gster

Yes, the whole 333 system was removed (and thrown out) and replaced with SA parts.
I have a good collection of SA shifters/pulleys etc., even a few fulcrum stops!

Sixty Fiver

Shimano's earliest 3 speeds ("333") are pretty much disposable; they don't run as well. parts are not available, and as far as I know there are no service manuals for them either.

The time one could put into a "333" would be better spent with an AW.

With that being said, the "333" is a fine hub until it stops working and they are fairly tough, if not less refined.

Suntour sold a 3 speed hub but this was a rebranded Sturmey Archer, many of the spare AW parts I have came in Suntour packaging.

gster

I never actually rode the bike w/ the 333 hub as a matter of loyalty to SA. I had read several negative comments re: the 333
and decided just to scrap it.

dweenk 

Speaking of "333", I have a working top tube "333" stick shifter that I have no use for. It is free for the cost of postage.

forestine

Great! This is an old Supercycle, too. Glad to see it works.

gster

New Purchase.
Picked up a somewhat ratty hercules 3 speed the other day at a reasonable price ($80.00) The hub is poorly stamped but looks like 1971.
Here are the before pictures. It has a Japanese "Speedic" leather saddle as well.

gster

This one has moved on to another lucky owner. I decided to concentrate on British built only. It was a good city bike and I did ride it for a couple of years.

forestine

I got this one for when people visit but I bought it before I knew anything about bikes. It's just a matter of pride to get it working again, since I'll never be able to sell it for how much I paid for it. D'oh.

ETA: Cool Hercules!

gster

Some Supercycles were built by Raleigh in the 60's and early 70's. The green one above was (I believe) built from left over CCM stock and rebranded for Canadian Tire approx 1974/75. It actually has an interesting 2 part paint finish with a base coat of silver over sprayed with a translucent chartreuse colour.

smontanaro 

Nice bike. I fixed up a Hercules for my (former) daughter-in-law a few years ago.

I think it's easy to assume that Brooks was the only company to make leather saddles (the hipsters probably all think so), but prior to, what, the late 50s?, I think just about all saddles for decent bikes were still made of leather. If you were to take some pictures of your Speedic, I imagine Amir, the proprietor of the saddlewax website, would be happy to include them.

gster

This is the third Speedic saddle I've found and they seem to hold up quite well. I prefer an older, broken in saddle to a new one.

gster

Good bye to a friend.
I sold this bike to a guy I work with.
1938 Hercules Falcon. It was really a project to keep me
busy during the winter. It was also far too small for me to ride.
It's gone to a good home and I only changed him what I had into the bike.

gster

I've sent him some photos.

gster

Close examination of this saddle reveals that it says "Superior Quality, Special (not Speedic) Made in Japan.

dweenk 

I think I have the Sports I bought a while back dialed in now. I like it so much that it is my daily rider for everything. I removed the seat bag for repairs, but the saddle is fantastic. I took it for a 14 mile ride this afternoon (90 degrees and humid). We are pretty flat around here, so I won't need to change the rear cog from stock - most of my rides are in "Normal".

I have one more adjustment to make. The pedals rotate forward when I push it. I checked the chain tension, so it must be tight bearings. From what I have read, that means backing off the lock nut on the non-drive side.

dweenk 

I have a ladies Raleigh Sports with the nice "R" nuts on the cotter pins. It seems that someone in the past got a bit aggressive with the file on the left cotter. The head of the cotter is nearly inside the crank arm, and the arm is loose. I would like to buy a new cotter that:

A. Fits the crank, and
B. Will accept the "R" nut

Does anyone know the diameter of the pin (I think 9.5mm, but I am not sure) and the thread pitch?

gster

Nice looking' bike.

Velocivixen

Hey, I just bought Raleigh specific cotters from bikesmithdesign online HOWEVER it says right on their page that the cotter does NOT accept the Raleigh "R" nut. I presume it's due to the threading. Other than the online auction place I don't know where you'd get one. Or buy a cheap Raleigh bike that has them & use for parts.

JohnDThompson 

The pins that accept the "R" nut have Whitworth thread; the only way you will find replacements is to get them from another old Raleigh.

N.B. The "R" is just a simple disk pressed into the opening of the nut on the pin. It may be possible to transfer it to another, non-Whitworth pin, but I have not tried this myself. Good luck!

dweenk 

Thanks VV,

I found a cotter in my junk box that fits. The Raleigh nut won't fit it, but at least I have a bike that is rideable now. I'll keep my eyes open for old Raleigh cotters though.

jman0war

Can anybody offer any suggestions for a couple things?

Firstly, i'm working on restoring a couple fenders PalmettoUpstate was kind enough to offer.
I find that one of the stays on the rear fender is quite bent.
The mounting holes line up with the rest so i'm partially tempted to just leave the stay as it is.
But I had a quick go at straightening it.
I put a board down and drove a couple nails around the stay, then used a small hammer to try and pound the first bend.
But I didn't really make much progress and I'm concerned about damaging the weld area.

I put a piece of wood between the hammer and stay so i wasn't pounding directly onto the metal.
Maybe i need to shore this up better with bigger pieces..
I'm thinking maybe i should use heat, like a blow torch and heat the stay?
Anyway, maybe this is unnecessary and I should leave it bent.
What are your thoughts?


Secondly, the Saddle.
It was in good condition, but quite dried out.
I put 2 pretty thick coats of Dubbin and left it for a couple weeks now.
The leather was still greasy today so i left it outside in the sun, hoping the Dubbin would heat up a little and absorb more into the leather.
But the leather is still quite stiff.
The Dubbin has a parafin wax smell, and is beeswax in appearance.
I sorta wish i had used Brooks Proofhide instead tbh.
Here are some pics i took today.
Leather looks quite scaly.
Not sure if I'll manage to get this very supple.
Might be a right-off.
What do you think?

JohnDThompson 

I suspect the "Dubbin" product is based on beeswax and shouldn't be a problem. The crazing you see looks to be superficial and should affect performance or longevity. I have a 1967 Brooks saddle with similar superficial crazing that has held up fine.

Don_in_VA

This week I picked up an AMC Hercules bike of Craigslist in what appeared to be very good condition. The AW hub say 79 on it and I'm guessing that's when the bike was made. I had been looking for a Robin Hood from the mid to early 60's (and am still looking) as that was my first real bike as a kid. It was stolen and my folks bought me a Hercules, which I never liked quite as well. This was mostly a nostalgia purchase but I do intend to ride it locally and I have been doing so.

Cosmetically the bike was in very good (not pristine) condition but only 2 gears worked (2 and 3). Having read a bit about the SA AW hub I figured I could get it working again and I did. I lubed it with 3 in 1 oil and adjusted the tension on the hub according some directions I found on the source of all knowledge - YouTube. First and second gears worked but 3rd was free spinning - before I had 3rd gear and 2nd gear in the 1 and 2 positions. With a bit more adjusting I got all three gears working nicely.

I've been reading through the discussion here (and it will take me weeks to digest all of the great information!) and I see where 3 in 1 isn't recommended (gets gummy). Some folks have mentioned but never explained how to flush the hub. So, I'm looking for some advice on this. I suppose I could take the hub apart and reassemble it but it seems unnecessary at this point.

And as others have said, this is a great thread. I'm learning a lot.

Don

look566 rider

For the fender stays, I used regular old pliers to straighten the stays on my Rudge as well as just using my hands. Tried the hammer bit myself and did not have much success. I did not worry about marking the metal, which did not really happen anyway.

arex

You might be able to modify a small brass punch to beat it out with...gently, of course.