OK, saddle question. It's a vinyl Brooks saddle, with so-called "mattress construction" (vinyl, foam, plastic, on top of stretched springs). The vinyl is tore in a few places and the plastic is pretty badly cracked. How would you go about repairing it? Searching the forums it seems two popular options are (a) getting a piece of vinyl and stretching it over, gluing on the underside and (b) going to a cobbler/leather repair shop and getting scrap leather to stretch over the saddle. Any other suggestions?

Phil,

I would recommend searching e-Bay for a replacement saddle. I've been able to find a couple mattress type saddles there for a reasonable price. https://sporting-goods.shop.ebay.com/...=p3286.c0.m282

You may even get lucky and find a Brooks B72 leather saddle in nice condition. Search B72 as well as B-72.

https://cgi.ebay.com/BROOKS-B-72-VINT...item3a58e8be48

My suggestion would be to get a Brooks B66 or B72. The vinyl mattress saddles I've used lead to OMAA syndrome. I tried to ride my Triumph with its old mattress saddle, but quickly gave up and replaced it with an old B66 I bought on eBay. Much better.

Chain Reaction has sales on saddles on occasion, and the price is quite good, even with shipping, if you want to buy a new one. Right now the B67 in Dark Green is on sale. You can use this saddle with a mounting clamp on your old sports.

Pictures!!!

I got her all shiny'd up. Did a complete disassembly and cleaned part by part. I took steel wool to the rims, a toothbrush to the frame (there were random flecks of green paint all over the frame, apparently from another project), fixed up the seat (re-covered in leather: some wrinkles but it feels so much better and from a distance it looks good), adjusted, tweaked, waxed and lubed it all. Got a second grip in good shape (thanks, Gbalke!). She looks pretty and rides very nicely.

Thank you everyone for your help and advice. It was a great find and a fun build.

philip

Looks great! How's the ride?

Nice work - very pretty!

Use black Kiwi shoe polish to clean and wax the frame. You'll be shocked how good it'll look.

Good job Phil, and that saddle looks like a job well done. Now ride the hell out if it!

I've taken her out a few times tooling around in the neighborhood with the kids. Very smooth ride. Shifts pretty well although in gears 2/3 there is a clicking noise when pedaling, in gear 1 it is silent, coming from the hub. Does that mean it's on the edge of the shift range for 2/3 and I have to adjust the cable tension? I played with it a little and couldn't get the clicking to go away.

Thanks all for the compliments.

philip

Clicking from the hub is normal in 2 and 3; a loud, bright click means the hub needs oil. A more muffled click means it's ok. Cable tension (assuming your indicator is correct), is simple to do:

In second gear, adjust until the shoulder of the indicator rod is level with the end of the axle. Look through the hole in the axle nut to adjust this.

It looks good, but some constructive criticism: the grips and brake levers face forward, but they should face nearly downward and only slightly outward. Also, it might be more comfortable if you raised the tip of the saddle up a bit.

Thanks. The saddle is loose, the grooves on the seat rail and the seat post attachment are worn almost smooth, so you bump it too hard and it moves... I need to find a way to make it stickier. I played with the handlebars a bit too.

I have the high end version, the Raleigh Superbe. The upgrades I've made have been drum brakes, a Shimano Nexus 7 speed hub and 700C wheels. Everything else has been kept intact. Its a great bike.

I like the bike as-is however I've been debating getting a saddle bag or a Wald basket. In my mind the bike looks sharp with either...

Old Roads sells new saddle bags for for $21.95. Here'sa link:

https://oldroads.com/bikepart.html

Where are all these 3-speeds coming from all of a sudden? I thought they all had gone to the land fills in two waves .... the first wave being the "got a new 10-speed" wave and the second wave being the "got a new mountain bike wave".

Anyway, I just got these two from the late 1950's ... I saved them (by about 20 minutes) from getting crushed in a garbage truck ... always have an Allen carrier handy in your car .... man, does that chrome shine up nicely!!!

I'll try to post some "after" pix when I finish them.

Excellent catch! Thank God you were there in time. The quality probably peaked in the '50s.

The Lady's is a Rudge--"the Handmade bicycle"--note the hand in the chainring.

My sentiments exactly. It would have been a crime to lose them to a landfill. Both are Rudge Whitworths 3-speed models with coaster brakes, and the build quality is alot nicer than some of the later ones I've seen. The men's was factory sprayed a burgundy color, and the burgundy paint is faded. I tried cleaning up the paint, which started to quickly disappear to reveal a near perfect condition black paint job beneath! A few nice period accessories, and the men's bike just needed air in the tire & some oil in the SA hub to be ready to ride!!! I am hoping to go out on it later today. IMHO .... I think they fell into the right hands.

Not to mention that it also has the hub mounted generator and light plus both bikes have Brooks saddles.

And the Miller bell rings loud!

I think it comes from estates as the older generation passes away. These old bikes are stashed in garages, sheds and barns and as the kids clear the places out of there is no appreciation for the bike (or hundreds of other items...) it goes to charity, many of which will pick up for free. I know the thrift store I bought mine from, we often find "uncommon items" (like 5 Green Bay Packer hats in an Alabama thrift shop ... SCORE!) and the estate explanation always made the most sense to me.

Rashes of old bikes come up on Craigslist every now and then too ... bought 3 oldschool bikes in the past week as projects. No more till I get rid of them

philip

+1

+1
-1

I'd get a Brooks B-66. It was original equipment on the Raleigh Sports. The springs work better than the loops on the B-72, which don't do much at all.

I take it you are a fan of the Purple People Eaters :-)

Not really, but I thought I'd needle you a bit.
Big Twins fan, though.