johnnyspaghetti

You can have more higher expectation of accountability going threw a more local vendor will usually back what they sell.

johnnyspaghetti

The click word here is "English". Speedwell what a great name for a bike. Looks like a DL1 based ride to me.

BigChief 

The front brake? Hmmm. That's unusual. Water can't drip down into the housing on the front like it can on a stepthrough rear brake. Still, try to loosen it up with penetrating oil first. On the good side, you have the later style brakes with pinch bolts, so any standard inner brake cable will work for you if you need to replace it. The older style can be a PITA and I'm glad you don't have to deal with that issue. Do try to reuse the old cable housing if you can.
edit:
Any bike shop could sell you the inner cable you need and cut it to length for you.

BigChief 

Yup, I did it again. I broke down and bought another project bike. Not what I was looking for, but I hate not building something in here. Couldn't help myself.
Now, everything is going to go along perfectly with this one, so I'll post pictures sometime in the spring when it's a thing of beauty.

Charmlessman

I will post pictures of the brake lever tomorrow, I did remove the brake assembly for cleaning but left the cable and the lever still attached to the bike. I am removing the rear wheel tomorrow so I can remove tires and tubes on both tires to be ready for wednesday. In the meantime Simichrome should arrive on Sunday and I will work on rims and other chrome parts. I am trying to find a place where I can use a vise in the future to work on the rear hub.

BigChief 

You need one of these.
https://www.amazon.com/IRWIN-Clamp-O.../dp/B0001LQY44

This small 3" vise can be clamped anywhere it's convenient to work. It's useful for a million things. I think it was around 16 bucks at Home Despot. Worth every penny.

johnnyspaghetti

I saw your bike horizontal on that fresh looking concrete and worried of scratches because every picture of that bike you post makes it looks better. It is in really nice shape. The paint is still excellent looking. I am scratching my head as to why the frt. brake is siezed as you explain.

Charmlessman

My bike is now resting on 2x4 boards. When I took that picture the bike was resting on me but I will be more careful with it. I dont think I want to mess with the paint and will leave it looking old.

johnnyspaghetti

This is a 1969 brake assembly off of a Raleigh Superbe the same parts found as your Raleigh Sports complete form lever to fork with all original fasteners. It has grey fluted cable casing and is a working assembly. Its all in good shape The pads are original and hardened with age. The chrome needs cleaning of very light rust but good. I will send this to you in Houston TX. if you want it or need it. Send me back what you don't use. I do think what you have on your Sports is worth fixen,

Charmlessman

Thanks for the offer @johnnyspaghetti I appreciate it. I will try to work with what I have and see if there is something I can do with it. I have added pictures and maybe this one will be very obvious to you guys with more experience.

In the pictures you can see the brake lever and when it was attached to the brake pads the lever would not actuate or it would move just a very short distance. Now I can actuate it and moves freely so it is not stuck as I originally thought. I also see that I will need to cut the end of the cable since its crimped. Once I put the front wheel back (Wednesday) I will try to adjust the brakes as I found a very informative posts in this forum. Do you see anything out of the ordinary or is this only my inexperience mking it seem like there is something wrong?

BigChief 

The problem you face is that there is no practical way of cutting the cable without a cable cutter tool. They cost around $15. The cable housing looks to be in good condition and on a vintage bike like this, you want to reuse it. Modern bike shop mechanics won't understand this and will likely insist that you need a whole new cable. Don't believe 'em. All you need is the inner cable. The frayed end of the old cable needs to be cut off. It might help to hang the cable upright and spray some penetrating oil into the housing and let it work it's way down inside. Then you should be able to slide the old inner cable out. Then, oil up the new cable and slide it through the housing and wipe it off a few times. Install the new inner cable, set up the brake, then cut it off to length.

gster

The little "nipple" needs to be seated in the lever.
A new cable should only be about $2.00.

arty dave

The Speedwell just got a bit more interesting today - I pulled it apart to clean it, and found a stamp on the steerer of the fork "Made in England A & P B". Underneath all the surface rust is a lot more pin-striping on the frame than I thought. I'll need to find a 40h 3 speed hub or shell; and keep working at removing the stuck stem, it's like it's welded in there! I've soaked it, heated it, cooled it, I guess I'll just keep repeating. Weird because the seat post slipped out really easily. The westwood rims are borderline on the inside, any more rust and I would have retired them. I'm going to ask on an Australian forum if anyone knows what year it is based on the serial number. I'm thinking A57584 may mean 1957.

johnnyspaghetti

Haven't seen this shifter before. Maybe a 1961
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/r...400884505.html

herc shifter 61.jpg

johnnyspaghetti

S5 $60 most of it is there https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/h...397854346.html

Sprite S5.jpg

BigChief 

From what I can see in the photos everything looks Birmingham except the fenders. So I'll guess 60 or 61 too

dweenk 

I need a complete fulcrum clamp, plastic stop is OK. I have a complete pulley clamp to trade, the wheel is plastic.

JohnDThompson 

Probably indicates Accles & Pollock "B" tubing:

Accles & Pollock main

arty dave

Thanks that's great John! That's an interesting read, I had looked up A & P bicycle manufacturers but nothing came up. What a great name 'Accles and Pollock' The 'B' is separate to the other inscriptions. I had thought it was a size, but as you say, according to the article it's B quality tubing.

Here's the fork post-clean, pre-polish, I'm hoping the colours, particularly the red, will pop more after a polish:

IMG20171127082120 by arty dave armour, on Flickr

Charmlessman

Hi guys, I am trying to remove the rear fender on the 69 raleigh sports and I have removed all the bolts but now I see there is like a clip near the chainguard which keeps the fender attached. I also see a small piece of metal that I can push in but the fender is not coming off. Any ideas?

johnnyspaghetti

Is the fulcrum clamp the shift cable stop on the top bar close to the front with the slotted plastic insert? If so I'll send you one I still have the box with your address on it. It should be in decent shape after a clean up & complete. I robbed that picture not the one.

BigChief 

What you should have is a clip like this at the very front of the rear fender.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nos-Bakfin-...0AAOSwfIxZa64g
It hooks into the fender on one side and the round side clips over the small cross tube on the frame. You should be able to push the round clip part up to release it from the frame leaving the clip attached to the fender.

arty dave

The clip is just held on by its shape, it should push off that part of the frame fairly easily. Not sure what you mean by the small piece of metal, can you post a pic of it? edit: just as BC describes but show us a pic of the small piece of metal, is it in the way of the fender coming off?

johnnyspaghetti

That clip will pop off easily after you unfasten the mount at the rear brake center bolt. Just keep things in order as you take it apart an remove the whole brake caliper assm. Let the fender drop down a bit to clear the brake mount cross brace and pop it up from down below. Reverse order to reassemble.

BigChief 

I've never had a steel stem stuck but I did have pawl pins rusted tight in an AW hub once. I was worried that the whole assembly might be toast until I gave it an overnight soak in evapo rust. In the morning the rust was gone and the pins came right out. Just a thought.