jackbombay

It turned out great!

EDIT///. I just saw the thread you have about this bike, I'll read through there and I'm sure my questions will be answered :-)

PeterLYoung 

Your original comment came up on my phone, the rims were NOS Dunlop Special Lightweights I found on eBay. They are like Hens Teeth to find so I was incredibly lucky to find them.
The wheels were rebuilt with Stainless Double Butted Spokes by my local Bike Shop Phoenix Cycles, Eastbourne, East Sussex UK. A great traditional bike shop owned and run by great people who know what they are doing.

arty dave

What period are the 'bullet' grips from? I'm using then on a DL-1 and find them comfortable.
I wish the repro Britannia grips were still being made

Rherdegen

From what I’ve read and seen (and admittedly not a really comprehensive or authoritative knowledge base) the bullet or torpedo grips were from ‘60’s or ‘70’s. I’ve looked and looked, and can’t really find anything that matches the original grips from early ‘50’s Raleighs. For my circumstances, I’ll probably do the bullet grips for now (‘cause that’s what I have) and keep looking for something that comes closer to appearance of originals.

cudak888 

These are the remains of a pair of original 1950's Raleigh bullet grips:



These reproductions from Thailand are supposed to be fairly similar to the original 1950's grips, minus the "I" in "RI" (Raleigh Industries):


This is the hard plastic replica that Raleigh replaced it with in the 1960's and continued to use off and on through the 1980's:



-Kurt

rubah

OMG, I was reading this off the subscription email, and I had to click through for the pics and I started obsessing over those wing-nut looking structures on the hubs, trying to figure out what they were. Are they actual wing-nuts more or less? I'm almost salivating thinking about being able to service or tune hubs with 0 (not 2) wrenches. Glad you found some rims, even if they don't match!

[edit- omg just saw the re-enambled pics. Gorgeous!]

PeterLYoung 

The Wing Nuts are original to the bike, they are Sturmey Archer Wing Nuts that were typically fitted to Raleigh Clubman Bikes, they are very well engineered though not much chrome left on them due to age (sometimes they can be found on eBay).
The Dunlop Special Lightweight rims are identical except one is Stainless Steel and the other is Chromium Plated. On the bike it is hard to tell the difference as features and physical dimensions are the same.
Thanks for your comments.

clubman 

I have a similar issue with one stainless and one chrome and additionally, they're 36/40 holes. Waiting for the right bike and hubs.
That's a great restoration and story.

bluesteak 

I am going to try to post pics of the bike I fixed up for my granddaughter’s 20th birthday.

bluesteak 

so what am I doing wrong. How do you put up pics? I used to do it all the time?

Ged117 

Bluestreak, you have to host the images before posting here. I use Flickr.

Does anyone know a method to improve those awful '70s Raleigh Sports brake levers with the cheapo plastic 'enhancement'? I'm fixing up a colleague's 1978 Sports Superbe in pea-soup green complete with dynohub light system. The levers work very poorly and I am fresh out of old Sports levers.

ryansu

I don't host I go directly from my One Drive folder on my laptop
1. click on the picture Icon (upload) in the tool bar near the middle of the toolbar
2. from the dialog box choose browse your device
3.from the options I choose one drive and pictures (where I store my photos YMMV) and then appropriate folder where the picture I want is - I think you can also just drag the picture into the BF dialog box
4. Select the picture and click on the open button which takes you back to BF
5. let the picture load and when it hits 100% hit the upload button -and bingo you have a picture
6. Or just have your Granddaughter show you

sorry not a 3 speed just a sample

bluesteak 

So I still am clueless. Do I have to put the pics on another site and then transfer them in. Sounds to complex for an old guy.

I am not sure what you mean by the cheap plastic enhancement. The 73 sports I just finished had automatic adjusters at the levers that were mostly steel, the levers were pretty normal, the same as 50’s bikes. It seemed like an improvement.

clubman 

Do this. Make a post but before hitting submit reply, scroll down to the Manage Attachments box and click it. It will give you a few choices, one of which is Browse your Device. Do that, find the picture and Bob's your Uncle. It loads a preview window of your pic and then you click Upload, then Submit Reply.

Oh and the auto adjusters were a nice idea but they pulled in cable faster than it loosened up so the cables became taut and the levers had no travel left. Apparently it's not hard to defeat the mechanism but you'll have to look it up.

thumpism 

Don't improve, replace. I have some DC135 all-alloy tourist levers to put on mine when I get around to it. Weinmanns will do as well.

bluesteak 

So I didn’t see any manage attachments box. It seems like that is how I used to do it.

My granddaughter has the bike now so we’ll find out if the adjusters work ok, if she uses the bike. I backed them up the whole way before I hooked up the brakes.

clubman 

Perhaps you're looking at the site in mobile mode. If you open the User CP and scroll to the bottom, there's a box with a choice of display modes. I like BikeforumsNG

bluesteak 

Bingo, Thanks so much.

1989Pre 

I just bought my first English 3-speed bicycle, a 1962 Rudge Sports. It's going to take a lot of cleaning and polishing,
but what I need to do right now is take the steel shopping baskets off the back. The question I have concerns the
connection where the "plunger" enters the hub. That enters from the outside of the securing axle nut, of course,
so it appears I have to make some accommodation for the plunger mechanism before I can remove the axle nut
and basket with it. What's the drill on this?

clubman 

There's a lock nut butted up against the longer metal piece with knurled finish. Release the lock nut and you can unscrew that cable end from the indicator chain that inserts into the hub

1989Pre 

Clubman: Thanks. I got that done.

1989Pre 

I have just bought a Rudge Sports from 1962, and upon inspection of the rear hub, I see that the sprocket is loose and the sprocket circlip has apparently fallen out of its retaining ring. Is that what I'm seeing? What is the best way to get that circlip back on to secure the sprocket?

Johno59

You are missing the spaces behind the sprocket. Pack it out - one or two spacers will give the circlip a snap.

Johno59

The 'plungers is called an indicator. Its position in or out indicates what gear you are in.The whole assembly screws out very easily. Screwed out means the wheel/wheel nuts can be removed like any other wheel.

1989Pre 

Johno59: Thanks. Regarding the rear basket removal, I was not expecting it to be that easy. I just hope I turned the adjusting nut on the indicator
into the right position once I re-attached it.
Regarding the sprocket being loose, I don't follow you. You are saying I need to buy some spacers?