Hello all english 3 speed fans. This is my first time posting here, but ive been lurking for some time. Ive not been "into" bikes since childhood, when the majority of my summer time was tied up in crashing and dismantling my mountain bso. After that, i briefly had a 15 speed huffy road bike, which ended up sitting in my parents garage until very recently, when i brought it out while visiting them.
Upon attempting to ride this monstrosity and finding it quite lacking, i started looking for a good bike to ride to work, the grocery, and for short recreational rides. Somehow or another I happened upon an old AMF Hercules on CL, and wound up driving 2 hours to pick it up. Not sure why it struck me as such a beautiful bike, but the lines just looked danged cool, and I had to have it. 2 days after recieving the bike, I stumbled upon this thread while trying to sort out some gear change problems it was having. I found the info I needed, and way more besides. The Herc has been ridden almost every day, from a 25 mile camping trip on its 4th day with me (on original tires, original brake pads, no seat or handlebar adjustment. I dont sweat the small stuff when I'm excited) to the short commute to work, as well as many grocery trips and joyrides. Now, it's been joined in the stable by its bigger, heavier brother, the DL-1. Suffice to say ive jumped down the rabbit hole just as fast as my wallet could carry me, and I see many of these beautiful bikes in my future. I know this wall of text would be useless without pictures, so here you go
Edited to add: pardon the NDS of the DL-1. It has the hockey stick chain guard with goofy late60s/early 70s italics, and a '70 dated Sturmey AW hub.