Just picked up womens Robin Hood from the neighbor for $15. No fenders or chain guard, and I measured 48cm for the seatpost, so a bit small; also, wrong pedals and overall poor condition (at least one bent spoke and the rest are wicked loose). But the hub says SA and appears to be '69 vintage. Might be fun fixing up or stealing parts for something else, I figure--most of the decals are in poor shape too.

Sounds to me like a parts bike. Most if not all of the parts could be used on any English built 3 speed of the era.

Aaron

I think I might do an experiment in wheel trueing with it: since all the spokes are loose anyhow, I'll finish loosening any of them, and then try my hand at making 'em tight again. Then go from there. The brakes are flat out atrocious--not sure if the pads are dried out or if it's just the nature of the beast (old centerpulls and steel rims).

I've been on the lookout for an English 3 speed, but I'm not exactly thrilled with the Raleigh "oddities" (BB, headset, etc), so I might wind up just using the saddle (while not Brooks, it is sprung) and the hub, maybe handlebars too. We'll see. I kinda want a relaxed rider for the dirt roads and secondary roads around here, for relaxed riding days.

Well, I took apart the AW hub a bit, mostly just so I could get to the bearings. Very dry, with varnish too. I wasn't able to clean out much of the junk, but I did lube it pretty well with 10W40. Odds are, it won't gather many miles before being taken apart again.

I did what I could on the spokes, and the rims are so-so for trueness. It does have the John Bull front brake pads, something else rear, and the brakes sorta work. Big mattress saddle. What I can't get over is the gearing--I think first is a nice cruising gear! I knew that going in, but had to ride it across the yard to see just how high geared it was. That, and I have to be careful with turning--very easy to clip a knee on the handlebars.

The pawls are a bit funny, it seems to take a quarter of a turn of the crank for it to "catch". And it certainly won't shift under any amount of power--really have to let off and then it will shift. Could be just lack of oil; I did try to add some when I had it apart.

Fun stuff. Bike is not as heavy as I though it would be, 27-29lb (old analog bathroom scale). Granted, that's minus chainguard and fenders, but less than I thought it would be.

Uh, it's a Robin Hood, so you are supposed to steal from the rich and give to the poor... .

East Hill

Brother Bob up the hill wants to see your recent steel! I brought home a '69 Raliegh Sports yesterday. Given to me by a church member so selling or passing it along to someone is out of the question. It was hung in a garage for at least 20 years.

Maybe we can plan a ride next Saturday or Sunday?

My 3 speed shifts like that. Ease up, shift and take off again.

Sure! I've gotta admit, headbadges that are riveted in place are way cooler than any decal.

I'm hoping for little wind tomorrow, am planning a ride after church up 103, then 103a, and then back down 114. I'm hoping for 26miles, so I'll be on my "good" bike. Hopefully, by next week, I'll be able to keep up with you and your Schwinn--our last ride was pushing me at times.

I had to go through my own trash to find the plastic ring to secure the speed cable and fix the gears on a Robin Hood I picked up for 20 with a flat,omg!see the pics

the three speed hub is like a cars gear shift when you ease up you are acting like the clutch. you should always do this.

Hmm, just didn't remember that from my youth. Then again, that bike was probably not an SA hub, and I'm just a tad heavier now (I had to think I'm a better biker, but I probably am putting down more torque).

Thanks for the heads up on this just the same.

I took it out for a quick spin; the frame is definately too small for me, and the seatpost too short. Oh well. I think the bike got ran over or something, as one pedal is bent, and I'd swear the same crankarm is bent too (it doesn't look straight, when compared to the other). And the gearing is such that I practically popped a wheelie taking off on a slight incline!

I didn't realize the old brakes could be "relined". It has a pair of John Bull No 25 pads; but I think it has a pair of left pads, as when I flipped the right one over (so as to better fit the rim), the pad shot off the first time I used it! That's when I found out that the pads were replaceable. I flipped it back over for now.

The WD-40 didn't do much good except, perhaps, to help loosen up some of the oil varnish. I would soak the whold thing in solvent. I admit that what I do is remove the face and pour gasoline into the hub (or whatever is the lowest cost solvent at the time). Of course, you have to allow the solvent to completely dry before re-lubricating. Then, add a thin coat of grease to the bearings and very light oil to the internals of the hub. I use Phil Woods oil for SA hubs.

Let me know what you need for parts. I have a lot of parts, including seat posts. I have fenders too, but I don't think I have any British fenders left. I should have some other fenders you can paint black.

I looke don Mr.Brown's page,dated the English Robin Hood at 68 from the hub,droped some oil in there,I was looking to see how to adjust the shifter and saw no illustrations.I'll ride it some .ease off on it to shift ,good advice,Billew.

John, you have to go to the link that goes off of Sheldon's page; but the short answer is to do this:
-on the right side of the bike, the indicator spindle (the tiny chain that comes out) goes through a long-ish nut that has two viewing holes in it
-put the 3 speed into 2nd gear
-spin the adjustment on the cable. Looking through the viewing holes, you should see a solid shaft that is pulled in or out of the axle.
-adjust so that this solid shaft is even with the axle in 2nd gear.
-This assumes that the right side cone was properly set (tighten to finger tight, then 1/2 turn out).

Mike, I used 10W40, not WD40. Actually, I used a rather high end synthetic diesel oil, as it's the only automotive oil I keep around (not that it makes a difference). I'll figure out later on what I want to do with this bike; while I like it, it's too small for me. But thanks for the offer on parts.

Was it a Sturmey Archer approved diesel oil? Oh wait I forgot what forum I was on.

Haha, yah, you know what kind of oil it is then.

thanks for the reply and I will make an effort to get in second gear...rod even with axle ..."get the kites ready! send up the kites!( Frankenstien reference)