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The Dockless Donor: The 1980 Raleigh Sports will live again

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The Dockless Donor: The 1980 Raleigh Sports will live again

Old 09-23-19, 07:43 PM
  #76  
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Mildly interesting things to report. First off, I drilled the steerer, so all of you conspiracy theorists can start building that inevitable pine box for me.

The walls of the steerer tube increase to nearly 2.5mm thick here, so I'm not really concerned. Softer steel too - more likely to stretch or bend than crack catastrophically. I'm sure a structural engineer out there has also written a dissertation on how much stress this area actually is under during braking (or cornering) vs. the headset bearings.



I also installed the clips for the shifter cable. The clips did not come with hardware, so had to fend for my own screws. Said screws are (sadly) not stainless. The captive nuts would not thread onto the existing stainless hardware I have, though the nuts started spinning anyway. I may swap out the nuts.



They look really sharp though, and not out of place at all. The top one was placed to mimic the location of a factory clip-on cable stop.



Next problem is whether I can find a nice, discreet set of clips to keep the cable in place on the chainstay:




Originally Posted by Ged117
That is a great find (and at an incredible price). The B66 on my '50 is original, with no deep cracks but well broken in after 70 years. After some proofhide treatments it is supple again and is very comfortable. However the springs squeak with every leg stroke. How to remedy that? I took a two hour ride the other day, and inspected the saddle after to look for stress seams but all was well. The B66 is CAD$200 new here. I think I would go with a second hand one from ebay if the original had a failure, or seek out rhm. I like the black rails of the original.
The '60s B.66 I just replaced squeaked all the time too - I just tolerated it. The earlier saddle has an additional, thicker strip of backing leather under it; perhaps the squeaking is from the leather shifting other under pressure, rather than the springs?

I'd put a bit of oil on the spring/frame interfaces to see if the sound temporarily goes away or not.

-Kurt
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Old 09-24-19, 05:12 AM
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Kurt, what about drilling a hole in the BB shell and internally routing the IGH cable housing through the chain stay to approximately 2 inches from the end of the hub stop? There should be plenty of extra room inside that BB shell with that steel spindle to snake a cable housing past.

If you are going to drill--- drill big or go home!
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Old 09-24-19, 08:26 PM
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Progress! Found some clear 24/2 AWG speaker wire at ACE tonight. Guided it through the frame with a spare brake cable.

I also repacked the BB (along with a dustcap) and headset. The fork install was less fiddly than I expected, given all the loose bearings and the wiring. It spins exceptionally well with no binding.









Some thin Gorilla tape ought to secure the wire up and around the peak of the rear fender.


Originally Posted by pastorbobnlnh
Kurt, what about drilling a hole in the BB shell and internally routing the IGH cable housing through the chain stay to approximately 2 inches from the end of the hub stop? There should be plenty of extra room inside that BB shell with that steel spindle to snake a cable housing past.

If you are going to drill--- drill big or go home!
Interesting idea - and it's too much of a modification for my tastes. Surprisingly enough, I found the BB shell a bit of a tight fit for the tiny 24AWG speaker cable.

-Kurt
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Old 09-26-19, 07:51 PM
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Spokes arrived, so I built the wheel. I did a test fit on the newly respaced fork and everything looks good. Yes, I know don't have the hub generator tab indexed to where it's more obscure - I'll sort that out.

There's somewhat of a wartime (or early pre-war) look going on with that black front hub and silver fork. The basic blackwalls seem to play into it too. I don't mind it at all - it looks pretty darn good, I think!





Taking this thing for it's first (incomplete) test ride is pretty much just a matter of the front brake (on it's way from Japan), running the cables, finding a solution to cinch down the shifter cable, and procuring a SunRace SLM96 thumb shifter along with a Jtek Shiftmate 6. Pretty sure I'm going to install modern brake levers too.

Then there's the matter of sorting out the lighting and little things like the grips - but I want to make sure this thing rides good first.

-Kurt
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Old 09-27-19, 09:04 PM
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I had drafted a nice overview of everything that happened tonight...and then I accidentally closed the tab I was drafting it in...so I'll do the cheap thing and copy/paste the meat of the story from the SNAFU thread.

Suffice it to say that I screwed up when I was building the front wheel. Even though what you see in the photos above is functionally correct, this is what was wrong:

Originally Posted by cudak888
I was fiddling around quite a bit trying to get the key spoke in the right spot, so the label of the hub would align with the valve stem. Somehow, between my constant re-positioning of the spoke and the rim, not only did I wind up building the wheel with the hub rotated a few spokes past where I wanted it, I wound up positioning the stamped rim info...on the wrong side of the rim.

This was too much for me, so I proceeded to re-lace the entire rim this evening, and inexplicably found the tube completely deflated. Upon removing the tire, I found half of a paper clip stuck right through the tube. I'd kept that clip by the truing stand on occasion as a small tool (for what, I don't remember), and somehow did not notice it get stuck to either the wheel or the tube when I assembled it.
This had an unintended good consequence though. A few months ago, @bwilli88 sent me four brass-valve, all threaded, Taiwanese NJK tubes, which he had brought back from Cambodia. These were supposed to be spares for my 1951 Raleigh if it ever blew one of its period, threaded valve tubes. Since I didn't have any extra spares for the '80, I pulled out one of these NJKs, and I was blown away (pun not intended) by how nice it is. The closest thing I've ever experienced is a 1950's Dunlop, and this feels like what the Dunlop probably felt like when new. Strong and nicely constructed, with no manufacturing dust all over it.

I'm probably going to swap the rear tube too, now that I know how nice the NJKs are, even though I'm now paranoid about running out of my precious supply




In other news, I have the cockpit mocked up:



As much as I've been playing the black-and-silver theme to good success, I'm really unsure about those black brake levers. They look huge and ponderous, like a pair of planes hanging off the wingtips of another:



I'm considering the original Dia-Compes, but I'm concerned they'll feel mushy with dual-pivots.

I have had the Dia-Compe upright bar levers paired with both a Tektro 559 and a Nuovo Record sidepull in the past. While one lever felt unbelievably good with the heavy return spring of the Nuovo Record sidepulls (I'm not kidding - this lever/brake combo is a match made in heaven), the lever connected with the dual pivot felt vague, soft and spongy.

I'm thinking that the modern levers will help counteract any dual pivot sponginess, but I may have to test both to see if there's any truth to this guess.

-Kurt
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Old 09-28-19, 07:33 AM
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I've found the perfect looking brake lever for the project - and of course they're impossible to get. It's the Sturmey-Archer BLS92:


A few European shops list only the left side as it's apparently factory stock on a particular Gazelle model (of course it would be). Otherwise, it is elusive, and I have a hunch that neither QBP or J&B will stock these.

I've also been toying with the idea of changing the crankset out to something square taper and 175mm, but I don't like the look of 5-arm spider cranksets on old Raleighs.

I do like the look of three-pin cranks on these though and I do have a TA Pro 3 Vis on hand. I don't have a 46t ring for it though (and I think I'd prefer the ring to be black, which doesn't exist).

-Kurt
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Old 09-30-19, 12:33 PM
  #82  
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Starting to look whole bike again. Looks good!

I agree the black levers don't do much for the bike, silver ones would look better.
The BLS92 would look a bit modern still but not bad.

Have you considered the modern Dia-Compe DC135, the Tektro FL750 city brake or the Saccon city levers (+ Saccon website)?
I actually really like the Saccon's. They look like classic Weinmann models I have on a bike.
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Old 09-30-19, 05:07 PM
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Originally Posted by JaccoW
Starting to look whole bike again. Looks good!

I agree the black levers don't do much for the bike, silver ones would look better.
The BLS92 would look a bit modern still but not bad.

Have you considered the modern Dia-Compe DC135, the Tektro FL750 city brake or the Saccon city levers (+ Saccon website)?
I actually really like the Saccon's. They look like classic Weinmann models I have on a bike.
The BLS92 is a bit on the modern side, which tends to complement the slight modernization throughout the bike - and it has just the perfect black/silver balance to complement the wheels. I also think that they'll look better as their pivot sits closer to the handlebar than any of the alternatives.

The DC135 is a direct ripoff of the old Altenbergers. If I wanted that, I'd put the original Dia-Compe levers back on. I'm not impressed with the skeleton looks of the FL750 either. The Saccons aren't bad looking though, and the L14A is pretty nice.




I'd still prefer the Sturmey BLS92 over the rest of them though.

-Kurt
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Old 10-04-19, 05:45 PM
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There's nothing new to report on the '80 Sports, as the front brake hasn't arrived from Japan (slower shipping than China ), the brake levers remain an elusive annoyance, the grips are on their way via a drunk United States Pony Express horse, and I have yet to order the overpriced shifter.

However, since the Gazelle Whale is somewhat part of the discussion - and is basically the modern beater version of the Raleigh build - I thought I'd share a quick update on that project. Plus, I promised @JaccoW the following photos.

As I might have said before, the Sturmey 8-speed hub is going to present a problem for the chaincase/guard mount, as the rotary cable stop sits in the exact place the offset, axle-mounted guard mounting tabs otherwise fit. Pic of that in a second.

The Whale has provisions for a more sensible chaincase mount though, with a braze-on on the inside of the chainstay. Don't mind the existing wheel; that's the wrecked LimeBike wheel rear holding the Gazelle up for the meantime:



This is the plan. Attached to the chaincase is the axle mount tab, which has been flattened and is mounted in reverse for these pictures:




Since the slots on the Whale's chaincase are already cracked at the rearmost area, moving the tab forward makes sense. If I cut off the axle eyelet and weld the steel bar onto it, I'll be able to drill and slot the bar to fit the chainstay mount.



It's a bit of a kludge (as is the chainguard design in the first place), but it should be serviceable. Part of me wants to replace the guard with a true full chaincase, but if this thing is to become a true lock-it-up-and-forget-it commuter, that doesn't make sense.

-Kurt
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Old 10-05-19, 04:12 AM
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Originally Posted by cudak888
There's nothing new to report on the '80 Sports, as the front brake hasn't arrived from Japan (slower shipping than China ), the brake levers remain an elusive annoyance, the grips are on their way via a drunk United States Pony Express horse, and I have yet to order the overpriced shifter.

However, since the Gazelle Whale is somewhat part of the discussion - and is basically the modern beater version of the Raleigh build - I thought I'd share a quick update on that project. Plus, I promised @JaccoW the following photos.

As I might have said before, the Sturmey 8-speed hub is going to present a problem for the chaincase/guard mount, as the rotary cable stop sits in the exact place the offset, axle-mounted guard mounting tabs otherwise fit. Pic of that in a second.

The Whale has provisions for a more sensible chaincase mount though, with a braze-on on the inside of the chainstay. Don't mind the existing wheel; that's the wrecked LimeBike wheel rear holding the Gazelle up for the meantime:
I'm okay with facilitating some of these parts if you want. The levers shouldn't be a problem and a full chaincase isn't that expensive either. The larger size might make shipping costly though.
Take a look here for some models. There are well over 200 options in different sizes and colors.
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Old 10-05-19, 04:25 AM
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Originally Posted by JaccoW
I'm okay with facilitating some of these parts if you want. The levers shouldn't be a problem and a full chaincase isn't that expensive either. The larger size might make shipping costly though.
Take a look here for some models. There are well over 200 options in different sizes and colors.
I just went through the list, and funnily enough, found the Whale's original guard up there under the Woerd brand.

The Hesling Xcero looks interesting (and I see mounting hardware that is designed for the aforementioned braze-on), but it is listed for 28" wheels. I'm not sure if that's generally to distinguish it from the 26" wheel section (which seems to be synonymous for "kids bike"), or if the length is too much to stuff on the Whale (haven't measured it). The Whale's guard looks sufficiently crusty for the urban environment, and I've already figured out the alternate mounting, so I should be fine.

That said, I'd be most grateful if you could facilitate the levers. Let me know

-Kurt
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Old 10-05-19, 05:08 PM
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Grips for the Sports arrived today. Can't do much about them until the shifters and brake levers are sorted out.

No word on the dual pivot from Japan...

-Kurt
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Old 10-06-19, 04:25 AM
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Originally Posted by cudak888
I just went through the list, and funnily enough, found the Whale's original guard up there under the Woerd brand.

The Hesling Xcero looks interesting (and I see mounting hardware that is designed for the aforementioned braze-on), but it is listed for 28" wheels. I'm not sure if that's generally to distinguish it from the 26" wheel section (which seems to be synonymous for "kids bike"), or if the length is too much to stuff on the Whale (haven't measured it). The Whale's guard looks sufficiently crusty for the urban environment, and I've already figured out the alternate mounting, so I should be fine.

That said, I'd be most grateful if you could facilitate the levers. Let me know
Don't you know only children and tiny people ride 26 inch wheels around here?

If you can tell me which model is on the Whale I could try getting my hands on the rear mounting bracket.
Shoot me a PM for the levers and let me know which ones you want.
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Old 10-06-19, 06:58 PM
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Little update on the non-C&V bike that is definitely taking over this thread:

The 8-speed Sturmey hub that @dweenk sent me also came with a shifter that was - unfortunately - broken, but I worked out a repair. It is a pretty basic el-cheapo, slightly-better-than-Wal-Mart twist shifter with the necessary 8-speed detents, which broke at the usual weak point around the adjuster barrel. These things should have more plastic in the bore to begin with, but that's another story.

As a rule, I dislike twist shifters, but I also dislike ordering a $20 Sturmey thumb shifter from the UK for a beater commuter bike. Also, since the twist shifter is tucked neatly around the brake hardware, it isn't as easy a target for petty vandalism.

Since said twist shifter is made of some form of ABS plastic that just won't glue together for anything (and probably wouldn't hold even if you could), I decided to sleeve it with a quarter inch brass tube. The inner bore was probably 0.3mm too tight, so it wasn't that hard to hand-thread a quarter inch drill bit through it and file it some to get it just right.




A bit of JB Weld slathered over the joint prevents any chance of it easing apart:



The Dremel made quick work of chopping off the excess. The factory spring for the adjuster barrel no longer fits, but a #2 spring from ACE Hardware did the trick.



This is what the Whale looks like now (sitting on the Lime's rear wheel until the 8-speed is laced up). It's been outfitted with a Dallas ofo front basket - which looks eerily like a factory piece to complement the rear - and basically all of the ofo's tactile cockpit bits, save for the 8-speed shifter in place of the 3-speed shifter. The comically tall seatpost is for yours truly, and makes this thing look like a dockless bike




Not sold on routing the cables through the rack mount. The cables squeak against the rubber sleeve too.




The repaired shifter with its adjuster barrel:



I'd also like to fit it with some ofo or Lime axle security nuts - good luck to anyone who wants to make off with a wheel.

I've also given a bit of passing thought that this is the one bike that I have that would be really neat with a Bafang front hub drive (as a pedelec).


Originally Posted by JaccoW
Don't you know only children and tiny people ride 26 inch wheels around here?

If you can tell me which model is on the Whale I could try getting my hands on the rear mounting bracket.
Shoot me a PM for the levers and let me know which ones you want.
PM sent.

-Kurt
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Old 10-08-19, 07:03 PM
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Big progress tonight. The front brake finally arrived from Japan, just shy of a month to get here.

It took heaven and earth to get this thing fitted. Anyone who says a Tektro 800A will clear a Raleigh Sports front fender without touching - at least on a post-1977 fender - can't be dealing with the same tolerances I'm working with.

My solution was to put the fender tab up the bottom of the steerer tube with a washer and a nylon spacer - I only hope that it stays tight enough not to rattle or shift. So far, seems to be working.




Oh yea, it was really fun to get it all stuffed in there with the wiring.

With the fender 1/2" farther forward, the brake clears properly:



I also ran the rear light wiring up the back of the fender, and secured it with Gorilla tape. The fender peak looks like it was made for this. Tape holds good too.




Also ran the wiring at the hub:



The 24/2 AWG speaker wire is too loose to fit against the factory clips. I may have to put a bit of heat shrink tubing in these spots so it grabs well and stays put.



A bit messy, but getting there:



Back down off the rack, for the meantime. I'm really considering a square taper crank for it.



-Kurt
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Old 10-25-19, 07:40 PM
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This has officially become a two-bike progress thread. The Raleigh is now awaiting a headlight and Nexus brake levers from AliExpress that'll undoubtedly take three weeks to arrive, so...Gazelle update.

I’ve been chatting directly with Gazelle in the meantime (chatting with the company...not the bike), who very kindly shipped me a Hesling Finura chaincase for the Whale. This is an OEM spec chaincase on the current EasyFlow pedal-assist e-bike.

Spoiler alert...this is what it looks like after it's already been mounted:



The guard is just short enough to fit the Whale, but will still need a very slight bit of trimming at the hub to clear the massive dustcap of the 25t cog.

The hardest part was getting it to fit at the BB. To explain what it took, I need to share a bit about the BB itself. This has a 38mm press-in cartridge bottom bracket (or “trapas,” in Dutch), which is supposedly a Thompson BB. These differ so much from cup-and-cone Thompsons that I’m surprised anyone even calls them that. The only thing in common between the two is that the BB shell does not have threads. That's IT.



At any rate, it is ridiculously easy to work on. Put a bolt on one side of the BB spindle to protect it…and give it a couple of whacks with a James Cagneyish sledge. The BB and one cup will pop out the other side. I know this probably gives some folks the willies about their bearings, but this is how the Dutch service them, and I don’t see bottom brackets falling out and littering their protected bike lanes and fietsstraats.


But back to the chaincase: It was probably made to fit a conventional BB. While the original BB hole on the case was just right to be sandwiched by the plastic press-fit BB cup, it put the case at least 4mm too far outboard. I believe it was never meant for sandwiching, and is supposed to fit an ISCG style adapter using the adjustable slots.

I decided to handle this by boring out the original hole to allow the case to fit further inboard.



Then, I had a washer laser cut out of ABS plastic to fit the ISCG adapter holes. The washer sits inboard the case – and I found I still needed to stack an additional 2mm of washers between the case and the washer to properly space the case to the left.




One of the bolts had to be removed entirely though, as it kept interfering with the chainstay regardless of positioning.

This led to my favorite part about this BB: The cartridge is designed not to bottom out against either press-fit cup, so if you want to adjust BB offset, it’s a matter of a couple of blows to the respective side of the spindle you want to adjust. It’s not rocket science, and when you’re trying to get a chain to thread through a chaincase, having this flexibility is exceptionally nice.

Case in point, the crank is sitting much farther out in this picture than it does now (granted, the third bolt was in place here, pressing the bottom of the case out, and the top of the case inward). Fixing it was a matter of a few hammer hits. That's it.



As for the rest of the case - getting nothing to rub on this combo is nothing short of a miracle, but I do still have to fabricate the rear mount. If anything, I shouldn’t be complaining that it runs as smooth as it does now. A bit of trimming should eliminate the last rubbing noises, and the rear mount should do wonders to lock everything down where it needs to be.

I'm tempted to find a case that would fit the Raleigh Sports, but since it has the later chainguard braze-on tabs, I'm stuck using Raleigh hockey sticks.

-Kurt
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Old 10-26-19, 08:20 PM
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More chaincase work on the Gazelle this afternoon. First off, in my previous post, I forgot entirely to note that the rear hub has been re-laced with the Sturmey-Archer X-RF8 that @dweenk so kindly sent me for cost of shipping.

Because this hub is generally meant for small-wheel bikes, the other thing not mentioned is that the Gazelle is now running a 28t Prowheel crankset from the parts bin. To make it blend in, the ring was drilled to accommodate the plastic plate/dustcap from the 36t crank. This seals up the crankset area on the new chaincase as well. The previous pictures didn't show what was going on inside the chaincase, so...



Since the rear of the case was still hanging around with no bracketry, I traced and cut a bracket out of some scrap steel:






Though the result looks decent, it turned out that this steel is a lot softer than I thought, once cut down to shape. It bends much too easily, and I don’t think I can rely on it to keep the chaincase mounted as rigid, even though I’ve proved to myself that the case can be mounted securely without rubbing on the chain, hub, crankset, or spokes.

Call it a proof of concept for now. I think I’m going to have the piece re-made in 2.5mm stainless, laser cut.





I finally had a chance to hook up the hub too. As fate would have it, the pinch bolt stripped, but I used the pinch bolt from the SRAM G9 hub instead; it’s the same thing. I have to order another for the Raleigh now.

Believe it or not, Sturmey-Archer doesn’t publish the pinch-bolt-to-cable-housing length for the older X-RF8 anymore. The new X-RF8 uses a different rotary assembly that requires only 95mm or 104mm (depending on dropout type) of cable. The old X-RF8 uses 140mm. This is the same spec as the rotary 3-speed hubs.



This may sound crazy, but I still don’t know if the internals of this hub are A-OK. I’m hoping the hub was sidelined because of the cracked shifter and not because of anything else. Even though I couldn’t put a load on it, I was able to shift it and put some drag on the rear wheel. It seems OK.

This is how it is at present. Nice and neat.



-Kurt
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Old 10-27-19, 07:39 AM
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I have not read this thread in quite a while.
the curiosities of mod Dutch bikes revealed!

ABS plastic is always touchy- the problem is the B - Butadine - the mix always varies
The German car companies add much acrylic - brittle- Styrene is just cheap.
( vintage off topic story- my brother worked long ago for a fellow who brought in a grey market 500SEC black over black- San Fernando Vally heat- one day almost all the plastic in the near new car warps - MBZ denies warranty- the cheapest solution?
send it back to Germany for claim.)
using a metallic reinforcement for the shifter was a solid solution. Should work- for others be sure to scuff up the metal splint.
Recently ordered some adhesive for nylon.
yes, it does exist. Toxic. I have two Sella Italia Superleggera saddles that are side tearing - will reinforce. And have a minor hope that the Simplex front changer that split just while the bike was in storage can be repaired - along with two strategic fine screws.
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Old 10-27-19, 10:20 AM
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That's some fine work you're doing. Innovative.
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Old 11-14-19, 08:10 PM
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Quick update (on the Raleigh, surprise!) and replies below.

I just came back from the Safe Routes Partnership National Convention (if I don't make much sense, that's because I really should be asleep now) to a whole bunch of boxes waiting for me. The headlight and brake levers came in.

Like a nut, I went ahead and installed various bits this evening. Still hemming and hawing over the look and fit, as I really need to get the whole bike out of the shed - into the light - so I can tell if it all "works."

I only snapped photos of the headlight for now, for my feedback/review at AliExpress. The finish isn't gloss black painted, it's this really crappy and cheap rough plastic texture (hey, for four bucks, I shouldn't be complaining). I'm not sure if it's the right "look," even though it's very close. Plus, the internals consist of a very blank PCB of LEDs connected to a three AAA battery pack. I don't think there's any overvoltage protection or amperage capping on this board, so wiring it straight into the hub may not necessarily be a good thing.

There's definitely no capacitor to maintain illumination either. I may have to read up a bit on this and solder a cap and some resistors together (at least, that's what I think I need to do) on a PCB.





I only snapped photos of the headlight, but the Nexus levers look very nice too. Under the fluorescent lighting at night, they have a slightly more bluish tint than the silver of the frame, which may be a bit distracting. The four-finger levers feel good though, but the reach is super long - enough that I felt compelled to turn the reach adjusters all the way in (there's not much adjustment in them though)


Originally Posted by noglider
That's some fine work you're doing. Innovative.
Originally Posted by repechage
I have not read this thread in quite a while.
the curiosities of mod Dutch bikes revealed!
That's the thing - the innovations (more like the "normal and sensible stuff we don't see here in the States") on Dutch commuter bikes aren't really that different. Perhaps a bit mysterious, because everything winds up hidden, frame routed, or covered. As for chaincases, it always boils down to how best to slide two halves of shielding material together - in a really narrow space - and still leave enough room for something running in-between that space.

I wouldn't really call my mount that innovative, as much as I'd call that braze-on on the inside of the chainstay innovative. It's so much more practical and versatile for both hockey-stick style chainguards and full chaincases than the conventional tab mounts on most bikes. Plus, it's impossible to snap off the braze-on, and it looks slick too.

Originally Posted by repechage
ABS plastic is always touchy- the problem is the B - Butadine - the mix always varies
The German car companies add much acrylic - brittle- Styrene is just cheap.
( vintage off topic story- my brother worked long ago for a fellow who brought in a grey market 500SEC black over black- San Fernando Vally heat- one day almost all the plastic in the near new car warps - MBZ denies warranty- the cheapest solution?
send it back to Germany for claim.)
using a metallic reinforcement for the shifter was a solid solution. Should work- for others be sure to scuff up the metal splint.
Recently ordered some adhesive for nylon.
yes, it does exist. Toxic. I have two Sella Italia Superleggera saddles that are side tearing - will reinforce. And have a minor hope that the Simplex front changer that split just while the bike was in storage can be repaired - along with two strategic fine screws.
I'm not well enough up on the chemical properties of plastics (even though I have a fair amount of experience physically tinkering with them and learning their properties in that manner), but I'm figuring the JB Weld is working here less as an adhesive and more as a retaining compound, like Loctite 603 (which happens to be an acrylic).

Ironically enough, unlike the rest of the shifter, the only chance of side-to-side force on this part is if the cable or barrel adjuster itself is given sideways force. Otherwise, the threads are always under tension towards the shifter body, from the housing.

Do tell about that nylon adhesive. I'll probably never use it in my life, but I'd like to know about it.

-Kurt
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Old 11-15-19, 07:25 AM
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The light really matches well to the Sports! Well done!
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Old 11-15-19, 09:50 AM
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Originally Posted by pastorbobnlnh
The light really matches well to the Sports! Well done!
I'm not convinced it looks right yet - it might wind up getting the guts from a proper dynamo-driven light and the body sanded and painted black before I accept it.

Had a chance to take photos out in the light today. I like the shape of the brake levers (and they feel exceptionally comfy when the adjuster is fully seated), but I'm not feeling the bluish tint of the lever bodies at all. I might go back to nagging poor @JaccoW to see if he can rustle up the Sturmey levers in the NL.

On the plus side, I think the lamp does look pretty good in the pictures, where the finish isn't absolutely apparent. It complements the grip and saddle perfectly, along with the hubs.





-Kurt
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Old 11-15-19, 10:25 AM
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Originally Posted by cudak888
I like the shape of the brake levers (and they feel exceptionally comfy when the adjuster is fully seated), but I'm not feeling the bluish tint of the lever bodies at all. I might go back to nagging poor @JaccoW to see if he can rustle up the Sturmey levers in the NL.
Hey, the offer still stands. Let me know if you still want to get your hands on them.

As for the light, Marwi/Union offers the UN-4936 STEADY though I only see the 40lux version with standlight in German webshops.

Alternatively, you could hack a modern light like a B+M Cyo into the housing of a vintage light. Provided it is large enough of course.


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Old 11-15-19, 04:24 PM
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Can't end the day without an update on the Gazelle either. My thornproof tube arrived for the back (though I'm on the fence whether a tubeless conversion would make sense), so I finally had a chance to button up enough of it (no rear brakes, squealing fronts) for a quick test ride.





I had a hunch that I would have a problem with the hub (@dweenk was very clear that he had bought the hub used on Craigslist, and since the X-RF8 has a reputation for a few issues, we were both aware that it might be troublesome), and it didn't let me down. It will not engage 4th without major slippage, and sixth gear...gives me third gear. Didn't expect a downshift on an upshift! Everything else is OK though, and my knees really thank the hub for the low ratios in first and second.

Had the chaincase closed up just enough to keep it aligned. Pedals are temporary, from the parts bin.



Originally Posted by JaccoW
Hey, the offer still stands. Let me know if you still want to get your hands on them.
I'm still open to the idea if the NL sources you found still have both the left and right versions. If not, I might spring for the black ones, which - IIRC - were available both left and right.

Originally Posted by JaccoW
As for the light, Marwi/Union offers the UN-4936 STEADY though I only see the 40lux version with standlight in German webshops.

Alternatively, you could hack a modern light like a B+M Cyo into the housing of a vintage light. Provided it is large enough of course.
I might have a source for a light with the guts that I need, but I'm going to shut up lest I jinx the opportunity.

I love the beveled housing shape of that particular lamp; the bevel looks like a jet engine.

What brand of dynamo hub is on that Gazelle? It looks like a Sturmey GH6, but the details aren't right. I wouldn't mind putting one of those on the Bottecchia.

-Kurt
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Old 11-16-19, 10:41 AM
  #100  
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The Gazelle looks downright handsome now. I hope you can get it working well soon.
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