Alloy rims will stop better in wet weather and they won't corrode or rust.

Oh I was just dumb; I was looking on the bottom bracket instead of the back of the seat tube. My S/N is ND7239806; it was actually made in March 1977! The old-style hockey-stick chainguard threw me off; I guess they were once again plumbing the parts bin when they assembled this Tourist.

There's hardly any difference between DL-1s from 73 to 77 anyway. For that matter, Raleigh never made any significant changes to the good ole Model 1. They were essentially 1930s bikes all the way to the end.

Well yeah, but I still like knowing what year my bikes were made in :lol:. This baby is exactly 40 years old now, and it seriously does not look it at all.

I am possibly looking to change my Brooks mattress saddle. What your favorite saddles for your English 3 Speeds?

I've seen a lot of Brooks B17, B72 and B66 saddles on BF members 3 speeds. Right now, I'm using a Serfas RX saddle on my roadster.
http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...ech/1-7-17.jpg

I prefer the B66 and the B73 - don't care as much for the 72 or the 17.

Finally got the straps to the old original equipment saddlebag replaced. It's going on the 64 Sports I've been working on. This bike had a bent drive side crank arm, missing chainguard, incorrect trigger shifter, schwinn handlebar grips and missing lamp bracket but no rust problems. All that's left to do is clearcoat and polish the chain guard some and try for a better gloss match the the rest of the bike and find some original white grips.
http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...saddlebag2.jpg
http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f.../saddlebag.jpg
http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...ech/64comp.jpg

Up to 80 degrees here today... a good chance to dust out the garage. I also needed to dust off these 3-speeds: 1941 Schwinn New World and 1947 Schwinn Continental.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HYyQvksd9...325_141603.jpg

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TuzRr0tpB...325_141623.jpg

Then got to take a nice, long ride on the Continental.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v85dELwla...325_145006.jpg

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AFkp3OJCl...325_145034.jpg

I still have to go back to my shed and get all the dust out of there. The English 3 speeds and some other Schwinns still need cleaning. There's a lot of work to be done this spring...

Much colder today - took out this Raleigh Sprite.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_RI2r6wuO...326_160003.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KYqiBN8pX...326_160019.jpg

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ASBp1wAeR...326_160041.jpg

Wheel lacing......

Either my eyes are going crazy or the spokes dont interweave. On a 3 cross you typically go over over under. ON the raliegh it seems if the spoke head is on the inside the flange all the crosses are over.

In the rear it seems to go over over over over :) (queue the leslie neilson jokes from the naked gun series).

AM i crazy or is that how it is?

I am lacing some new cr-18s at i did the front 32h in the standard over over under pattern but im not sure this is how it was originally. Same with the rear.

What should i be doing? it would seem like the lacing would we stronger and hold the wheel truer if they went over over under in the front and over over over under in the rear. IM going to try the 4x in the rear this time.

THe previous bike i did, i ordered all the same length spokes and did 3x both front and rear and it worked great. This time i was to stick with 4x in the rear as that is the spoke length i bought.

What is the deal with the interweaving of the spokes though? Thoughts?

You're right, they weren't inter-weaved. Cheaper, faster production and the Raleigh pattern steel rims would take a beating without it. But if you're building alloy wheels, you're best doing it the right way.

Ah so i am not crazy. Good.

SO the right way on a rebuild is either over over under for 3x or over over over under for 4x i assume? This is my second wheelset for these old 3 speeds and i have another set im going to do after this. They are fun to build and quite cheap as far as learning goes.

Easy answer! Brooks B-66! The Raleigh Superbe came standard with it. :thumb:

Honestly, I build 3X over/over/under cuz it works for me. Very small comfort zone :twitchy:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/b2...K=w407-h305-no

+1 But I do see over-over-over on some BSO and POS bikes on occasion. They are cheaper to manufacture so do show up on bicycles that were never intended to travel more than 20 miles in their lifetimes. They are probably OK for that though as the hub bearings may not last 20 miles either.

You are correct. The correct way to lace wheels is to interweave at the last cross, however many crosses you have, unless of course you are lacing 0x, which is dumb.

BigChief,
Did you make the straps or buy them? I have been looking for off-the-shelf leather straps & buckles for a while.

Well, it's a 5 speed, but it is S/A IGH
 

I've been working on my step-thru Sprite this beautiful day. The 3 speed side of the S5 hub worked like a champ with the trigger shifter on the bar (an add-on). The left side of the hub was not reliable at all. It was connected to the original downtube shifter that was plastic and sloppy and I feared it would break (the 3 speed side was already broken).


So I pulled a newer trigger shifter from my stash and installed on the left side of the bars. That required a new cable and housing. I set it up, adjusted the cable, and took it for a ride - everything worked. Now I only need to clean and lube it.

Thanks. One final question on the 40h rear wheel. I know for a 3x front and the first set of spokes you drop in you skip 3 holes and throw on a spoke nipple. For 4x it has to be different. I cant find any good tutorials on the 4x method. I might have to look at one of my other wheels maybe to get an idea. It cant be that much different then 3x.

No, it's the same. There are four kinds of spokes: DS pulling, DS pushing, NDS pulling, and NDS pushing. 36h wheels have 9 foursomes. 40h wheels have 10 foursomes.

Here's my other English 3 speed. A 1970's Triumph. The only change I have made to it is the Triumph crank - how could I not! I'd like to fit a period rear rack to this bike - any recommendations?

There's also this Chopper Mk1, but I don't know if that counts in the spirit of the English 3 speed.

Thanks. I laced it up and it worked great. Now to just properly tension both (which i need practice at) and i should be all set for this one.

My next wheelset will be the crazy weird dynamo hub on the front. I have heard those are hard since they dont have eyelets on the hub.....just little slots that hold the spokes by tension.

im not looking forward to that one.

[MENTION=116596]scale[/MENTION], it may be easy enough to devise a system to hold the spoke in place long enough to introduce tension. Maybe put the spoke in and stuff the spoke hole with aluminum foil?

[MENTION=443122]IEthatsME[/MENTION], I was a kid when that Chopper was around. I thought it was cooler than the Schwinn Stingray. I had an off-brand knockoff of the Stingray, and mine had a Sturmey Archer AW hub also. A neighbor kid showed me how to adjust it with the indicator cable.