For the love of English 3 speeds...
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Canadian Vintage Bicycle Show
Coming up soon! Hope to see some of you there.
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Haven't ridden the old RSW-16 folder in a while. Took it out today for a bit. I really want to get a Raleigh Twenty of similar vintage so that I can compare them back to back. The 16 is really heavy and ponderous, but in a very eager to please, sort of jovial way...
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It looks like the saddles are pushed forward, but that's because you're eyeballing it compared with the seat tube. But what you may not notice is that the seat tube has a slack angle, so it's necessary to push the saddle forward so that it's not too far back. The nose of the saddle should be about an inch behind the center of the crank axle, and that's how it is on these old bikes, just as it is on modern bikes.
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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.
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What my husband dragged home:
My dear husband haunts estate sales hoping to score esoteric tools and vintage cameras. A couple of weeks ago he dragged home a present for me! It's a 1971(hub date) Raleigh Sports in coffee/root beer. This was THE BIKE we all took to college in the late 60s. It got a good scrubbing and polishing and new bearings everywhere, as most were scarred from the sand-like former grease. I re-built the hub - covered in another post - which gave me a true appreciation for the resources that went into these bikes. Sturmey Archer had to sell millions of these to keep the price in range of the masses considering the complexity of design and quality of materials. New 22 tooth sprocket required a new chain. I kept the old ribbed cable housings, but replaced the rusty cables. Tires, tubes and brake pads were replaced, of course. The pedals were frozen and were those German non-user-serviceable ones so I ordered from eBay some of the 1960s English-made pedals that can be overhauled. They came frozen, too, but now spin nicely. A new saddle completed the project. It rides as it should - smooth and without fuss. Shifting is responsive. The neighborhood hills are no problem with the larger sprocket. All in all, a great project!
Last edited by Honusms; 06-14-18 at 08:24 PM.
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My dear husband haunts estate sales hoping to score esoteric tools and vintage cameras. A couple of weeks ago he dragged home a present for me! It's a 1971(hub date) Raleigh Sports in coffee/root beer. This was THE BIKE we all took to college in the late 60s. It got a good scrubbing and polishing and new bearings everywhere, as most were scarred from the sand-like former grease. I re-built the hub - covered in another post - which gave me a true appreciation for the resources that went into these bikes. Sturmey Archer had to sell millions of these to keep the price in range of the masses considering the complexity of design and quality of materials. New 22 tooth sprocket required a new chain. I kept the old ribbed cable housings, but replaced the rusty cables. Tires, tubes and brake pads were replaced, of course. The pedals were frozen and were those German non-user-serviceable ones so I ordered from eBay some of the 1960s English-made pedals that can be overhauled. They came frozen, too, but now spin nicely. A new saddle completed the project. It rides as it should - smooth and without fuss. Shifting is responsive. The neighborhood hills are no problem with the larger sprocket. All in all, a great project!
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Elbow grease and polish
My dear husband haunts estate sales hoping to score esoteric tools and vintage cameras. A couple of weeks ago he dragged home a present for me! It's a 1971(hub date) Raleigh Sports in coffee/root beer. This was THE BIKE we all took to college in the late 60s. It got a good scrubbing and polishing and new bearings everywhere, as most were scarred from the sand-like former grease. I re-built the hub - covered in another post - which gave me a true appreciation for the resources that went into these bikes. Sturmey Archer had to sell millions of these to keep the price in range of the masses considering the complexity of design and quality of materials. New 22 tooth sprocket required a new chain. I kept the old ribbed cable housings, but replaced the rusty cables. Tires, tubes and brake pads were replaced, of course. The pedals were frozen and were those German non-user-serviceable ones so I ordered from eBay some of the 1960s English-made pedals that can be overhauled. They came frozen, too, but now spin nicely. A new saddle completed the project. It rides as it should - smooth and without fuss. Shifting is responsive. The neighborhood hills are no problem with the larger sprocket. All in all, a great project!
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@Honusms It's always nice to see such a good job done to preserve these classic roadsters. Preserving the original fluted cable housings was a nice touch. Beautiful bike!
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Out and about on this really nice old Raleigh Twenty.
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Classic American and British Roadsters, Utility Bikes, and Sporting Bikes (1935-1979):
https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/
Classic American and British Roadsters, Utility Bikes, and Sporting Bikes (1935-1979):
https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/
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I think BrownGW has the correct measurement for the wide bars - 19 3/4 inches (ish) sounds right to me. My 1978 DL-1 is stored with family up north right now, but that sounds right to me. The "narrow" old-style bars on my 1962 Export Model DL-1 are just under 18 inches wide (almost a full 2 inches narrower than the standard DL-1 bars found in the US). With the narrow bars, you usually don't pedal in a tight turn. If you are going very slow and absolutely must pedal you, "open" the knee a bit to allow the bar to pass by. It's something you get used to doing with the narrow bars, but it's never as comfortable as being able to keep your leg straight-on.
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Classic American and British Roadsters, Utility Bikes, and Sporting Bikes (1935-1979):
https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/
Classic American and British Roadsters, Utility Bikes, and Sporting Bikes (1935-1979):
https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/
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I think BrownGW has the correct measurement for the wide bars - 19 3/4 inches (ish) sounds right to me. My 1978 DL-1 is stored with family up north right now, but that sounds right to me. The "narrow" old-style bars on my 1962 Export Model DL-1 are just under 18 inches wide (almost a full 2 inches narrower than the standard DL-1 bars found in the US). With the narrow bars, you usually don't pedal in a tight turn. If you are going very slow and absolutely must pedal you, "open" the knee a bit to allow the bar to pass by. It's something you get used to doing with the narrow bars, but it's never as comfortable as being able to keep your leg straight-on.
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Black is Black
Three Black bikes and a black cat..
From left to right
1969 Robin Hood Semi Scorcher
1960 Norman w/ rear Dynohub
Glider Bitsa Semi Scorcher (year unknown)
One black cat, circa 2012.
Three Black bikes and a black cat..
From left to right
1969 Robin Hood Semi Scorcher
1960 Norman w/ rear Dynohub
Glider Bitsa Semi Scorcher (year unknown)
One black cat, circa 2012.
Last edited by gster; 06-17-18 at 05:12 PM.
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My dear husband haunts estate sales hoping to score esoteric tools and vintage cameras. A couple of weeks ago he dragged home a present for me! It's a 1971(hub date) Raleigh Sports in coffee/root beer. This was THE BIKE we all took to college in the late 60s. It got a good scrubbing and polishing and new bearings everywhere, as most were scarred from the sand-like former grease. I re-built the hub - covered in another post - which gave me a true appreciation for the resources that went into these bikes. Sturmey Archer had to sell millions of these to keep the price in range of the masses considering the complexity of design and quality of materials. New 22 tooth sprocket required a new chain. I kept the old ribbed cable housings, but replaced the rusty cables. Tires, tubes and brake pads were replaced, of course. The pedals were frozen and were those German non-user-serviceable ones so I ordered from eBay some of the 1960s English-made pedals that can be overhauled. They came frozen, too, but now spin nicely. A new saddle completed the project. It rides as it should - smooth and without fuss. Shifting is responsive. The neighborhood hills are no problem with the larger sprocket. All in all, a great project!
My only (small) note is the generic knock off shifter.
It does look better than the plastic faced period trigger but
ones in good condition can be found.
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The ol AMF Hercules carried me down this morning to the local store for some donuts. Then it sat out with me under the willow enjoying the cool, calm morning. Topped off with the donuts and coffee.
Turns out the rack is pretty good at holdling coffee cups too!
Turns out the rack is pretty good at holdling coffee cups too!
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I like black cats too
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It showed up at a used clothing store here in Toronto a couple of years ago
and I offered $150.00 for it.
The young man called his boss and said the price was $350.00 so I passed.
The bike sat there all summer and in the fall I offered $75.00 and took it home.
I think Norman was still a separate company when this one was built.
https://threespeedmania.wordpress.co...-with-dynohub/
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It was a fun project☺️ The shifter came with the bike. It was gummy/rusty but freed up with a little penetrating oil. I wasn’t aware that it was an after market product. I’ll keep my eye out for an OEM replacement.
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Cool that's good to know, I'd been wondering if they were worth it.
Great write-up gster! Chainguard and cranks looks good on it too
Last edited by arty dave; 06-17-18 at 08:45 PM.
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Personally, I like that aftermarket trigger shifter better than plastic covered Sturmey Archer version that would be period correct for this bike.
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