It did work. A tip of the hat to @noglider for the suggestion. I eliminated 18" of cable housing and the Raleigh lever now has plenty enough travel to handle the Tektro dual pivot. Far more firm, much better feel. There is a BUT here though. This would not have worked if I didn't have this big 1" cable stop in my parts bin. I bought a brand new clip and used that with an old steel grommet. It wouldn't hold. The old Sturmey Archer clips are a bit more husky, but not as strong as the one I ended up using. Don't know who made it, not Sturmey Archer, but this wouldn't have worked without it. Maybe somebody makes bolt on cable stops for 1" tubes somewhere. I couldn't find one.
So this is a very useful mod and , I think, necessary if you're going to use dual pivot calipers, but you will need something stronger than a SA fulcrum clip. If I had known this, I would have brazed on stops while I had the frame stripped. edit: forgot to mention. The old SA clip does hold at the rear of the top tube. I think there may be more tension at the front. It was also handy that the Tektro connects the rear cable on the left side of the bike. Nice clean routing with the shifter on the right.

Attachment 581948

My 73 has odd brake handles, they are chrome but have a black section with adjustment wheels also it looks as if someone replaced the cables for them as they are just about the only shiny part on there...lol
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4333/...59214045_b.jpgIMG_1260 by David Ashe, on Flickr

Were the 70's brake cables black and did they have the different handles?

The cables in the 70's were black but they were not smooth, they had raised ridges on them. The black thing on your levers we're something they tried for awhile. Self adjusting brake tensioning mechanism. As the pads moved away from the rim as they wore, the adjuster would bring it closer for better braking. Some like them, some remove them.

These are my levers with them removed.

Interesting, well so far they work but i dunno if ill keep them. My cables are actually smooth so they must be newer, odd considering how the rest of the bike looks like it lived in a swamp.

Whats the benefit of them other than the self adjusting?

Howdy! Apologies for this being my first post on the forums.

I enjoyed reading the thread from the first post. It took several weekends and a couple of weekday nights, going through about 30-60 minutes each time. I learned quite a bit and started to understand why the English three-speed is so revered. The only wish I had was that Photobucket didn't change their Terms of Service. Anyway....

Somewhat unfortunately - since I can be easily enabled if something piques my interest - I may have overpaid a bit to pick up a Phillips. Hub stamp is 68/12. It was stored in a storage locker and picked up by someone bidding when the owner went past-due on his locker. No fenders. It looks relatively clean and has most of the original parts left on the bike - including the cables, Raleigh Record tires and what look to be Kool-Stop brake pads. I'll probably keep it as a cafe/path racer until I find the need to put fenders on the bike. Once I determine where to host photos, I'll upload a few.

First steps are to replace tires, check/replace the tubes, and get new brake pads. I need to figure out what's going on with the hub as it was adjusted too tight and I can't either get it into first or I spin in second gear. Once that's done a new seat will be in order.

That's what they do, that all they do.

Welcome! That does make for a marathon reading time, doesn't it? Bring your Phillips here when you can, we would love to see it.

The 3 speed hub does not like to be too tight. It does like to have its cable adjusted.

That they do...lol

Tear down will be starting hopefully tomorrow :)

I'm a big fan of Imgur.com. Linked you see the basic upload website but if you make an account you can easily put them in folders and access them later or add comments.

Here you can find a quick guide how to upload images. Extra info

For posting to the forum you need the BBCode once the image is uploaded. Linked BBCode has the advantage of showing a smaller image on the forum but allowing people who are interested to go to the IMGUR website to see the original full size. Just make sure you select the right size for the thumbnail. ;)

Nice older one on CL here in town. Looks like a 23" frame.

https://richmond.craigslist.org/bik/...312189340.html

1960s Raleigh 3 speed - $75 (RVA/Maymont)

https://images.craigslist.org/00o0o_...NB_600x450.jpg

make / manufacturer: Raleigh
model name / number: Sports

Raleigh 3-speed Sports model bicycle. I don't know the exact year but it is from the 1960s.

The bike is obviously old, but it still rides fine. The tires hold air and the gears shift. Best suited for someone under 6' tall, but I'm a bit taller and it is definitely still ride-able. Good for cruising around town.

I'll throw in the red lock that is pictured.

I accept cash, Venmo, or PayPal.

Gimme a Break!
 

I was having a hell of a time getting the back break on the '61 Superbe to work properly. No amount of adjusting, oiling would get the calipers to close evenly. The drive side would always freeze in the closed position.
I had a closer look at an unmolested original bike (1972 Superbe) and noticed that the rear spring was mounted in a certain way and my '61 was the opposite.....
Attachment 582026

Attachment 582027

Attachment 582028
The same but different.

I didn't know that there were two styles of spring, front and rear seem to be inverted.
I routed through the parts bin and found what I believe to be the proper spring, put it on and now it works properly.
I'm going to have to review my other projects and see if I've messed these up......

Nice detective work! @gster

The lower spring is correct. I have no idea about the upper one. Never seen one like it. Unless it once was a Raleigh spring and somebody bent it around. Great to have a well stocked parts bin!

The top spring might be a Schwinn or Schwinn-approved German/Swiss-made(?). They're a slightly different shape and sometimes the loops actually end up resting on the fender top.

I rooted around in my bin and found a cable hanger that had a nice chrome cable adjuster on it. Tried it on the Raleigh and it fit so I have the front brake done. I will run the back brake as non adjusting till I locate another set up.

Gotta' keep this project moving...

Started testing the vinegar / aluminum foil on some of the rust. So far i am excited:
Kickstand
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4351/...9fb7b4c3_b.jpgRustrem3 by David Ashe, on Flickr
Rear brake
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4488/...608d8f41_b.jpgRustrem2 by David Ashe, on Flickr
The bottom of the expedition sized rear basket...lol
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/...547b696e_b.jpgRustrem1 by David Ashe, on Flickr

More to come :)

That's a nice one. 62-64 23" wow. Lucky for me it's far away.

@Scipunk if you really want to clean that basket all over, get some brass bristle brushes from a hardware store. It makes life easy!

Many here have seen my daughter on her Raleigh Space Rider on the Lake Pepin 3-speed tour the past few years. The soon-to-be 12-year-old wanted to ride bikes last weekend, but her knees nearly hit the handlebars. When I tried to raise the seat yet again, the seat post popped out--she's too tall!

I pulled down this 19" Dunelt that I fixed for a friend, and to my surprise, my daughter could ride it. The friend never came to get it, so you snooze, you lose. My daughter wanted a coaster brake, so it was off to MMRB. The only coaster brake 3 speed hub they had was a TCW 3, and the rim was bent, so they threw in a regular wheel with an AW. I strippped the spokes and laced up the TCW with the best spokes and nipples, rebuilt the hub , and transferred it to the Dunelt. I spent most of this hot afternoon putting on a rack, moving baskets, lights, tweaking, and getting it ready for my daughter.

Killer Dunelt! She's good to go for a couple more years.

+1 Very nicely done. Good job!

I have a brass brush somewhere...lol Itg works better than the Vinegar / Aluminum foil.

I also have my dremel sanding kit (flappy sanding wheels) and i believe they make a brass dremel attachment

I also have oxcylic acid? to try on the heavier rust. We will see how that goes :)

I'm going to get on my soap box and put in my 2 cents about brakes on light roadsters. The extra money spent on salmon Kool Stop pads is worth every cent. They clearly out perform the cheap gray pads and even Fibrax. And if you're replacing a set of John Bulls that have been on the bike since 1974, you'll be entering a new universe of stopping power. Lately, I've been playing around customizing my Rudge scorcher. I installed a pair of Tektro R559 dual pivots mostly for the cool factor. Would I use these on a regular light roadster? NO. The combination of the Raleigh lever and the long cable housing just doesn't have enough travel to operate the Tektro properly. I was very fussy truing the side to side on these rims. They're very close. I had the pads adjusted a mouse whisker away from the rims and still, too much of the lever travel was used up before full brake. Adding the cable stops to the top tube and eliminating 18" of housing did buy me more room than I thought. The rear brake is good now, but all and all, it is a lot of extra trouble to go through for only a marginal improvement. Unless you're a scorcher and don't want all that extra weight of steel calipers slowing you down.

I just finished the refurb of this 1969 Raleigh Sport 23" men's frame. Here are some before and after pics.

Under all that dirt the paint on the frame was amazingly good. I cleaned everything and painted everything with Naval jelly. that gort rid of the rust . then I used Rustoleum black spray can lacquer to touch up the bare spots , then sanded everything lightly with 1000 grit wet/dry and clear coated everything with Rustoleum clear lacquer. I lost the small decals on the fork and the thin pin striping on the fenders but overall it looks great.

I swapped out the rear cogs for a 24 tooth from Amazon and put on the Wellgo pedals for a good platform, The aluminum bars and stainless stem I got from the bin at the bike Exchange.

I took it for a test drive Saturday and it goes well. The lower gearing makes going up moderately steep hills possible and the other 2 gears are good for flat and down hill. I will probably put it up for sale now that it's finished. At 6'5" it is still a little small for me. It sure is a beauty though and someone is going to get a great riding bike.

Nice work Capnjonny! How did you get the rear reflector rubber bright white again?