flammenwurfer

Cool. Did those Sears bikes not have a head badge? Because this one doesn't. Know where I could find some pictures of other Sears bikes like you're talking about?

graywolf

A nice site to look at 3-speed photos if you have not found it is: https://threespeedgallery.blogspot.com/

I know of three versions of the English 3-speed style bike from Sears. The first was made by Hercules and labeled J C Higgins (My second bike as a kid was one of these) 1950's era. The second made by Puch was labeled Ted Williams. The third was labeled Free Spirit (That is what I think you may have) it was also made by Puch. The Free Spirit usually had chrome fenders, and the headbadge was just a decal or sticker, IIRC. However I do not know that I ever saw a black one, does yours look like it may have been repainted?

flammenwurfer

Oh it's definitely been repainted. With crappy black spraypaint that comes off if I scratch at it with my fingernail. There's a reddish color under the black.

Elkhound

I also had an "English Three Speed" in HS & college and a bit post college. It was from Montgomery Wards. Mother had one from Sears; it was black, and made in Austria.

graywolf

That is about what I figured. There may still be a headbadge decal under the paint, or it may have been removed for the repaint and never replaced. I have a basket case Raleigh that someone did the same to, only with white paint. I suspect it may have been one of those free-ride bikes at one time, they were often poorly resprayed white by the towns.

Still for what you paid it is worth tinkering with.

sail

Great thread. Lots of cool bikes here, shiny new ones and well worn old ones.
This is my Dunelt. A few years ago I got a flat in a sew up with no spare, da. While walking home came across a garage sale and rode the Dunelt home for $15. Another $15 bought the Brooks B5N. Always meant to put a little larger gear on the back, almost never use 3rd. I like to putz.

Curious LeTour

Nice bike sail! I'm riding a single speed road bike right now (thankfully it's not a fixed gear...whew) with bull horns on it. I'm seriously thinking about putting some handle bars on it like the old threespeeds have/had. It has fenders already. I need a rack for it too. It's a Redline 925, and I like the utilitarian look anyway, and I could use a rack, even if only twice a week.

wahoonc

Curious

I have a 9.2.5 too mine has the mustache bars (2006 model) I have a Tubus Fly on mine. Bike doesn't get much use.

Aaron

sail

The fly rack looks very nice, mine is an old Blackburn with homemade brass mounts. The front basket looks cool to me but in reality spends most of it's time next to the couch full of magazines.

The Redline bike is a nice looker, I have no experience riding a newer design bike without a level top tube. I did try putting upright bars on my Gitanne Super Corsa road bike and it threw the whole balence off, felt squirly, took em back off.

GeorgePaul

$799. See https://www.bianchiusa.com/10-bicycle...no-alfine.html.

myheadsashed

https://www.singletrackworld.com/2009...rom-the-desert

somebodys listening - apologies if already posted.

tatfiend 

Not a classic 3 speed hub but I am in the process of building up a wheel using a NOS Sturmey Archer S5-2 Alloy 5 speed rear hub. This is one of the old dual cable shifting units from the late 80s or early 90s. These do not have a date of manufacture stamped into the hub shell. I managed to buy it NOS with two versions of original dual cable shifters and with the original box and instructuions from another member of the Yahoo Geared Hub Bikes group linked to in my signature block below. New members are always welcome. Lots of articles and links to IGH information sources are available there.

It will be going on a Kona cruiser from the early to mid 90s to replace the Sachs Torpedo 3 speed wheel I originally built for it. The Kona is a HumuHumu-Nukunuku-A-Puaa which was a cruiser that looked like an overgrown BMX bike frame but with canti brakes and 26" wheels. About the lightest cruiser I have ever picked up with a chrome moly frame IIRC. Again not a classic English style frame but it should make up into a interesting frankenbike.

badmother

Cool. I overhauled one some yrs ago and it worked perfect for four years. Now he bought a car and he has got car- problems all the time

Got one hub like that myself. Picked it off a 24" girls MTB that looked totally unused, apart from evidence of a crash. I think somebody did not want to ride it after that..
I`ll post when I put it to use. I am thinking of a mixte. Cool with the two paralell tubes and two paralell wires. Found a new shifter for it in my LBS.

Show us yours when it is done!

wahoonc

Not exactly what I would think of when thinking of an English 3speed.

Aaron

Threespeeder

I have a 73 Raleigh Sports. Bought it for $50 after advertising on Craigslist Wanted section. Anyway I got a Brooks B63 aged saddle for it and am having trouble breaking it in though honestly I may not have done 200 miles on her yet! I am wishing I had bought one of those three spring saddles Brooks makes. I hear they are discontinuing them? I am a slowbicycling fan and love to putz around town on the old girl. I am just looking for ways to make it a more comf experience. I have the saddle tilted very slightly up at the front. Maybe I need some padded riding shorts? Also I have some cheap gumwall tires which are o.k but I would love to put balloon tires on the bike some Schwalbes perhaps. Ah but the forks are too narrow! Any suggestions for improving comfort without spending a fortune? Thanks! Rob

Elkhound

True, but it does go to show that IHG's are coming back.

noglider 

I'm rethinking my love for old three-speeds. There aren't good tires available in 26x1-3/8" size. What, exactly, is it that we love about the old design? There is something charismatic to it. But perhaps I can recreate it from something else. Is it the short top tube? The lax frame angles? What other attributes are on those bikes that are not on more modern bikes? Maybe it's all those attributes, acting in concert, that give it that three-speed feel.

Dahon.Steve

This past summer, I was riding an old ten speed from 1980. Even though I lowered the gears by replacing the chain rings, I'm still using it as three speed! LOL! I only use three gears tops because the bike is very high geared. I wish they still made 10 speed bikes in this geometry since they were better than the old roadster sit up straight postion. Make no doubt it, even though they were ten speeds, you treated them like three.

qmsdc15

wahoonc

Scwhalbe has a decent selection of tires available in the 37-590 size. I also have been sourcing Kenda and Cheng Shin from various places, not the greatest tires around but certainly decent value for the price.

Aaron

jdmitch

Yeah, I'm looking to put 37-590s SMPs on my Schwinn Collegiate (yes, I have a later built one that went to the 590 standard). I've also considered rebuilding it with S-A drum brakes (F & R) in a 559 size.

Anyhow, I think the real appeal of three speeds is the overall feel of the bike. It's a nice relaxed cruiser that can get to respectable speeds. It's not the size of the wheel that defined the old three speeds, it's the use and simplicity.

flammenwurfer

I agree as well, however, there is a place in my house for the originals and recreations. I don't think I will ever be able to pass up a sweet original 3 speed. I would like to recreate the 3 speed feel though, with a little bit lighter frame and an IGH with more than 3 speeds. A lighter frame with an 8 speed IGH and similar riding position to the old 3 speeds would be the perfect all-around bike in my opinion.

graywolf

There are at least 3 different 1-3/8 x 26 tire sizes out there. Luckily you can find the English 590A tires fairly easily, although you may have to mail order them if what Walmart carries is not what you want.

Even if they were entirely discontinued for bicycles it is a standard wheel chair size. Want solid tires, no flats, for your bicycle? That is the place to look.

noglider 

Yes, my point is that it's not the size of the wheel that defined them, which is to say there's no reason to be loyal to that size. But just what is what defines the three speed? (I asked before.) Sure, the IGH is great and even fun to use.

I worked at bike shops many years ago, and it was a precious day when my boss would send me out across the city on an errand. I would grab a Raleigh Sports, and I'd have so much fun with it in traffic! The bike's feel always made me smile. But how?

I've been collecting (and fixing and reselling) bikes for a while now, and my 17 year old daughter helps me. We find that the bikes with the shallow frame angles put the biggest smiles on our faces. Could that be it?

flammenwurfer

I think the frame angles and riding position play a part in what makes them so much fun to ride, but there's something else. Could it be something that doesn't really have anything to do with the physical bike itself, but the way you use the bike? At least the way I ride a 3 speed, I don't feel like I need to go fast or that I'm in a hurry or on a mission but I'm just enjoying being outdoors and pedaling around. But then again, maybe it is the bike that makes me feel that way. hmmmm....I don't know.