For the love of English 3 speeds...
01-04-16, 11:52 AM
#9026
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I've heard good things about 718 Cyclery but haven't been there and don't know if they have any affinity for old bikes.
A couple of friends of mine run Nomad Cycle in Long Island City. They can definitely get your bike working right.
Larry at Larry's Freewheeling in Harlem started working on Raleigh 3-speeds about 50 years ago and knows everything you need, but he's far.
I just visited Bicycle Habitat in SoHO for the first time in over 30 years, and there's a guy named Hal who appears to be in his 50's. He's an expert mechanic and knows old bikes, and I'd bet he could serve you well, too.
If you visit Larry's or Nomad, please tell them I sent you!
If you don't have any luck, you can bring your bike to me. I don't work in the industry any more, but I can help. I'm in the West Village (Manhattan).
A couple of friends of mine run Nomad Cycle in Long Island City. They can definitely get your bike working right.
Larry at Larry's Freewheeling in Harlem started working on Raleigh 3-speeds about 50 years ago and knows everything you need, but he's far.
I just visited Bicycle Habitat in SoHO for the first time in over 30 years, and there's a guy named Hal who appears to be in his 50's. He's an expert mechanic and knows old bikes, and I'd bet he could serve you well, too.
If you visit Larry's or Nomad, please tell them I sent you!
If you don't have any luck, you can bring your bike to me. I don't work in the industry any more, but I can help. I'm in the West Village (Manhattan).
I might try Nomad. I'll let you know how it goes.
01-04-16, 11:56 AM
#9027
aka Tom Reingold
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@kikaso, please do let me know. The owners are named Jane and Damon.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
01-05-16, 04:24 PM
#9028
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Yikes!
Well, here's my Rudge so far. I sanded through the old over paint to get an accurate measurement and placement of the downtube graphic since I'm planning on reproducing it. Today, I finished the prep work and gave her a couple coats of rattle can black paint. It has a non-Raleigh fork with no fender stay lugs. I decided to leave it since it's nice and straight and this bike isn't getting fenders anyway.
Well, here's my Rudge so far. I sanded through the old over paint to get an accurate measurement and placement of the downtube graphic since I'm planning on reproducing it. Today, I finished the prep work and gave her a couple coats of rattle can black paint. It has a non-Raleigh fork with no fender stay lugs. I decided to leave it since it's nice and straight and this bike isn't getting fenders anyway.
01-06-16, 09:59 AM
#9032
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01-06-16, 10:25 AM
#9033
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01-06-16, 10:59 AM
#9034
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
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01-06-16, 02:44 PM
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I'm building up a new wheelset with 28 x 1.1/2" alloy rims I got from Holland. Can someone suggest me some stainless steel spokes (14G) that look vintage and not modern?
01-06-16, 02:59 PM
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I want to go with stainless for better performance. I also understand that these were used in the past on higher-end machines going back to at least the 1950s, maybe as early as the 1930s. Is there a certain brand I should get? What length do I need? I'm having a local bike shop do the work, but I want to make sure they have the right parts.
01-06-16, 03:01 PM
#9038
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I love it when one of these comes to me for service. This Superbe was brought to me a few days ago, minus the wheels, but with a set of hubs.
The owner was not sure of the date on the bike, and the hubs he had were not original to the bike, but the SA AW is dated 1977.
Anyway, I built the hubs into a set of CR 18 rims, overhauled both hubs, the BB and headset. Not much wear showing anywhere, but any grease that was left was dry and hard. Don't think it had been ridden in years.
Anyway, done and ready to go.
And before anybody says anything about the excess cable at the shifter, the owner said he wanted it like that so he can put a riser bar on it.
The owner was not sure of the date on the bike, and the hubs he had were not original to the bike, but the SA AW is dated 1977.
Anyway, I built the hubs into a set of CR 18 rims, overhauled both hubs, the BB and headset. Not much wear showing anywhere, but any grease that was left was dry and hard. Don't think it had been ridden in years.
Anyway, done and ready to go.
And before anybody says anything about the excess cable at the shifter, the owner said he wanted it like that so he can put a riser bar on it.
Last edited by Dan Burkhart; 01-06-16 at 03:04 PM.
01-06-16, 03:01 PM
#9039
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I want to go with stainless for better performance. I also understand that these were used in the past on higher-end machines going back to at least the 1950s, maybe as early as the 1930s. Is there a certain brand I should get? What length do I need? I'm having a local bike shop do the work, but I want to make sure they have the right parts.
01-06-16, 03:02 PM
#9040
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That's beautiful.
I love it when one of these comes to me for service. This Superbe was brought to me a few days ago, minus the wheels, but with a set of hubs.
The owner was not sure of the date on the bike, and the hubs he had were not original to the bike, but the SA AW is dated 1977.
Anyway, I built the hubs into a set of CR 18 rims, overhauled both hubs, the BB and headset. Not much wear showing anywhere, but any grease that was left was dry and hard. Don't think it had been ridden in years.
Anyway, done and ready to go.
The owner was not sure of the date on the bike, and the hubs he had were not original to the bike, but the SA AW is dated 1977.
Anyway, I built the hubs into a set of CR 18 rims, overhauled both hubs, the BB and headset. Not much wear showing anywhere, but any grease that was left was dry and hard. Don't think it had been ridden in years.
Anyway, done and ready to go.
01-06-16, 03:10 PM
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I want to go with stainless for better performance. I also understand that these were used in the past on higher-end machines going back to at least the 1950s, maybe as early as the 1930s. Is there a certain brand I should get? What length do I need? I'm having a local bike shop do the work, but I want to make sure they have the right parts.
01-06-16, 03:14 PM
#9042
aka Tom Reingold
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Why are stainless spokes better? Galvanized have been good enough for me.
@Dan Burkhart, the stem and bars are not original, are they?
@Dan Burkhart, the stem and bars are not original, are they?
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Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
01-06-16, 03:20 PM
#9043
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Why are stainless spokes better? Galvanized have been good enough for me.
@Dan Burkhart, the stem and bars are not original, are they?
@Dan Burkhart, the stem and bars are not original, are they?
I think the stem is original, but the bar has a Velo Orange logo on it.
01-06-16, 04:13 PM
#9044
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Why are stainless spokes better? Galvanized have been good enough for me.
@Dan Burkhart, the stem and bars are not original, are they?
@Dan Burkhart, the stem and bars are not original, are they?
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01-06-16, 04:15 PM
#9045
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I have a new project that belongs here. A Hercules Royal Prince which has seen some better days. A lot of surface rust, a few paint chips, and fenders that are MiA. Still trying to dig up info on it, but most seems to have been lost to time itself. All I know is it is pre-1960 before Raleigh aquired the company. It'll be my winter project bike and get cleaned up some, a bit of clear coat and some polish, new tires, and possibly some wooden fenders.
Last edited by FoldMeSideways; 01-06-16 at 04:21 PM.
01-06-16, 04:16 PM
#9046
aka Tom Reingold
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In about 1983, I built two bikes for myself, a "nice" bike, my Mclean, and a commuter bike. I used DT stainless on the nice bike and DT galvanized on the commuter bike. I am still using both pairs of wheels. Of course, DT doesn't make galvanized spokes any more, or if they do, we can't get them here in the US.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
01-06-16, 05:03 PM
#9047
Senior Member
Nice SA hub cog for my 73' Raleigh.
Does not even look used. Came from the bin of my local bike shop.
20T just what I needed
Does not even look used. Came from the bin of my local bike shop.
01-06-16, 05:21 PM
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I have a new project that belongs here. A Hercules Royal Prince which has seen some better days. A lot of surface rust, a few paint chips, and fenders that are MiA. Still trying to dig up info on it, but most seems to have been lost to time itself. All I know is it is pre-1960 before Raleigh aquired the company. It'll be my winter project bike and get cleaned up some, a bit of clear coat and some polish, new tires, and possibly some wooden fenders.
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01-06-16, 05:41 PM
#9049
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Seeing as though I have uncovered very little information on this bicycle, I don't have high hopes of finding original parts. That said, I will keep an eye out for them. If I can keep the bike with the proper parts I would prefer to do so.
01-06-16, 08:49 PM
#9050
Senior Member
Slightly on a tangent, but this bike reminds me of what a good ol' three speed can be, for good reason.
I came across a Novara Transfer in the wild today. For those of you outside of the US, Novara is the house bike/bike accessory brand of REI, our big outdoor co-op chain, analogous to MEC in Canada. I really liked this bike as it was a fully loaded (as sold) commuter: Nexus 7 speed internally geared hub, Novatech dynamo hub with AXA/Basta head and tail lamps, chainguard, rear rack, fenders, and a chromoly frame and fork. All for about $700. But because it's too damn practical, of course REI discontinued it. Now they have nothing similar.
It's one of the few modern bikes that I've seen that are similar to a Raleigh Superbe in all its features, and adjusting for inflation, it's probably about as much as a Superbe cost back in the day. When they were discounting the remaining Transfers a couple years ago, I almost thought about grabbing one, but didn't have the available cash.
Novara Transfer Bike - 2013 - REI.com
I came across a Novara Transfer in the wild today. For those of you outside of the US, Novara is the house bike/bike accessory brand of REI, our big outdoor co-op chain, analogous to MEC in Canada. I really liked this bike as it was a fully loaded (as sold) commuter: Nexus 7 speed internally geared hub, Novatech dynamo hub with AXA/Basta head and tail lamps, chainguard, rear rack, fenders, and a chromoly frame and fork. All for about $700. But because it's too damn practical, of course REI discontinued it. Now they have nothing similar.
It's one of the few modern bikes that I've seen that are similar to a Raleigh Superbe in all its features, and adjusting for inflation, it's probably about as much as a Superbe cost back in the day. When they were discounting the remaining Transfers a couple years ago, I almost thought about grabbing one, but didn't have the available cash.
Novara Transfer Bike - 2013 - REI.com
