SirMike1983 

I was lucky in that the system worked 'out of the box' when I got the bike - it just needed a clean up. A few years ago, I bought a couple of the drop-in halogen replacements for the original headlight bulbs, so I put one of those in. They were being sold in England and I bought a couple to try. They put out more light than the original headlight bulbs, but less than an LED. If I need serious light, I hook up a Cree LED to the handle bars.

dweenk 

I was able to get a few of these today, and was curious if any members needed 1 or 2. I have 6 available. PM me.

johnnyspaghetti

dweenk 

Brake cable size, the step-down is just a little too large for the cable opening in the trigger.

BigChief 

These are hard to find. Much nicer looking than the big rounded aluminum modern ones and correct for early 60s Raleighs. The ferrules I've seen on older 50s Raleighs were the same as these but shorter.

johnnyspaghetti

I would think the longer ones may offer more support, or do they? The ferrules I have on my 60's bikes are oll good with the exception of the spiral casing coming out has been stressed in many different conditions of severity but ar some how still working and none have broken strands or in a untwisted conditon. Seeing is these are traped parts by the assy. process ai am lucky but using kid gloves to deal with. The less severe ends I was able to use some cheap clear vinyl 3/16 ID X 5/16 OD tube and slipped it on the over the casing from the caliper end using a heat gun to soften ti expandeed over that ball end and re shrunk down to size and fits snug & will move but has tensiton over the original casing. I'll go get a picture & edit my mess. this computer crashed wpower problem I will re du. And have pics and addition bs.

johnnyspaghetti

I made this mod/repair of sorts on the trigger end of the cable. Not the brake. I am on a different pc now and need to be fikin' things on the communication so's I & maybe you understand

johnnyspaghetti

OK then all that dinking with the pc's rather sucked. I took another bad picture. This seemed to help stabilize the end movement that seats on this ferrule and does a good job of stabilizing it and may offer some future protection although I take a semi concious efft to not bang the ends of cables on the bars. It is clear tube, definitely seen but you have to look. I do believe it protect it from further end fray of the fluted casing. As i look at my Raleighs I see the brake is larger and the $10 Tiawan Phillips(orwhatever)has perfect fluted white/cream cables in pristine un fettered condition & have the short ferrules. huh.



Down the line I put another peice of the same at a minor kink/bend in this pic. this was simple & cheap been on there all summer. it is snug on the ferrule but a good fit on the casing without calling it slop.

Velocivixen

Those are nice. I have saved various ones off different 3 speeds but they look old.

BigChief 

This is the older style from the 50s. Cables got replaced over the years so ferrules and old style housings are very rare. So if you ever run across any...hang on to em. Even if they're in rough shape.

f50s.jpg

johnnyspaghetti

With a step in them. I see. Good Knowledge. thank you.

johnnyspaghetti

I need to see what I can do with this one. What a shame, the cable is intact, no fray/breaks. The spiral winding is some what mangled as you all can see. This is the result of a poor front wire basket installation.

browngw 

I'm of a different mind when it comes to cables, housings, brake pads, grips and chains. If new is available and will work, I change them. They are still very special bikes even wearing new "consumables". Sometimes concessions are made like "new" cloth bar tape but generally think a bike looks well sorted with newer components.

johnnyspaghetti

There is a point when I have to agree and maybe I'm just beating a dead horse.

However to replace a cable or a casing section is one thing but this is a complete original cable assembly w/swedgged ends and so far I believe with a little tweeking can straighten that end out & get it to slide freely again on this other wise good assembly.

BigChief 

Yes, I agree. It's just that preserving or copying original features is one aspect of this hobby I enjoy. I'll preserve original cable housings when ever I can. I like being faced with mechanical puzzles and solving them.

johnnyspaghetti

I didn't get white shrink tube for nothing. Lubed, turns freely, sliding well. Only had to dink around with it for less than a hour.

gster

Despite their age, the older, ribbed cable housings are more flexible than the modern ones and seem to follow a better path to the rear of the bikes. In particular, the brake cable as it rolls over the top bar.

clubman 

Absolutely. You'd be hard pressed to feel a difference between well-used set of pre-1960 ribbed Raleigh cables with an NOS pair. Clarks made great brake Raleigh pattern cables as well.

BigChief 

So far, I have always been able to reuse the old cable housings even when I had to replace the inner cable. Usually due to a broken cable strand or sometimes rust on the inner cable. Most of the time, the ball ends on the older style Raleigh brake cables are made of steel so you can remove them with a torch and silver solder them onto a new cable. Sometimes, they're pot metal cast onto the end and just melt. In that case, I saw off and drill through a cap screw with a head that fits the caliper and solder that on. For shifter cables, I've been attaching short sections of 3/32" brass tubing with JB Weld. I've never tried patching broken sections of housing cover with shrink tubing. Sounds like a good idea.

johnnyspaghetti

This shrink tube is what Homedepot offered and I consider low quality & limited to 3" lengths. It does make things look better but this particular shrink tube found in packs of 5 pieces for $1.19 offers no support where the housing kinked at the end of the ferrule and is a weakened spot in the spring like housing winding. I will need to find a way to extend the end of the ferrule to add support past the weakened spot. All shrink tube/crimp couplings were not created equal and there are far better products that will not only shrink, ID will seal and then harden very stiff.

cable winding.jpg

BigChief 

Ah, you've got a trickier puzzle to solve. I thought it was only the covering that was damaged. The housing is bent. But! It looks like it's only a 1/4" or so from the end. I'll bet there's enough slack to sacrifice that small amount of housing. You could also move the fulcrum clip forward or the shifter back to make up for it.
What I would do is take some cable cutters and snip off the end of the inner cable and remove it, trim off the bent housing and set up the shifter again with a brand new inner cable in the old housing. Now the easy way to do this is to use a modern Sturmey archer inner cable with the pinch bolt adapter on the indicator. Or you could have even more fun making up your own inner cable using a standard shifter cable and the 3/32" brass tubing I mentioned earlier.

nlerner

I've actually been able to trim housing like that without removing the inner cable. It's a bit tricky and you need some very good wire cutters, but you can stretch the part of the coiled housing out a bit, giving you enough space to snip it without snipping the inner cable. You might need two needle nose pliers to do that: one to pull and one to hold the coiled end near where the housing is still good.

agmetal

Some of you may remember the lightly-used ANT roadster frame I picked up a while ago. It had been built be given away as a raffle prize, so the original build included several parts that were lower-end than a full custom build might use, including a generic fork. I picked up the frame, including the generic fork and front rack, and built it up as a more practical take on my 1937 Raleigh Tourist. I recently had the idea to get a custom fork built for it, to make it look and feel more like a real roadster, and commissioned one from another Boston-area builder, Royal H Cycles, who was recommended to me by another builder. Mike Flanigan isn't really building bikes under the ANT name anymore, and gave his blessing to have Bryan do it. I'm quite happy with the result!

agmetal

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BigChief 

Interesting. I can see how that could work. It does sound like a tricky operation. I love this kind of stuff!