Cleaning and oiling the shifter mechanism can really help. It's possible the cable tension is not correct. Make sure the cable is still on the pulley and the pulley moves freely.

Also check the small chain where it enters the hub. Make sure the links are not coming apart and it moves freely. The links may be stiff there. Penetrating oil and working the links back and forth helps.

Does anyone have a source for SA AW spring cap? There is a source in Eng. $1.30 for cap and $4+ shipping. Nothing on Ebay.

But I have some pictures on the forum, on this here thread..!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/...ed56e275_k.jpg

Yes, oiling with plain old 30 weight (lawnmower, sans additives) oil?

I did sense the need to pause slightly during the shift.

Maybe not spring-loaded: Bicycle Raleigh Katsaris old antique retro

Harris Cyclery in Massachussetts carries Sturmey-Archer small parts:

Sturmey-Archer Spare Parts from Harris Cyclery

As does BikeToolsEtc in Oregon:

Bike Tools Etc. - 1000's of bicycle tools and parts for the home mechanic!

He may be thinking of the Huffy Sportsman, which was a re-badged English bike, including at times a Raleigh product.

Schwinn built their own 3 speeds, variously using lugged and brazed (Paramount Tourist), fillet brazed (Superiors, early New Worlds, and the early Continentals), and eletroforge weld (lots of post war models).

I have been to Harris to get other parts. As I look at their web site I do not see the spring cap listed. This hub had a thin washer placed below the bearing race in the assembly. The spring cap fits snug between the bearing and glide on the bottom of the axle cone. I feel that the thin washer would hang up while trying to slide up ad down as you shift..

Here's one
Brommieplus-Products

That cap for the clutch spring might be hard to find short of scavenging one from another hub. I'm not sure which washer you've got a problem with, can you provide a link to an exploded view of the AW with said part?

Lubricating the hub is actually the first thing you do! They are really quite durable, but nothing holds up without lubrication. Last year a guy blew one to smithereens on the Lake Pepin 3-speed Tour; he had not lubricated the hub at all from when he obtained the bike.

Automatic transmission fluid works quite well; WD-40 is good if the bike has been in long disuse- spray the hub full of the stuff and go for a ride of a mile or two. Once back, rotate the wheel so the oil port is down and with a paper towel or rag, drain the hub by spraying even more WD into it while the oil port is down. If you have compressed air, spray that into it next and then add a normal lubricant. Almost any will do; 10-30 works OK but I think the automatic transmission fluid is better. The hub should rotate as freely as the best Campagnolo hub or you have a problem.

Shifting: Easing off of the torque is all that's needed. You don't need to stop pedaling. Shifting should be instantaneous.

Hi guys

Just an update on progress.

1. I removed the old tires and tubes. Cleaned and waxed the rims. The new tires should arrive tomorrow.
2. Removed the brake assemblies, cleaned and waxed them. I added the new continental kool stops pads.
3. Removed the brake levers (even though one screw just wont come out) and cables. I will wait a bit to put the bike together until I go out to a bike shop and ask how much would it be for them to cut the cable.

I still cant get the rear fender off the bike. I am getting frustrated and I am adding more pictures and see what advice you can share. As soon as the fender comes off I will use dawn to wash the whole bike and be ready to put verything back together.

Thanks

That spring clip on the fender can be a bit tight. I sometimes have to pry it up with a very small screwdriver. You do need to remove the kickstand first, however.

in place of the spring cap there was a thin washer with a just slightly larger overall diameter then a spring cap. This washer slide over the axle and held back the spring. Being slightly larger the washer had to sit under the ballbearing race [retainer]. On my other hub the spring cap fit nicely within the retainer.

So the the spring cap is the way to go. I've never seen one for sale but then again I've never looked for one.

It helps if you google search with the part number. In this case Sturmey Archer HSA 129 clutch spring cap. Some clutch springs are smaller than the hole in the driver and poke right through and others won't fit through and you have to push down the driver and compress the spring to screw on the cone.

I have a Raleigh Superbe and am in the process of getting it put back together. I repacked with 11 1/4" Bearings in each side. I went to adjust the bottom bracket and am getting binding when rotating the spindle. When adjusted with no play I'm getting a loose spindle, Im not sure if the spindle is bent or not. Does anyone have a suggestion or a spare spindle they are wanting to get rid of.

Here is the one I currently have.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4516/3...8e91b882_c.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4575/3...a2efc6df_c.jpg


Here is also a video of what it looks and feels like.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/jameslovesyou/N636F5

Thanks @nlerner , that helped me get a better reach once I removed the kickstand.

I am now waiting for the tires to get here tomorrow and start putting the bike together.

I have encountered a screw on one of the brake levers that keeps turining around but wont come out, I think I damaged the thread when I tried to unscrew it because it felt very stiff and I kept aplying force. I have added a picture, any advice?

I don't disassemble the levers. What I would do is replace the nut and give the whole lever an overnight soak in Evapo Rust, wash them off with a tooth brush in soapy water then wax.

Nice! I like that gold colour. :thumb:

30 weight is on the heavy side for oil. ATF works, sewing machine oil, Phil Wood Tenacious, 3 in 1 in the BLUE can not the red. FWIW I use Rotella 15W-40 in my hubs... it is what is left over after changing the oil on 3 trucks and 2 tractors. :roflmao2: The key thing, initially, is to get some lubrication in there. Eventually you are going to want to pull the hub at least partially down for a bit of cleaning and to grease the bearings. At that point you will want the grease and the oil to be compatible. I use the old cheap brown soap based grease, the oil in the hub keeps it pliable. When I was riding regularly I would put a single squirt of motor oil in the hub about once a month. You can listen to the hub and tell the difference in the sound when it needs oil vs when it doesn't. The ticking is more muted when it is properly oiled.

Aaron:)

"proper" position of SA shifter on handlebars?
 

I just got my feet wet, got two 1960-61 "Popular Sports", lady and gent pair.

The SA shifters are set at different locations on the handlebars - right, left, above, below.

Is there a "proper", or factory position, also in relation to the ergonomics of shift lever?

Here's what Sturmey Archer had to say about correct "flick" trigger placement in 1939

Attachment 590638

On the lower picture I think I see odd, uneven wear marks on the spindle. Makes me think the cups may be badly worn also. Personally, I'd replace everything. Cups, spindle and bearings.
One problem is that there were after market spindles made to replace the 16GC, but they have different identification numbers. So buying one sight unseen is a gamble unless it's from somebody who knows these things. Can't go wrong with a Raleigh stamped 16GC.

Are all the bearings staying put in there proper position when tightening?
If you roll the bottom bracket axle on a piece of thick glass or a granite counter top you may see a wobble if the axle is bent.

No look at the axle at the right side. Big Chief nailed it, it's been totally gouged/scooped out (can't remember correct term). Likely too many balls or not enough and then ridden for a long time. New axle for certain.

Finally got the stuck stem out of the fork - I gave it about 7 rounds of soaking, heating and spraying and then took it to the guy who corrected the curve on one of the DL-1 fork blades. He had a purpose built pipe vice in a stand that was able to clamp onto the steerer really securely. Another 3 rounds of heat/spray and a pipe wrench and it started to move. I think part of it was as the stem started to get squished it allowed some lube to get in between the steerer and stem. No damage to the steerer or fork paint, woohoo!

I have put the bike together, everything was looking good but when I tried to ride it the front wheel makes a weird noise. I can see the fender is rubbing the tire. If I pick up the fender the noise is gone. The back tire is OK. Tomorrow I will remove the fender and try to ride it and see if that works. Any ideas?

Arty Dave. I know when anything like your frustration happens to me and I'm able to resolve it I feel like I'vewon the lottery.

To those of you who have rebuilt many AW hubs I need your opinions and comments. I have just rebuilt two AW hubs,1949 and 1959 [still have 1952 waiting for spring cap]. The 1959 runs real smooth in my hand as I spin the sprocket in reverse and seems to engage nicely. But, with the 1949 although it spins freely in reverse and seems to engage correctly, the sprocket dust cap rubs [I don't know how else to describe it] within the R H ball ring. It's a uniform rub not a cross thread rub.

If you bought the Kenda tires its possible the molding nubs rubbed the front fender at the top where it narrows & come to a point. I spend some time with a razor blade cutting most of them down.

Just the sound of a tire rubbing a fender drags me down. There are an unusually large amount of nubs on the tires I bought.

Massaging fender lines is a black art ;)

Make sure the mudguard is ideally positioned when you tighten the securing nuts and bolts. Move the stays in and out and straighten any kinks especially if theres any distortion, and there almost always is. Sometimes you can change the arc of the mudguard if you look at it's section, pushing or pulling the outside edges with hands or non marring tools. Maybe the wheel can shift forward or back in the dropouts as well.

I did get the sunlite 26X1-3/8 ISO 590. I wanted to remove the fender without removing the tire and it would not come out. So I got all the air out from the tire and I could barely remove the fender. I test drove it and it was all good. It sucks though not being able to use the fender. Did I get the wrong tire?

I don't think removing the molding nubs would make a big difference, the fender was touching the tire to the extent of not spinning freely.