I should receive this in a day or two . Originally planned on putting drop bars and a rear derailleur on it with 451 wheels, but I'm wondering if I should strive to leave it original.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bb2062adbc.jpg

Reminds me of the "path racer" aka poor kid's race bike I set up when I was a kid. Old Raleigh 3 speed sans fenders, and inverted North Road handlebars. Road the hell out of that thing until I got my motorcycle permit, then it became a cast-off.
It would be fun to build another if I came across a worthy 3 speed.

Getting in a few more rides before the season here ends - 1958 Raleigh Sports.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...011_174754.jpg

Here's a freebie that was in the carton the Shopper was shipped in:
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ca3b715579.jpg
I'm still carefully unpacking everything. I wiped down the rear dynohub, but I'm not seeing a date code, just the S-A logo and patent numbers.

I recently picked up another Royal Enfield 'Lightweight Sports', this one apparently also pre-war but using conventional brakes rather than the rod brakes of my other RE. The lugs are very simple. It employs a quadrant shifter. The rear hub is an AW with a patent number but no date, does not say 'THREE SPEED' on it and has black hardware on either end, so I figure 1938 or 1939. I've not identified the front hub. The spokes were shot, cranks bent, missing front fender, no seat or seat post and the fork damaged (the steering tube separated from the fork crown; a frame builder is looking at it...). Probably I got taken for $30.00...

The paint is surprisingly good. It appears that it can operate with 650b wheels. So I'm thinking of setting it up with Velocity Atlas rims. The rear hub needed a new spring, low gear pawls, a pawl spring and a two bearing races, the big one and a small one. Now it seems to work really well. The front hub seems to need new bearings. I've got a crazy idea of using this bike for a vintage class racer on the Tour Divide race perhaps in 2024. I could set a record for the oldest bike own the Divide... which seems like a really stupid idea! Thoughts?

I put a set of Velocity Atlas 650B rims, on the sturmey archer hubs, on a '56 Raleigh Sports. The frame will fit 42mm Rene Heres tires, but I couldn't get the stock front fender to fit after that. (it actually was a brake clearance problem, because I used Tektro 950a brakes for reach issues). I think if I had used the 38mm tire's I could have still used the stock fenders. Velocity Atlas were about the only "current" rim I could find with a 40 hole drilling, and they are rated for "clydesdale use". I like this set up very much, it was a very noticable difference coming from the stock rims with new kenda tires. The fender issue was solved with some Velo Orange ribbed fenders. Since the fenders were/usually are pretty rough, this made for a good looking and stockish appearing set up.

On my bike with the 48 front chainring, and a 24 tooth rear (the largest I could find commonly available), it's still a 39" low gear. I would want lower, and a lot more, gears for a tour divide race. That's just my humble opinion, I'm pretty pain adverse.

I got around that by mounting the fender tab ahead of the fork crown instead of behind it. Gave the necessary clearance to squeeze in the 800A:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c814dd90ff.jpg

The ability to do this may differ depending on your Sports. This is an '80 and there's differences in the fender stampings with pre-'77 models and the fork crown is noticeably wider than earlier models.

Just by eyeballing the '80 fenders and fork crown suggests that it may require some massaging to do this on an earlier example with the narrower fork crown.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fd4c88b92a.jpg


-Kurt

Your bicycles are always immaculate - like you just took delivery of that '58 Sports. I always worried with my '50 Raleigh Superbe that it was going to get banged up somehow, or the nice paint scratched. That's how I knew I shouldn't have the nicely original examples, at least not yet. I'm enjoying my Bitsathis, and Bitsathat '64 Triumph Sports.

Still, how I'd like to make a special order to Raleigh like its 1952...one Raleigh Record Ace or a 24.5" Lenton in polychromatic green please, with an FM or FC hub, and a '52 Superbe in black for the commute.

I appreciate the kind words. I enjoy the cable brake "sports" light roadster type bikes the most, whether it's a Raleigh Sports or a Schwinn New World, or similar. It's the kind of bike I keep coming back to because it just seems to fit the way that I ride. I just enjoy them the most, plain and common as they are. I've had some nice bikes over the years, but the light roadster style of bike seems the best balance of features. I recently had a very kind neighbor who gifted me a 1968 Raleigh Sports tall frame. He saw me fixing an old Raleigh Sprite in front of my garage one day and that reminded him of his bike. It's nice being able to talk to people who enjoy old bikes and have stories about how they used them "back in the day".

And some of my favorite bikes are pieced-together projects. I have a 1950 Schwinn Superior three speed with a wheelset I built; it rides wonderfully and is a really unique green color. I am currently rebuilding a couple of pre-war and WW2 era Schwinn three speeds that were rescues where I bought bicycle cores and built up period parts on the cores. Rescues like that where you save an old bike are some of the most rewarding when you're done.

There is certainly something just right about the ride and unending purposefulness of these bicycles. The Triumph Sports with five-speed I picked up was encrusted with rust and grime, the hub barely turned, and from a few feet away the machine appeared ready for recycle. Now it takes me to work each day, and with a simple LED update the lamps are useful on dark paths. As fun as it was to get the '64 Sports back into the ring, nothing compares to that first morning test ride along the river of the 1950 Superbe after 30 years forgotten in a shed. It was my first major "reactivation" of an old bike, and the ride was pure magic!

Sorry for the delayed response.

At the time it really had to have the wheels tried.

now that I have gone over it. Greased the headset, bottom bracket, and worked on the hubs, tried the wheels, it rides fine. It’s a bit small for me. I added a 20 tooth cog and new brake blocks.

unless the wife loves it(unlikely), I’ll donate it to a local charity. Hopefully it won’t end life as a lawn ornament.

I still wonder who built the bike.

I’ll include photos again.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7117ccf50.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...35dee1b6b.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...02c080d91.jpeg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...47db31722.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...03d94696e.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d3c42d7c8.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8f6ddc686.jpeg

Does anyone know if there is a shop/website that sells the two-piece clamps that mount the headlight to the traditional Raleigh-type lamp bracket?

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2660...c3e52da60e.jpg

The later the bike the fainter the stamping on the hub. Try angling a flashlight on it from different angles.

I did...found "76" on the side opposite of the S-A logo. Couldn't make out the month code.

That's a start....
I find they start to get weak around '73 or so

A recently re-built WWII era Schwinn New World sold by B.F. Goodrich shops. I gradually reworked this up from a bike core over the summer and fall. I dig the 1930s art deco, wing chain guard.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...021_170621.jpg

I immediately recognized the chain guard. One like it
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...de6b724486.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e9379fd3a1.jpg
was installed on my 1946 Cleveland Welding Company Roadmaster I recently revived. Experts told me it was period but not original to the bike. It was also originally chrome.

Has everyone seen this bunch of 30 British 3 speeds for sale?

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...6&__tn__=!%3AD

This may be the same group of bikes but not sure

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...7-1b73d3ee4c86

I saw those - they're maybe 75 minutes away from me. I suspect it's two listings for the same hoard. Nyack and Congers are both on the Hudson, near the Tappan Zee Bridge/Mario Cuomo Bridge. It's about 75 minutes southwest of me, which is kind of a long way for hoard picking and looking for parts that may or may not be there still. I'd drive 75 minutes if I knew for sure a bike or parts I wanted/needed would be there. But Facebook sales by non-bike people can be tough in that you could drive the 75 minutes and, at the other end, things have been picked over already and it's just stuff you don't want or need.

Three in NJ.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...56540788229440

https://scontent.fric1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...-A&oe=636BAA0D

A neighbor very kindly gave me the 1968 Raleigh Sports he had owned since he received it brand new. It's always nice when people do something like that, and it's a nice change of pace from all the bad stuff we hear today. It was certainly a bright spot of my summer.
So over the course of the summer and fall, I cleaned up the bike and returned it to form. It was basically all there. A few parts needed replacing, but it's in nice shape. I got it back onto the road just in time for a couple rides at the end of the season. I have some temporary LED lights on it now, but I'll do a better set of retro lights over the winter.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...104_172613.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...104_172627.jpg

You would think this part would be common since those British tab style mounts were used for 50 years, but I don't have a single one in all my boxes of parts.

I'm sure I've got a couple of these. I'll PM after I look.

^ I might have one attached to a lamp that I'll never use. I'll check when I have a chance.

Thanks very much for looking. I tried a couple sources where I had gotten those clamps in the past, and they said their own sources for the parts had dried up. The clamps tend to get lost or bent or broken, so they are harder to find than one would think. It seems like a part that could be reproduced by one of the boutique makers here in the US (Bike Smith, Gentleman Cyclist, etc.). Maybe not enough to be made off of selling new ones? Anyway thank you for looking - let me know if you come up with any.