w1xq

A short 12 mile ride through the farmlands today!

PalmettoUpstate 

They look to have cleaned up nicely. Maybe you're missing the original SA [or Raleigh] rear reflector? You know where to get the black ones right? [Yellow Jersey] Also, I have seen the white ones in that smaller size on eBay, along with the black ones. I bought one of the black ones for my early 70's LTD3 and while that bike came OEM with the larger diameter white reflector, I like the way the black one looks on the [black] bike.

PalmettoUpstate 

Do you know if the bulb can and/or should be upgraded to a LED? Or, alternatively, is there someone out there making this general setup but utilising LED and incorporating a lower friction generator?


Seems to me that would be a no-brainer as you correctly stated: "I like the generator light because it is always ready to be used (no dead batteries), and when it is not being used there is no drag."

graywolf

The light uses a miniature screw thread 12v flashlight bulb. There is a spare inside the light housing. However those may become difficult to find fairly soon.

You could use a LED conversion bulb; however the the generator is not really a generator (DC), it is an alternator (AC). That means you would have to put in a module to convert the output to DC and regulate the voltage. Along with that you might as well add a tiny rechargeable battery pack so the lights will stay on when stopped. Unless you are good at DIY electronics, that is going to push the cost of the light into the $100+ range.

It would be easier to convert a battery light because it is running on DC to start with. Then all you would need is a LED replacement bulb ($5-25 depending on the light output your want).

Schwinnsta

I used one these LED bulbs on my DL-1. https://www.home.earthlink.net/~stein...erchandise.htm

It works well. I replaced the tail light bulb with a red LED light 12 Volt for an auto dash board that has a wedge base.

wahoonc

Same thing here. The lights do strobe a bit at low speeds but once up to speed the effect is all but gone.

Reflectalite in the UK has LED conversion bulbs as well as a bridge rectifier that can be placed across the terminals of the dynohub.

Aaron

clasher

I've snagged some e10 LEDs off ebay and they worked really well for a friend. The price can't be beat, even though they lack a standlight I still think it's a huge upgrade over the stock bulbs. I put 'em on any bike I work on for friends or to flip. I haven't seen flange style bulbs this cheap though.

Super.bee

S-A history question/survey here:

Does anyone know for certain when the no-in-between-gear version of the AW replaced the earlier version - when the old version was not offered any longer? I have see Sheldon's site which says 'sometime around 1990' and I have seen on the forums here that S-A pioneered such a design (NIG) for Columbia in, alternately, the 1970s or 1984. But that's a lot of room in there, plus I can't tell whether the old design persisted after any given date.

I am thinking about picking up a 1987 AW solely because it may be the newer design. Anyone know for certain? If so, the info could I think be helpful to a number of folks. If not, I can snag this hub, open it and report back to offer at least one data point, hammer and punch willing...

Also (whispering)... does anyone have any tips or experience re: brazing two or three cogs together for a cyclo-type adaptation? (6 or 9 speeds, but my heart is in the right place I think)

Thanks!

yellowbarber

You shouldn't have to braze the sprockets together. Just take out all the spacers between the lockring and the driver and stack them in the appropriate order.

jonwvara 

You can easily do that with two (my Sprite has 24 and 28 cogs on an AW, with a 52 in front), although you will likely need to exchange the original axle for a longer one. I'm dubious about three cogs, though--I suspect you would have to braze the outermost (smallest) cog in place for that to work.
JV

yellowbarber

nevermind, don't know what I'm talking about.
Here's some pics from a '62 convertible with a cyclo setup that I haven't disassembled yet - I just assumed that there are no spacers between the sprockets, but apparently, there are - plus they appear to be slightly different that the single cogs we put on our garden variety AWs.

noglider 

Pictures no workie.

PalmettoUpstate 

Still trying to figure out this LED light stuff.

Given your "handle" thought you might be interested in knowing that I picked up 2 Schwinn Speedsters in the last 10 or so days...

...a red '74 SA AW 3-speed and a yellow '73 single speed.

Both filet-brazed and beautiful bikes.

PalmettoUpstate 

Good info; many thanks!

Super.bee

Wow, thanks, I never thought of that. Did you redish the wheel? I wonder if there's any pattern to which AW-equipped bikes had longer axles. I guess that's the reason for the various indicator rods. By the way that sounds like pretty great gearing.

Best done by a framebuilder? Are we just talking brazing here, no mechanical interlocking of the cogs?

oldroads

Finally finished this '53:

oldroads

Finally finished this '53:

auchencrow

Nice, oldroads! (I have a '53 just like it, but yours looks minty compared to mine! )

Doohickie

I got my DL-1 back on the road this week with a wheel rebuild (thanks, Yellow Jersey in Madison, WI). It rides like a Cadillac.

wahoonc

Did you just send them the hub? I have one wheel that hops that I don't think I can work the hop out of it.

Aaron

loubapache

WOW, these old roadsters are really nice. I grew up with copies of these (Forever and Flying Pigeon) and those were my transportations until I moved to this country. Always wanted one of these, even the copies.

Thanks for the pic.

Doohickie

Yes. Basically, for $100 per wheel (plus shipping), they will sell you a new rim, the spokes and assemble them all to a hub you send them. From TX to WI and back was 8 days total time. They will turn the wheel around in 24 hours after they get it.

The one caveat I will issue is that they can only work with the materials they've got; in my case, one wheel (the rear) still has a little hop. I can't feel it when riding, but when I stop I can feel the pulse a bit in the brakes. On the front I can feel it too, but much less. There is a weld seem opposite the valve hole and there is nothing you can do about it; there's a little flat spot (and very limited supplies of these rims). It's the nature of rod brake bikes.

Having said that, the new wheels, while not perfect, are SO much better than they were before the rebuild.

Oh, and they used double butted spokes in the build.

Sixty Fiver

Looks wonderful.

Just a note on rebuilding old hubs with new spokes... The elbows are designed for wider flanges so spoke washers should be used to ensure that the spokes seat properly.

yellowbarber

cyclo pics - take two

jrecoi

Been poking around the Colombian bike shops again, and I found another 28" Aluminium rim, a "GW" rim made in Medellin. This one is Westwood pattern only, good for either hub brakes or rod brakes. It is quite a bit heavier than the Ciclo Torres rim, weighing in at 750g, but it feels much sturdier. The extra material makes it cost more though, something like 20% more. It is also doesn't quite look as good; with the usual 28" tire, it looks like a small tire on a wide rim. This GW rim is 36 holes like the Ciclo Torres rim

Interesting notes, a Formula track hub will lace 4X on a Ciclo Torres rim, using 308mm spokes, 306-307mm spoke are probably more appropriate, but some careful filing and rim tape will cover the difference nicely.

As an aside, it is a pity that no one here has managed to make fat mountain bike tires for 635 rims, the mountain bike scene is getting pretty decent, and a home grown 29ner (30ier?) would be a good possibility.

Has anyone fitted 700c Surlys with 28" roadster rims and tires? If they fit, this can be beneficial to those who tour places where 700c is not easily available, at least if they use disc brakes.