Hey, all. I'm starting to figure out what to do with the 1951 Raleigh Clubman I just acquired (pictures in the "Catch of the Day" thread). I'm sure I'll have more questions, but here are the first ones that come up:

1. Dynohub. When I got the bike, the front tire (probably original) was melted into a flat, rock-hard shell that wouldn't clear the fork, immobilizing the front wheel. I hacked it off last night so I could test the Dynohub. An AC voltmeter shows no output. Googling around, I see that most of these old hubs got demagnetized; I also see some vague references to a process for re-magnetizing them. Does anyone know anything about this?

2. Headlight: this is embarrassing, but I can't figure out how to get it open so as to test/clean/replace the bulb. I removed the small screw on the bottom of the shell, and tried turning the lens counter-clockwise, but it only goes about a turn and then stops. I turned the large screw on the rear of the shell, too; no effect. I don't want to force it and break it. Does anyone know whether the lens is to be screwed off, or pried/popped off? Also, what's the little switch on the bottom for? Sheldon (peace be upon him!) says there's no way to turn the light off, so I'm wondering why it has a switch.

3. The bottom bracket doesn't feel good at all. I have yet to take it apart and see what's going on. I know Raleigh had its own proprietary threading, but my question is whether there were different kinds of Raleigh BB cups. If it turns out to be pitted up in there, can I use a donor BB from a Sports, Record, Sprite, etc.? Were they all the same?

4. Same for the headset: were they the same on all Nottingham Raleighs? And what bearing size -- 5/32"?

5. The cable housings look gray, but really they could've been any color 58 years ago. Does anyone know what the original color would have been?

6. What do you call the sheath that covers the Sturmey-Archer shift cable, and where can you get one? I'm not talking about the housing, but the very thin sheath that covers the cable between the housing stop and the indicator chain.

7. I'm looking for white Bluemels fenders (or convincing imitations) for less than the frightening prices I'm seeing on eBay. Any tips?

Thanks in advance,
Brian

I figured I should post this picture of my Raleigh. Since alot of the parts are proberly close to the same. mine also had the same bag on it lol also post close up pics of the things your wondering about. on my light theres a pin under it that has to be released then pushed. but the light was stuck because of how old it was so I had to pry it.

Fenders? find another Raleigh. alot of them have same fenders beside braces. but you can alter to fit your braces if ya wanted.

Hey, thanks, HSean. Nice Raleigh you have there.

As for the hub and lights, it turns out that my voltmeter was broken -- with a little cleaning of the contacts, it all works. Even both lamp bulbs are OK -- kind of miraculous, as the bike appears to have been sitting in a shed since at least the sixties, and probably longer (contents of the seat bag: a 1944 penny, a 1941 penny, a Presta-Schrader adapter, two old-school metal trouser clips, some old kleenexes, and a bunch of mud-dauber nests). And the switch is, well, a switch.

The hub does seem to have a lot of friction, though; are there any tricks to overhauling the bearings on the generator side?

I actualy ride mine as as I found it lol aside from giving the rims a cleaning. my lights and everything work, theres even battery thing inside the headlamp and many options of lightings. as for taking apart the dynohub i've yet to do so. as I always say. if it aint broken don't mess with it lol. however my other Sports has one with friction and it was overhualed when I got it. so it may be normal.

search out some wingnuts for that bike. as you can see they make the bike even more pretty!, i'm currently looking for a chain case or a chain guard. I have many Raleigh sports parts. I might use a guard from one of those.

Is there a grease port on your front hub? my bike has three of them both hubs and frame at BB has one as well. what size tires was that? I hate the size mine has 26" 1 1/4 luckly I had one in my shed.

oh also the BB question you asked. I actualy sheered my spindle in half on mine lol as for a replacement... I didn't feel like ordering a special one so I took one off a random bike and it works great lol


take more pics of that great bike

Don't know if it is any help to you, I'm over in High Point, I have extra Raleigh parts in the garage (basically a whole 3 speed Sports minus the frame and fork) in green. I also have a perfect set of white Bluemel's fenders, but I am selling them attached to the bike they came on (near NOS LeTour Tourist). Let me know if you are interested in any of it, we're moving next month and I need to clear out some stuff.

Brian - the original fenders - as you might have noticed from what is left of them (I saw your Catch Of The Day photos of the bike) - are celluloid, not steel as with HSean's 1940 Sports.

Your best match would be a pair of Bluemels Lightweights, such as these, though in white (and in better shape - good spares are still out there):
https://cgi.ebay.com/BLUEMELS-LIGHTWE...3286.m63.l1177

I don't see any Bluemels Lightweights on eBay other then these right now - you might try asking around here on the forum, and perhaps on the CR List too.

-Kurt

The dynohub should have some resistance. This is not to say don't regrease them, but they don't spin smooth even when properly greased... The magnets create drag.

I believe the proper fenders would be Britania, but those are even tougher to find than Bluemels. Bluemels do turn up - I've gotten three pair for around $50 bucks each over the years. They turn up. I just got a brand new front one for $10 off ebay. I've bought a whole bike to get a set of fenders, then sold off the bike.

But not too much drag. Enough so that there is drag, but a surprisingly minute amount of it.

-Kurt

Perhaps this may help?

https://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~hadland/sa/sagh6.pdf

And to be more specific, the resistance should be kinda 'ratcheted' ie it's from a series of magnets around the dynahub. The hub will 'click' from one magnet to the next as it spins.

I wouldn't describe it as a click. "Hesitated slide" would fit. The drag is quite minimal in comparison to what one would expect when they first handle one.

-Kurt

Hey, thanks.

One more question, really one of taste: as you can see in the photos, the handlebars came to me with a rubber grip on one of the drops and cloth tape on the other. The 1951 catalog shows cloth tape on the Raleigh Clubman, but rubber grips on the Lenton Clubman. I like authenticity and all, but actually riding with cloth tape does not sound like fun to me. Would rubber grips be too heretical here?

Nice bike!
There are some ok grip reproductions coming out of Taiwan. They're white usually and they're resonably priced on ebay. Delivery takes a while.
As I recall, with the headlight, after you take the one screw out you then pull sorta hard on the left side (your left, not the bike's left) and it swings open to the right.
Bottom brackets were pretty much interchangable on all the Notingham Ralieghs from day one till they moved to India. I think headsets were the same too. Better chrome on the earlier ones.
You might try shrink tubing from a good electronic store on the shift cable. Goes on big and easy then you heat it with a match or something and it shrinks tight. You can make the whole cable by getting some small brass tubing from the hobby store and crimping it to the ends of regular cables.

I got some of those gray "R" grips from a eBay seller in Thailand. It was somewhere around $13 shipped, and they came super fast in my opinion. You can search "Rudge" and find them for sure.

They are harder than I thought they would be, but they look alright and seem to be of decent quality for what they are.

I tried those brass fittings once but I can't find a store that sells the right size. however lately i've been very lucky and all the old 3 speeds cables move freely on all the bikes i've been getting. even have spares now. sadly winter is around the corner and bikes for me will come to a dead stop till snow goes away.

Yeah, I'm under the impression that the origionals were spongy but they have a nice shape and they're comfy anyway. Of course, I wasn't using them on drop bars.

you could try hooking up a power supply to the dyno and run it "reverse" so to speak. Sometimes you can juice up the magnets this way.