nlerner

Another possibility is to use a Rigida 40-hole 650B rim, currently sold by xxcyle.com in France. I just built one up with a 40-hole alloy shell AW hub though it might end up with different internals at some point.

JaccoW

That would be a good option... were it not for them not selling it anymore.
"This article is no longer sold!"

40H rims are really rare nowadays.

I've found the Japanese Grand Bois with their 700C Papillon 40H with single eyelets and the accompanying 700C Papillon 28/32/36H for the front with double eyelets.
Also available in 650B: 28/32/36H and 40H.

Quite spendy though at around €70 each + shipping.

Ged117 

Thanks Nlerner and JaccoW. It was a few days of indecision. I'm not terribly concerned with the bike not having French wheels. I'd like to keep the Mafac brakes, which I understand wouldn't have the required longer reach were I to convert the bike to 650b. The velocity dyad 700c is not cheap, but I plan to keep this one for the long haul as my beat-around four-season commuter. I'm attached to that '53 FW alloy hub - I think it'll look really awesome laced to new wheels. 40h certainly is disappearing, which is a shame since so many of the old Sturmey hubs are 40h. There is an FC close-ratio four speed on eBay right now for a lotta money...

Ged117 

In other news, today I took apart the Dynoluxe light system from the '50 Superbe. It is the one where you can either use the generator function, or switch to the batteries when stopped. It is powered by the AG. Anybody have experience with these? I plan to clean the contacts, add a little dielectric grease, find some bulbs, and see what happens. Bulb recommendations are somewhere in this thread. I'll find em.

This was inside the headlight:

nlerner

Ah, sorry about that! I do see that Velocity is making a 650B caliper-brake compatible rim in 40-hole drilling:

https://www.velocityusa.com/product/...liffhanger-584

Only comes in black, however, and about $67 per rim in the US.

jackbombay

I like it!

What sized rims and tires?

Bomarc

Polished Velocity Atlas
Velocity also makes Atlas in polished finish and the site says they come in 700c 40 hole. If you can live without the 40 hole alloy FW (I couldn't either), Universal Cycles has unpolished Atlas 700c in 36 hole for $72 USD.

clubman 

Perhaps this one from '54 in the Canadian catalogue on Kurt's Headbadge site.

Just one down from the 531 models.

bluesteak 

I have a velocity rim on the rear wheel of our tandem. No exactly classic, but a great choice for how you want to use the bike.

I have a fork I am taking off a 55 Hercules to put on my 52 Hercules tourist. The donor fork was repainted red and I am trying to remove the red paint and flat black primer to get down to the factory black paint. Is this a fools errand? Does anyone have any experience doing this?

Ballenxj

According to this amazon ad, 700x45c.
https://www.amazon.com/Raleigh-Bikes.../dp/B07BBPKD83

paulb_in_bkln

So Sun Ringle is no longer bringing in the 40 hole version of their CR18 650a rim. So much for those AW hubs I've been stockpiling. I'd call this extremely bad news.

BigChief 

What a nice and rare bike. I couldn't resist this project either. I too have trouble riding drop bars. I end up on the tops where there just isn't enough control. Still, one more great old Brit being rescued and back on the road is very satisfying. Good job.

irideiam

Nice!

nlerner

Looks like those are readily available:

https://www.thebikeshopstore.com/cat...oaAuIfEALw_wcB

gster

Thanks BC!
Truth is I almost passed on this one when I got there to see it.
It was in such a sad shape that I thought I'd just be getting a frame out
of the deal.
You really have to respect that British chrome.
A vinegar soak and a brass brush did wonders.
The seller has contacted me re: a prototype SA 3 speed hub
w/ a 5 cog hub that he has access to from the inventor's son.
I'm waiting to hear back from him.

gster

Re: My Failed Derailleur Project

I now know why 10 speeds have those big plastic discs on the rear wheel
and why sometimes they have a big chunk missing.
It's to stop the derailleur from smashing into the spokes...
I'd set the derailleur up with the SA throttle shifter.
Like a regular trigger it has a stop (indexed) and I thought
that the amount of travel would work the derailleur.
It didn't...
The shifter continued past the first stop pushing the derailleur
too far into the spokes.


I may re visit or wait for a proper vintage 2 cog derailleur
to show up.

Ged117 

That is bad news. I was planning to build a new wheelset for my Superbe in a year or two with those to lighten it up and make it ready for another few decades of service.

jackbombay

It looks like there are limit screws on that derraileur like modern derraileurs, were those adjusted when the derraileur was installed?

gster

No, not really..
The stop screw wouldn't reach long enough anyway
and it wouldn't hit anything in that short amount of travel.

curbtender

Time for a longer screw.

gster

Yes, a longer screw indeed.....

Iron Horse

Thanks! I didn't either. Just found it by accident. Then trying to find one was a bit of a challenge.
Other than needing to be geared down, currently a 42/18. I plan on dropping to a 42/20 this weekend if all goes well.
The chain stays come out rather abruptly, then run back to the dropouts. The way my feet sit on the pedals, I am occasionally hitting the chain stays with my heels. So I need to train myself to kick my heels out a bit. Something interesting, I have several bikes with Shimano 3 speeds, and to downshift, you roll the shifter forward, and first is the default "no tension" gear (I suppose so that if your shifter fails, you can get anywhere, just slowly). The Sturmey archer is opposite. Rolling back the shifter downshifts, and the default "no tension" gear is 3rd or high gear. That would be bad if you're on a hill and the shifter broke.
I do enjoy the bike, it rides nice, and has a good balance to it. If I had the choice to do it again, I would, but just with a medium frame instead of large. No clearance. Stops are done with some forethought...

I like your bike. I would like to have one in that shade of green. However I am partial to green

I actually moved the shifter to the other side of the brake lever. It looks a bit wierd, but it works fine, and with it like this, I can get to the set screws, which before I could not.

You are correct, sir. The tires are 700x45c. In some shade of brown. It does compliment the bike well though.

I think the only thing this bike lacks, is a rear rack in the same anodized(?) copper as the handlebars. I like the handlebars, but without something at the other end of the bike the same color, the bike looks (to me) a bit unbalanced color wise.

Salubrious

But!! Tubeless ready! Tubeless is so much easier to deal with than inner tubes. If you get a puncture, just move the hole to the bottom until it heals. Or patch it in situ on the bike. I might have to pick up a set.

Wouldn't the thing to do be just set it up so when the lever was pulled as far as it would go it was enough to do the shift but no more? Pretty easy solution...

paulb_in_bkln

V good to know. I was thinking for the spring to upgrade my Rudge to modern wheels. Thanks.

clubman 

You'd still have to set the other limit screw to stop throwing the chain off the freewheel into the frame.