noglider 

I picked up this bike a couple of years ago at a garage sale. It looks almost exactly like an English three-speed, but it's American made. The company is West End, from New York City. The overall quality is about as good, with some minor exceptions.

I was fixing up an entirely different bike, a pink Fisher mountain bike, and I told my daughter's girlfriend that it was for her. Then she saw the West End and got all starry-eyed, so she's getting the West End.

The rear hub is made by Brampton in England. The date is about 1955. It's a Sturmey Archer clone, except that the sprocket isn't removable. I've spend a LOT of time getting this hub to work right. There was a ton of gummy gunk on all the internal parts. The hub wouldn't freewheel readily. That is, when I coasted, the sprocket would rotate forward, causing the cranks to rotate. Holding the pedals with my feet would work, but I didn't like all the friction I was fighting, even though it's only coasting friction.

Furthermore, the hub was very reluctant to shift into first gear.

So I took it apart again tonight. This time, I found a bit more gummy gunk and scraped that off. I found that the clutch spring was reluctant to spring, so I bent it in a couple of places. Brave, but the results were good. I also didn't tighten the right cone as much, and I think that was the cause of the non-coasting.

So great! It works!

The rims are badly rusted, so the brakes work very poorly. I bought a pair of alloy rims from Harris Cyclery. I've always wanted to fit an English three-speed with alloy rims. These rims are rare. I didn't bother measuring the rims to see if the existing (55 year old) spokes were likely to be the right size. I just took the risk. The spokes are very high quality, so I figure there's nothing wrong with using them. Well, it worked. The difference in weight is huge. I haven't test ridden it yet.

Later this week or next week, I'll rebuild the front wheel, too.

I have to file down the slots that the brake shoes fit into. They are too narrow! The old brake shoes used a narrower threaded post.

I don't know if it's original, but the inner tube in the rear tire is old, and it's red and made out of latex! It loses air after a few weeks. Of course, it has a metal, threaded valve stem.

I will post pictures eventually, but it's late at night as I write this.

mkeller234

That sounds pretty cool, i'll have to check back for the pictures.

What's this I hear about NJ mayors selling kidneys?!

flammenwurfer

Has this gone anywhere noglider? Do you have any pictures?

David Newton

Yeah!
What was the part about the rims being rare, you mean 26" alloy rims? Or the originals?

noglider 

Thanks for reviving this thread. Yes, I finished the bike and sold it to my daughter's girlfriend. I forgot to take "after" pictures, so I plan to go over there some time soon and shoot some.

I put a Weinmann center-pull brake on the rear and a BMX side-pull brake on the front.

I'm not that happy about how the three-speed hub came out. I don't know if the clutch is worn, if the trigger shifter ought to be replaced, or what. If I get any complaints, I'll revisit it. It seems likely that the bike will sit unused for another 30 years. The girl hasn't ridden it yet. Oh well. It was fun and interesting.

Oh, and that kidney scandal now makes it a fair designation to call NJ the most corrupt state, given the huge number of people involved. It boggles the mind!

noglider 

My comment about rarity is that while the bike looks just like an English bike, it's not at all. I think it's German or Austrian made. The parts are metric, except for the three-speed hub, which is English-made. I couldn't identify the rims, but they were heavy and rusted.

gna

noglider, how did you replace the rims? I have some Raleigh rims I'm thinking of replacing. I was told I could just tape the new rims to the old ones, and move the spokes over one by one.

noglider 

Yes, often you can do that. But these were left-handed rims, and the new ones were right-handed, and I wanted the valve hole to be in a pair of nearly-parallel spokes, so I took the whole wheels apart and relaced them. This also gave me a chance to polish the hubs and put a rubber band around one, which I do for fun, as my trademark of a Tom-Reingold-built wheel.

By left-handed and right-handed, I mean that the first spoke hole forward of the valve hole is either on the left or the right side. Then they alternate from there.

rhm

Tom, about that Brampton hub: the cog wasn't removable at all, or was it threaded onto the driver? Sturmey Archer cogs were threaded until some time in the 50's. It's pretty easy to replace the driver with a newer one; I've done that on several hubs.

I like the rubber band idea. In fact I have a bunch of livestrong bracelets I've been meaning to put on hubs like that. But I always forget!

noglider 

The cog and driver are one piece. But that's OK, because I think the gearing on the bike is OK. If I wanted to replace the gearing, I would replace the driver. They're still available.

I did forget the rubber band on the front hub while building it. Oh well. I wasn't about to go back and re-re-build it. I like the Livestrong idea. Or how about a RoadID? Or if we're going crazy, how about a gold necklace?

David Newton

When I was a kid I used to make a little leather strip for all my hubs. Maybe I should restart that practice.