my full weight on them when coasting.

Thanks for the suggestions, Bikedued. For the record, the problem was that I had tapped the dustcap too tightly on the right hand bearing, so the bearing balls were not rolling freely. Everything works beautifully now, at least while I hold the rear up and turn the cranks (I really need a workstand!) Road test to come!

Here are some in progress pics. I kinda like it clean without fenders or chainguard....or saddle!

Hey, that paint cleaned up right nice... and the rest of it as well.

Wow, that looks amazing.

Well, the project is near completion. Only a few missing bolts (gold star if you can find them in the pics), brakes pads that desperately need adjusting, and a new saddle (any suggestions?)

I've included too many photos here, but the duplicates are provided to show how an overcast day can soften imperfections, while direct sunlight exposes everything! The pics at the beginning of this thread hid many of the rough edges because they were taken in shadow, not direct sunlight - and honestly, by pics alone, it doesn't look like much has been improved upon!

At any rate, here's the product of my labor of love, or stupidity, or whatever you wish to call it.

Thanks for all the help and advice, and thanks for reading. By the way, the Sturmey Archer hub is working flawlessly -- at least for now!

STUNNING!! Very nice man! I found a very well preserved, yet dirty 1972 Sierra brown Collegiate sport today. Going to be giving it the same treatment, and then sell it, unfortunately it's too small for me to ride comfortably.,,,,BD

This one was $18, nice deal in my book.

Nice find. Have fun with it! I really don't have much use for the Breeze, but I've grown attached to it during the reconditioning. I can't bear the thought of selling it ... unless someone comes to me with a ridiculous offer! But then I picture it becoming a beater for some NYC college kid, and I shudder.

I sent this in a PM as well, but thought there may be others like me who are interested in hearing your response.

You did some great work on the rebuild of your Breeze. I just bought a '69 Schwinn Speedster that I am going to start working on. FYI - I have NO bike mechanic experience so figured this would be a decent bike to start on.

Can I ask you a couple of questions?

I think that I can handle the headset, front hub, and bottom bracket myself, but question the SA hub (TCWII - or something like that).

How complex was the rebuild of your hub?

Any good information that you have found online about rebuilding them?

Words of wisdom?

Thanks,

Brian

I refurbished an SA 3 speed AW hub awhile back and got a whole bunch of good info. Here's the thread:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...sturmey+archer

Basically I took it apart just halfway and everything worked out fine. I started on the side with the chain coming out, just unscrewing the bolts and cones, etc., and basically I was able to pull out half of the innards. This was enough to see that everything was in good shape so I just flushed it completely with wd-40, let it dry, then coated the inner workings with oil, greased the axle bearings and put it back together. (read that thread and check out that website, https://www.karrot.org/ascotto/three_speed/)

Now if I recall I greased and oiled the "ball ring" which rests inside the inner dust cap. These are the bearings that, I think, allow all the insides to rotate inside the hub (I guess, I don't know). I don't know if this was the right thing to do because you definitely do not want grease inside the mechanism at all, just oil, but I haven't had any problems. Also, as I said I greased the axle bearings. Some people say not even to do that- basically don't use grease anywhere- but I haven't had any problems.

You don't have to take it compltely, absolutely apart if it's in good shape.

Brian,

You're right, it should be an exciting learning process to work on this old Schwinn. They are great bikes, built like a rock and heavy as a rock!

As TimJ has mentioned, and from most of what I've read, there's really no need to rebuild the hub if it works properly. I simply did it because I was interested in seeing the insides of the hub and inspecting the parts.

I used the karrot.org website as a pictorial guide, and it's probably all you need. I rebuilt an AW hub, one of the most common and least complex from what I've heard.

Another great website is https://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~ha...samaintind.htm which is a good technical supplement to the karrot.org website, but does not include a step-by-step pictorial guide.

It has a technical guide to the TCW there. It looks like the TCW also has a coaster brake, which I've heard is a little more complex than those without. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to rebuild.

I'll let you know that I have very little mechanical aptitude, but I found the rebuilt relatively simple, and I was able to clean the tar that had accumulated on the parts.

Be sure to check Harris Cyclery if you need parts, or try the Schwinn Forums. I didn't get help there, but from what I understand there are some very helpful and generous enthusiasts there. Also, you might want to post your rebuild as a thread here. As you can see from this thread, lots of interested and helpful enthusiasts on the BF Forums too! I'll also be willing to answer any questions you have as you go along, to the best of my ability and knowledge (which is very limited mind you!)

Finally, as per the greasing of the bearings, this is the information I received on the Mechanics Forum of BF. I ended up using white lithium sparingly, and having opened it since, can attest that it becomes diluted and spreads everywhere. Not sure yet whether it will have a long term negative effect. As of now, it is very viscous. It may become a problem later as the grease ages.

Good luck, and keep us posted!