Sixty Fiver

Also makes it easier to park as it can be folded and left upright on the stand...

clasher

Here's a 3 speed conversion I did up recently... the hub is a new SRF3 though and the crank is a new SA. The frame was made in Canada (has ISO bb!) so there's not much actual English content on the bike anymore... It's a pretty sprightly ride though, those old Raleigh 10 speeds make great 3 speed conversions. I have an AW and a Grand Prix frame I want to make into a drop-bar 3 speed.

Salubrious

Previously I had mentioned that I was having troubles with the front fork of my Raleigh Superbe, such that it had thrown me off. In fact it was quite dangerous- I would go for several months and then the fork would stiffen up again. I was lucky- really only got some badly skinned knees.

Turns out that it was the fork lock. Now I had been testing it, and it seemed to not be involved, however, I think I was making an operator error. So I thought I would share this, since falling off a bike that is out of control at speed can be deadly.

I also have a 1952 Schwinn Black Phantom, which also has a locking front fork. I have had this bike much longer than the Superbe. The Schwinn setup has you turn the fork to the right, operate the lock and then remove the key. When the fork is unlocked, it can' t accidently operate since the fork is pointed straight ahead, and it needs to be turned hard in order to be locked. Also, when the fork is unlocked, the key stays in place and cannot be removed.

The Superbe is different. The fork is locked pointing straight ahead. I did not realize that the key has to be removed from the fork when the bike is being used. This act locks the lock mechanism so it cannot move and accidentally engage. If you leave the key in place, the fork lock can drift around as the bike encounters bumps in the road and thus it can randomly lock!

IOW, the key is supposed to stay on your key chain not the fork. It only goes in the fork to operate the lock and it otherwise removed. No doubt this is why most Superbes have been seperated from their keys.

arex

That's pretty slick...I like it. What kind of pedals are those?

clasher

The parts just kinda came together from a few abandoned projects I had on the go. The pedals on this are VP 872 that I found at the local co-op, they're a bit wider and studier than the generic plastic pedals but nothing amazing. I also picked up another AW hub today so I'm gonna go ahead and build a Gran Prix into a 3 speed road bike soon.

nolatom

Hey all, I'm new to the forum, though at 64, not that new myself.

My "vintage" bike is a 1962 Phillips I've had since new, I was 13 when Dad presented it to me (after he whanged a fence and broke the frame on my old middleweight Columbia, but that's another story). Over the years I never stopped riding it though sometimes it was idle for long periods. But no one ever stole it, so now it's 52 years old and basically original, and nowadays I use it regularly, commute about 3 miles to work on it a couple of times a week, here in New Orleans.

I've been fixing her up slowly, repack bearings, cleaned her up some. Now I'd like to replace the gradually disintegrating rubber pedal blocks while keeping the rest of the pedal (pins and plates) original. Anyone know where I could find replacement rubber blocks--only?

Thanks. If I knew how to post a photo I would, but you all know what she looks like--black, with white fender tail.

noglider 

Since brake pads are things you expect to wear out, I see nothing wrong with putting modern brake pads on, along with modern tires, etc. Kool Stop are inexpensive and unexcelled. No reason to buy any other brand.

arex

Pedals and toeclips

About 4/5's of the way down the page, there's some repro pedal blocks for $20. Not sure they'll fit what you have...I get the feeling that they're meant for Schwinns or something, not English bikes. Somebody out there is bound to make them.

Sixty Fiver

You could just replace the pedals... I favour MKS Sylvan pedals as nice replacements since they offer better traction.

markk900

Repro or relatively new but gently used rubber block pedals are easy to find and reasonably cheap - if you are looking to preserve the original pedals you could buy a new set just to scavenge the blocks.

Do you have the square blocks or the slightly curved ones (and reflector or not)? My wife's 1956 Standard actually has very interesting reflectors in the curved pedals; I used NOS Union pedals on my 49 Humber also with reflectors (which were not what it had originally).

@Sixty Fiver: I used the Sylvan pedals on the 3spd Trek conversion and like them a lot, but they're not cheap and do not look quite right IMO on an older roadster (they look great on one of those Lentons or Reg Harris's posted in another thread).

nolatom

Thanks to you both.

They are square, no reflector, so I think anything that's the right dimensions would do. And I recently cleaned and repacked both axle bearings at a local bike co-op here, so will try to save the metal parts and look for something used, whether in a pedal or separate. I had hoped someone might be manufacturing them, but so far no soap..

Meanwhile a little electrician's tape on the eroded spots would look genuinely retro, ha ha.

Rode her to work this morning, gorgeous spring day in imperfect but lovely New Orleans. Fyi if you ever visit, much progress in the past year or two on bike lanes and bike paths here, and a new rail-trail in the works from Lakeview neighborhood to the Quarter:

https://www.google.com/search?q=lafi...ml%3B645%3B330

markk900

. Agree!

only if it is gen-u-ine British tape!

. I had the privilege of visiting NOLA a few years ago - what an awesome city and perfect for an English 3-speed!

BGBeck

By the looks of the rear hub, it's a three speed.

JohnDThompson 

This one showed up on the "Gentleman Cyclist" list recently:

PalmettoUpstate 

Just getting a chance to check in on "the Thread" - LOL.

That troika is wayyy coolll!

What's the scoop on the semi-torpedo grips on the "Twenty" vs. the DARE grips on the Superbe?

PalmettoUpstate 

auchencrow I'd like to get your opinion on this situation...

I picked up a 1978 Sprite 3-speed in FL last week [ 'The Headbadge' - Vintage bicycle information ] and the "flipper" I bought it from had taken a can of black spray paint and coated both the rims and the OEM gumwall tires with paint. I don't think the rims have nearly as much rust in them as kcaut's new Superbe's do but I'm sure the original 36+ year old gumwalls were REALLY ugly; I've never seen any that old that aren't; hence the flipper's urge to "beautify" the bike. [pics to follow at some point; the emerald green with black head tube inset is visually arresting]

Anyway, the question I have is this, is there a reasonably not-too-labor-intensive way to get that black paint off the rims and ~ 1.5 inches of spokes and spoke nipples? This bike is all-original throughout and really deserves to be put back right. Tx.

PalmettoUpstate 

Did you have to narrow the frame at the drop outs on that Sprite mixte in order to get the IGH in? [and/or will you have to on the Gran Prix?]

That made for a really nice 3-speed conversion; I have a few planned that will be similar once I get to them.

nolatom

Dyno-Hub!! Woo hoo! Mine is a little weak after half a century untouched, but still works.

wahoonc

Those are the original Dare style grips in that picture, must be the camera angle. It currently has black/cork grips on it now, more comfortable than the Dare. Origin 8's I believe.

Aaron

wahoonc

All of my dynohubs work. My Twenty has an AG hub on it, it will push the modern LED lights just fine.

Aaron

Brynley

It's been a while since I had the chance to take my '70 Rudge Sports out for a spin. I found a cool "ELITE" headlamp in my father's basement which I think belonged to his old bike. Don't know anything about it, but it seems to fit well!

clasher

Nope, my new production srf-3 hub came spaced to 120mm but they have thick spacers under the locknuts so I assume they could be swapped and made to fit narrower spacing should one desire such things. The Grand Prix is getting an AW hub so I might cold-set the frame for the narrower spacing but I might just put the anti-rotation washers on the inside to take up the extra space.

PalmettoUpstate 

I checked the spacing on a women's frame Sprite 5 speed derailleur we have and it is 120mm. Then I checked a couple of Sports AW hubbed bikes and the Sprite 3 speed AW that I just bought in FL and all three of them have 110 mm. Gonna get out in the shop and check the Bridgestone Kabuki that is the 1st up for 10-to-3 conversion... I'm cautiously encouraged as I really didn't look forward to cold-setting the frame and maybe I won't have to with the off-the-shelf stuff that is out there.

PalmettoUpstate 

Not to quibble but they really look like the grips that came on the 1978 Sprite model: 'The Headbadge' - Vintage bicycle information [and the unmolested 1978 emerald green bike I just got has them]

What I'm trying to figure out is why Raleigh apparently went away from the DARE grips, maybe for just that one year, here's the catalog page on the 1977Sprite and it shows DARE's: https://www.kurtkaminer.com/1977raleighcat_us_13_lg.jpg

...and if you look at the 1979 catalog page you'll see DARE's on the bike with the upright "Northrounder" bars: https://www.kurtkaminer.com/1979raleighcat_us_05_lg.jpg

Just trying to figure this stuff out LOL, sometimes it seems that the closer you look at Raleigh nuances the more mysterious they become!

arex

That's beautiful.