noglider 

Yeah, well, it's ugly, and it's Shimano, but I couldn't pass it up. It was something like $25 NOS. One day, I'll land a SA rear hub.

Coreyk

So cool to see this bike evolve. Good going, ALR!

Chef Bigs

Holy build up batman! She's purdy. I love the styling.

alr

The tires on the DL-1 pictured in this thread have been ridden for over a year and I haven't really ever cleaned them. They really don't look that bad if a little dirty. I think you should get some for your wife's bike-- they are nice to ride on as well as good looking

Chergo

Nice, that it worked out for you. Here is a picture of my girlfriends 79 Raleigh with drum brakes, maybe it helps in any way:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

This is my Raleigh Tourist, which I would like to equip with drum brakes too:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

It's just really tough to get those rod-parts for drum-brakes together. Thought about using Gazelle-parts, but I do not like the look of them.

brianinc-ville

Very impressive!

Amolj78

Hello all and thank you @alr for the post (I hope it's still active or that people will read this).

Can you please let me know how you managed to fit the modern SA hubs onto the older frameset? Every Raleigh, Pashley or other rod brake frame I've found have too narrow dropouts to support the modern hubs.

The project I'm working on now is to fit a vintage rod brake frame set with rod actuated drum brakes (as this post nicely outlines), 5 or 8 speed SA rear hub and front dynamo to power front and rear lights.

The SA hubs I want to use have overlocknut dimensions of 135 in the rear and 100 in the front.

The biggest problem I'm having is finding a rod brake frame which will support these hubs

Any thoughts or ideas to help out?

Thank you in advance!
Amol

smontanaro 

@Amolj78 welcome to BF C&V...

I have a mid-70s Schwinn Speedster with a more modern SA XRD3 rear drum hub. I had to spread the rear triangle to fit the hub's 120mm OLD. I don't know about the other brands you mentioned, but those old electroforged Schwinn frames were made with fairly soft steel. Spreading the frame with a three-foot piece of 2x4 (framing lumber - not sure how the Brits refer to that stuff) is no big deal.

bwilli88 

I recently built up a Gazelle Primeur with drum brakes front and rear, a dyno front and a 5 speed rear. I changed the spacers on the rear to 130OLD and spread the rear triangle a bit. I filed the dropouts to accept the front hub and it was a bit tight and need to spread it a few mm when I install it.

IMG_20190702_154349734 by Bwilli88, on Flickr


IMG_20190702_154423703 by Bwilli88, on Flickr


IMG_20190702_154522140 by Bwilli88, on Flickr


IMG_20190702_154533028 by Bwilli88, on Flickr

Amolj78

Thank you @bwilli88 and @smontanaro. What drop out measurements did you start with and how much additional width did you add?

Ideally, I can find a frame that already has the right drop out spacing. I've been told that Pashleys tend to have wider drop outs and I know gazelle tour Populairs support modern and wider hubs. Only problem is finding a Gezelle Populair frame. As an alternative, I'll keep this idea of spreading the drop outs in hand!

Also, can you let me know how filling the dropout works? it can't add more than a mm or width, no?

bwilli88 

For the front it was so I could put a 10mm diameter axle in a 9mm slot

smontanaro 

As I recall, my Schwinn's rear triangle started at 110mm. Up front I just laced a new rim to the existing hub (no drum or dyno there, MAFAC Racer for stoppage and pedestrian alerting), so it remains whatever weird size Schwinn used (96mm maybe?).

Amolj78

Thanks for those notes on spreading the rear drop outs! They're helpful and I'm proceeding with that work (I think I've found someone who can manage that).

My next (and maybe last) decision to make is on the number of gears for this new build. I've been riding a rod brake Raleigh with an SA-3 gear hub for almost 6 years, but really want this new build to have more gears. I cannot go up hills or maintain a fast enough speed (on the 3 speed) as I'd like when biking cross country (I'm not trying to race, but would indeed like to go a little faster).

Naturally I am considering a SA gear hub with more gears AND drum brakes. It looks like I have only two options, the 5 speed and 8 speed. I'd go with the 8 speed (X-RD8), but see this model does not offer any negative gears for hill climbing. The gears have a range of 325% which is great but starts at 100% (not great for hills). On the other hand, the 5 speed (RX-RD5) has a range of 243% starting at -64% but only goes up to 156%. My current 3 speed goes up to 133% (not a meaningful difference of 23%).

My question is what else can I do within either of these options? For example, would changing the size of the cog in the front or back help at all?

Can somehow get a higher ratio out of the 5 speed?

Or can I somehow get some lower (hill climbing) gear from the 8 speed?
Thank you in advance!