clubman 

In grade 7, it was cool.

BigChief 

By 7th grade, at least with the small group of friends I ran with, the Stingray style bikes were out of fashion. They were for little kids. What we wanted above all else was speed. A chromolly 10 speed was our harts desire, but we managed to go crazy fast on our stripped down English 3 speeds. In fact, the usual department store 10 speeds at the time felt clunky next or our 3 speed scorchers.

SirMike1983 

The blue Schwinn is a later, Giant-built model from Taiwan. I would not be surprised if it had 590 wheels because it's a later bike from a different builder that was made under contract to use the Schwinn name.

JohnDThompson 

Raleigh made a small fortune on those.

gster

Actually saved the company (for a few more years) Global sales were falling in the mid to late 60's and Raleigh was slow to move on the 10 speed craze.
Just like the British Motorcycle Industry, they never saw the Honda 750 coming. The world was ready for a motorcycle that always started, ran, stopped and didn't leave a puddle of oil behind.
I still own a 1969 BSA 650.


TomH_69_BSA_650_Light_001.jpg

clubman 

They didn't even see the CB160 coming in '66. The brits couldn't even build a reliable bike that could redline at 10,000.

I've ridden that bike, A Lightning, small tank? Love the torque on those beasts.

BigChief 

Wow!! gorgeous!! My first bike was a BSA 441 Victor. Had a bunch of different old Brit bikes, but hung on to my Bonnie

024.jpg

gster

To be fair. That photo was not my actual bike..
But mine is close.
I haven't ridden it in years as I honestly prefer riding the bicycles around town.
Merry Xmas BC!

johnnyspaghetti

Why can' I find a serial number on this 64-65 frame? not by the seat lug. not on the bottom. I have all numbers except this not to be found on this 40 dollar bicycle. can't find it

BigChief 

That's where it should be on your bike. It doesn't surprise me that a frame got through without being stamped.

gster

Ditto, or so poorly stamped as to be virtually invisible.

johnnyspaghetti

Hard to navigate some of these ad sites. it is 1000+mi away from me. Rudge Sports 23" full chaincover Bad picture $60

https://forsale.oodle.com/detail/vin...4622-logan-ut/

johnnyspaghetti

Seat lug nothing. Scraped paint off BB possible-maybe-no.

clubman 

Why bother? I can't think of any instance where knowing the serial number of a 3 speed Sports has enhanced the value of the bike.

nlerner

I also really doubt the veracity of the serial # dating schemes for 3-speeds. They're based mostly on wishes and hopes, rather than actual data.

johnnyspaghetti

I have a serial number picture file of all my bicycles. Its property, the value has nothing to do with it. (what value?)

BigChief 

well then, a legitimate excuse to buy a new tool! I love when that happens.
https://www.amazon.com/Neiko-02624-C...K420FC14816AJE

plympton

I haven't posted in a few weeks but my projects continue when I have time. Two Raleighs 52, 49 are totally stripped. All parts cleaned and now I am re-lacing the wheels. I laced a front wheel yesterday and I'm using a parts bike fork in my vise to try to true the rim. There's a learning curve here that will help me with the next 3 wheels. Both bikes will be rod brake bikes. There are areas where the chrome has worn thru on both the handle bars and brake parts but everything cleaned up well. Probably will paint the frames in the next week or two. I see the 52 decals for sale on line but not the 49 ones.

plympton

About the rim tape. I measured the rim strip that I took off one of the rims and it about 15mm. It'sold and most likely has shrunk. What is the proper size? Has anybody ever tried sail tape? It's a good rubbery material and it sticks to itself.

johnnyspaghetti

I have often done a couple of laps around with simple vinyl electrical tape then cutting out the valve hole. It does the job. The fabric nipple protection found on most the English bikes I have had is usually quite deteriorated and rust has embedded it into the rim making it impossible to save & reuse. A guy wants to take a wire brush to the inside of the rim and get the rust cleaned up some. I'm sure rim strips can be found or made cut out of and old tube.

BigChief 

Velox tape is what most experienced cyclists use. I happen to have a bag of rubber rim strips, so I've been using them without any problems on my 3 speed bikes, but those tires are only inflated to around 50 psi. For higher pressures I would use the Velox tape. Personally, even at 50 psi, I wouldn't trust electrical tape.

dweenk

^^^^ I agree. Rubber rim strips for low pressure tires are fine, and they are cheap.

cambiker71

I've not written in here for a while, but since adding a 22t rear cog and replacing the tyres (but pretty much nothing else) my post bike has seen a few rides now, it's very heavy but probably the most practical bike I have.
Was also quite fun riding a tatty old post bike amongst all the really expensive road/mountain bikes on a Santa ride just before Christmas too...

clubman 

To make your own serial numbers?

ThermionicScott 

Velox makes a 16mm wide tape that's perfect for the old rims.