tcs

First leg of tour: light rail + Amtrak to get out of the city. SRAM I3 fitted to BikeFriday tikit.

bluesteak 

I tried this as a separate thread and no one responded.

I have a SA FM that works fine, but is noisy in normal gear. I removed the internals from the wheel, just to see if I could at least see how it works.

I am thinking the primary gear set is likely worn. If so, does anyone stock parts? It doesn’t seem likely that it would share parts excepting planet pins, pawl pins and springs with other hubs.

It seems like noise in normal gear would show up in AW’s as well. Has anyone had trouble with that? Is there an easy remedy?

Salubrious

There's a bit of a nuance going on. The 4-speeds need the cones adjusted exactly, the AWs need every so slightly a bit of slop. How are yours set up?

bluesteak 

Right now the internals are out of the hub. Generally I am of the little bit of slop school.

I’ll put it back together and see how it goes.

With an AW I tighten the drive side down tight and back off 1/2 to 3/4 turn. Then I set up the left side a little sloppy. Is that why the left side doesn’t have the lock washer with tabs?

SirMike1983 

The FM and FC hubs are in a family apart from the AW or even the FW hub. They are mechanically different. The drive side cone is set first, finger tight and loosen 1/2 to 3/4 turn. It should not be loosened more than 3/4 turn. Non-drive bearing adjustment is for the slightest play at the rim. It is less tolerant of play than the AW or even the FW. Was there any visible wear on any of the parts when you dismantled the hub?

SirMike1983 

Hopefully we're finally turning the corner here into better weather - finally getting some warmth. It seemed like we were ready to start spring, but then got hit with two inches of new snow. It has melted and hopefully that is the end of winter here. I took out the 1959 Traveler yesterday evening while the weather was good.

bluesteak 

This morning before I read this post I reinstalled the internals and set the hub up without as much slop. I took the bike for a spin and it is definitely quieter. Although there is still extra noise in normal gear.

I took the internals out as a unit, and didn’t make any attempt at further disassembly since I figured it still worked and I wasn’t likely to find replacement parts. It’s 70 years old and likely there is some wear. When I first got the hub before it was built into a wheel, I did resurface the cones with a wet stone.

I did learn a few things. I could see the the secondary planet holder turns the main sun gear when you select the lowest gear. I haven’t been able to figure out the gear reduction that that creates.

I had an ahah moment when I saw the large diameter spring between the secondary and primary gear trains. “ So, that’s what those springs are for that I sent Mike in the trade.”

Road Fan

I felt he eventually threw out the entire idea of Quality, meaning the idea that of two similar items, we assign more value to one than another. Like tubulars over clinchers or 531 over high tensile steel, but he was thinking much more broadly than that. I read it mostly in the ‘70s, but didn’t finish it until after Enhineering school in the ‘80s, so I don’t recall how or if he treated a resolution for how it went on. I’m not interested in revisiting him. I think he got his phd in philosophy, so kudos for that!

Between Pirsig, John Muir (How to keep your Volkswagen alive) and the Tom Cuthbertson’s books on bicycle mechanics and being rough and ready when your touring situation demands it, I gained a lot which I still use in mt own mechanistic life, and in my aerospace and automotive engineering career, since college days

bharrisonb

I'm planning a coastal tour on my Raleigh Sports 3-Speed this coming weekend .... I'll update this forum with my travel log. Will be touching 3 States ...

SirMike1983 

Do you need any springs still? I can mail a couple if you need any. PM me if you do.

Small cog

Here is a new one on me and the seller who gives plenty of background say possibly unique a Hobday Brothers 3 speed, too far away from me luckily, I am not sure I have room for another.



https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/326085113828

bluesteak 

Thanks for the offer, but I don’t foresee needing any. I know where they are if I ever do.

adventurepdx

Ah, the classic middle of April Connecticut snow! I remember how you could be wearing a t-shirt outside one day, and the next day it’s snowing. While I miss a lot of things about New England, that’s not one of them.

SirMike1983 

The week before we had two days that made it up over 60. Of course the weather calls for "cold and rainy", and the two inches of snow at the end of the storm strike as an unpleasant surprise. Two steps forward, one step back in April around here...

1989Pre 

It's amazing what 5 or 6 hours working on a bike like this will do. I like the period rear lamp.

1989Pre 

First ride of the season. The boat launch is always my first. Brought some lunch and my new mini-binoculars, but all I saw was herring gulls. Nice spot. Sunny, breezy. 60F https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/7877989039/

Ready for a sandwich of salad greens and tahini.

Had to put a piece of bark under the kick-stand to stabilize the bike.

You can see where the high-tide line is. Tide was coming in.

A pier behind someone's house

clubman 

Lovely original bike with an FM hub goes for 37 pounds . Mudguards could be celluloid. Deal or what.

1989Pre 

Monitor Sheerline brakes, too. Someone with a polishing wheel is going to be a very happy man

gster

1972 Superbe

I've not had this one out for several years but needed to cart some stuff downtown
I was having a hell of a time in third gear and
thought I must be getting old....
Most of my bikes have 19/20/21T cogs
and I thought the original cog on this one was an 18.
I was very surprised to find this one had a 17T cog.
This bike is very original with all of it's "R" nuts etc so
I've always assumed the back cog was original as well.

SirMike1983 

Beautiful, warm evening here last night. I took this 1957 Schwinn Traveler three speed for a ride.

bwilli88 

What is that bag, it is sweet!

AD-SLE

Need some wisdom. Where would l find a replacement fork? Yes, I need the steering tube length. Wheels good. Bike a good size as a commuter which my son is doing in Portsmouth NH. Wanting some tips or wisdom to find the parts to put her back on the road. AW hub reads 70 5 so a 1970 era bike. Used to be easy to find parts at the dump. Less so these days. I must assume straightening the fork is not an option?


Decided I needed to take it apart and measure the exact length of the fork steerer tube. 205mm. Now the hunt begins. It also let me see the rest of the frame naked and whether there were any bends I missed. Just the stem and the fork... I need to reacquaint myself with where or if there is a trade forum. It would be nice to put this 1970 Sports back into use. PB soaking into the cotters. Then a deep clean.

Thanks for any suggestions on where I might locate obsolete parts.

SirMike1983 

You're lucky the frame is not damaged from whatever caused the damage to the fork. These forks are often fixable but I think yours is toast because the bend is so severe. I'd try to find a direct replacement in coffee paint, keeping a close eye on eBay. Your measurement sounds right - a 23 inch Sports frame usually has a fork steerer tube of around 8 inches. You should be able to eventually find a direct replacement - 1970s era coffee bikes with 23 inch frames still do turn up. I haven't seen anything like this at the dump or thrift shops in quite a long time. I'd keep an eye on eBay or Facebook Market. I'd also put out a Want ad here in the C&V market forum.

Cyclespanner

Good luck with your project bike.

Noticed you gave the stem a metric measurement.....
These bikes were built to Imperial dimensions; you may find using feet and inches will always take you to an exact fraction of an inch.

nlerner

Another issue on looking for a replacement fork: You might find a temporary substitute while you wait for a coffee brown one to show up, but keep in mind that the threading on these was 26tpi, so the existing headset cups won't work on a more easily found 24 tpi fork streerer.