For the love of English 3 speeds...
03-31-18, 10:57 AM
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I think JC Higgins were Raleigh-made bikes sold by Sears, or some other retail chain, in the USA.
03-31-18, 11:01 AM
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Not to get philosophical (obviously that's what I'm about to do), I scratch my head now the way we (meaning me and the few bikies I knew) abandoned the three-speeds way back then, as the 60s closed and the 70s began. All I wanted, dreamed of, finishing up high school, was a UO8. Which shows I suppose the shallowness of my bike knowledge then as I had yet to be introduced to the PX-10, which in any case would have been way above my pay grade; basically I had no pay grade. Now I wonder what was I thinking? The UO8's frame material was similar to the Raleigh Sports; so was the geometry. Chromed steel wheels. Cottered cranks. Steel handlebars. Steel hub shells. Steel seatpost. All the same as the Sports. The UO8 did have an aluminum stem. (Which could break.) The UO8 came with "alpine" gearing--good for then, high considering what bikes come with today--a climbing advantage over the stock Sports. But this would have been rectified easily by switching to a 20 or 22 tooth cog. How often did I pedal in the 52/14 top combination on the UO8? Almost never. Not to mention giving up the reliable AW hub for that plastic Simplex derailleur that one quickly learned was terrible. Being young and flexible then I liked the drop handlebars but that would have been another easy switch on a Sports. The bike shop in my neighborhood focused on the slightly less expensive Dunelt line, but, same difference. All in all, I think it was susceptibility to bike shop sales pitches and herd mentality. Another embarrassment of youth, basically.
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03-31-18, 11:01 AM
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Yeah, I was the same way...but every so often I would go for a ride on my mother’s Raleigh made Glider and have a blast- too bad it was too small.
I will add to your herd mentality that the bike magazines of the time were focused primarily on drop bar racers, with few articles on 3-speeds. I am still looking for an article on Bicycling! that I recall being an IGH done up with cotterless cranks and alloy rims which I remember being intrigued by but like you no pay band meant it was just interesting.....
For many of us the only source of information was the occasional book on cycling at the library (Sloan was my hero), Bicycling! or International Cycle Sport.....not a lot of utility or non-derailleur coverage. I wish I had heard of a Lenton Sports back then.
I will add to your herd mentality that the bike magazines of the time were focused primarily on drop bar racers, with few articles on 3-speeds. I am still looking for an article on Bicycling! that I recall being an IGH done up with cotterless cranks and alloy rims which I remember being intrigued by but like you no pay band meant it was just interesting.....
For many of us the only source of information was the occasional book on cycling at the library (Sloan was my hero), Bicycling! or International Cycle Sport.....not a lot of utility or non-derailleur coverage. I wish I had heard of a Lenton Sports back then.
03-31-18, 11:13 AM
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This one looks like new. What brand does this hub look like? Frame?
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/r...545215189.html
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/r...545215189.html
03-31-18, 12:07 PM
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The hub would be an SA licensed clone made by Fichtel & Sachs
03-31-18, 12:56 PM
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You are correct about J.C. Higgins being a Sears brand, but I believe that their earlier 3-speeds were built by Steyr in Austria. They were very decent bikes and the hubs were licensed clones of the S/A AW hub. Later models were US built and not nearly as nice.
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03-31-18, 03:43 PM
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Here's my next project. A 1951 23" Rudge Sports. All there except the grips. Front fender has some serious issues. It will test my restoration skills.
51Rudge01 by Billy Bones, on Flickr
51Rudge02 by Billy Bones, on Flickr
51Rudge05 by Billy Bones, on Flickr
51Rudge04 by Billy Bones, on Flickr
51Rudge06 by Billy Bones, on Flickr
51Rudge01 by Billy Bones, on Flickr51Rudge02 by Billy Bones, on Flickr51Rudge05 by Billy Bones, on Flickr51Rudge04 by Billy Bones, on Flickr51Rudge06 by Billy Bones, on Flickr
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Last edited by BigChief; 03-31-18 at 10:47 PM.
03-31-18, 04:49 PM
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Back when I was a kid, we used to hot rod old unwanted 3 speeds simply because they were dirt cheap. Lately, here on this thread we have been calling these stripped down and modified 3 speeds scorchers. One of my favorite rides these days is a scorcher I made from a 55 Rudge. The one thing I would never change is the crank. Those beautiful chainrings are just too cool to swap out. The small difference in weight isn't worth it IMO. So either full dressed or scorcherized, these old 3 speeds are a blast to ride.
03-31-18, 04:49 PM
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03-31-18, 05:05 PM
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Nice catch, @BigChief! Looks in remarkably good shape to me.
03-31-18, 05:17 PM
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03-31-18, 06:03 PM
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Nice looking Rudge Sports @BigChief . I purchased a couple of small body dollies at Harbor Freight and in concert with a small ball peen hammer and some wood blocks have straightened out fenders and the like quite successfully. I'm sure it will look great!
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03-31-18, 06:39 PM
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Back then I didn't have money for new rims. My kid 3 speed had rusty steel Endricks. I did save up and buy a cheap molded plastic "racing seat". These days CR-18s are the ticket for 650A. Although, I was thinking that without fenders, thinner tires on 700c rims might work. I don't know, haven't tried. The brake calipers always seem to have a lot of upward adjustment left in em. I even have a 36H AW hub in my spares box. I think I have one more scorcher build left in me. I just need a 23" frameset that's in bad enough condition that I won't mind repainting it.
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03-31-18, 07:03 PM
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Nice looking Rudge Sports @BigChief . I purchased a couple of small body dollies at Harbor Freight and in concert with a small ball peen hammer and some wood blocks have straightened out fenders and the like quite successfully. I'm sure it will look great!
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03-31-18, 09:25 PM
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Raleigh made plenty of true sports and touring bikes, but the light roadsters and heavy roadsters were always meant to be utility bikes. Even by today's standards they are very good ones. Super reliable, classy and beautiful too. Back when I was a kid, we used to hot rod old unwanted 3 speeds simply because they were dirt cheap. Lately, here on this thread we have been calling these stripped down and modified 3 speeds scorchers. One of my favorite rides these days is a scorcher I made from a 55 Rudge. The one thing I would never change is the crank. Those beautiful chainrings are just too cool to swap out. The small difference in weight isn't worth it IMO. So either full dressed or scorcherized, these old 3 speeds are a blast to ride.
"Scorcherized"...
Webster's?
We need a call on this.
03-31-18, 09:43 PM
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03-31-18, 09:55 PM
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Back then I didn't have money for new rims. My kid 3 speed had rusty steel Endricks. I did save up and buy a cheap molded plastic "racing seat". These days CR-18s are the ticket for 650A. Although, I was thinking that without fenders, thinner tires on 700c rims might work. I don't know, haven't tried. The brake calipers always seem to have a lot of upward adjustment left in em. I even have a 36H AW hub in my spares box. I think I have one more scorcher build left in me. I just need a 23" frameset that's in bad enough condition that I won't mind repainting it.
03-31-18, 10:57 PM
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This is a preservation project. The only restoration element is the front fender. Every piece except the spokes is coming apart for cleaning. New ball bearings all around and a polish and wax for the paint. I might swap out the threaded driver with a splined one so I could have cog options.
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04-01-18, 07:18 AM
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What I was trying to get at in my post is that now I look at the UO8 (and its many cousins) vs the Sport and what seemed like a fancy upgrade when I was an ignorant, although extremely mendacious, teenager, now looks like a very similar "utility" bike that would have been matched by just a few mods to the Sport. I forgot that the UO8 did have alloy hubs, and the alloy Mafac centerpulls saved some weight over the Sport's steel sidepulls and seemed classier. (I don't remember now if they worked any better.) But the frame tubing, lugs, geometry, and many components? Interchangeable, it seems to me.
04-01-18, 07:29 AM
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This is a preservation project. The only restoration element is the front fender. Every piece except the spokes is coming apart for cleaning. New ball bearings all around and a polish and wax for the paint. I might swap out the threaded driver with a splined one so I could have cog options.
04-01-18, 07:52 AM
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This is a preservation project. The only restoration element is the front fender. Every piece except the spokes is coming apart for cleaning. New ball bearings all around and a polish and wax for the paint. I might swap out the threaded driver with a splined one so I could have cog options.
04-01-18, 08:04 AM
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The paradox is that these bikes fetch $150 minimum on Craigslist here so the owners who leave them locked up, derelict, and rusting are giving up some easy money in addition to depriving the world of a fine vintage item that improves the general tone.
04-01-18, 08:47 AM
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I fantasize sometimes about a Concours take on a scorchered Sport or simular. I fell for one of the exterior paints, Recon Green, in the recent Jeep lineup--it's so distracting, the things you see in the street. BTW, thanks for the gift of that word, "scorcher." It's perfect.
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