Agreed, I have seen more Raleighs on Richmond CL than anywhere in the near Mid-Atlantic area.

I agree about seeing more of that bike! I'm pretty certain my late '30's The James Arrow Ace Convertible Touring Tandem (say that three times fast) had a Trivalex. There's a picture of my bike in post #59 of this thread:

Show us your C&V tandem bicyle thread - Page 3 - Bike Forums

Alas, that's about as far away from me as the Dunelt I wound up buying was, and about as expensive too.

You're right. The black plastic on the trigger part of the shifter didn't appear in catalogs until 1975 and this style of chainguard didn't appear until 1978. This is not a '72

Try this in the bicycles search box: raleigh | hercules | phillips | armstrong | dunelt | rudge | triumph | bsa | humber | norman | scot | robin | royal

Maybe a replacement trigger? I thought that the white rear fender ends would indicate something 72ish.

Mabey not, but the good ones did.

Sure, could be I guess. I don't know them as well as you guys. For instance, what is the difference between the LTD and the Sports?

another 100 year bike - 78 Raleigh sport
 

Volunteering at the bike Exchange I get to work on some really fine old steel.

Recently I posted on the Next Door website that I was looking for donation bikes and within 2 weeks I had picked up 30, including everything from little kid bikes through all manor of 24" and 26" mountain bikes to a $2000 Carbon fiber POS that we will probably sell for about $600. at our next garage sale.

The one I kept to work on at home is a 1978 Raleigh sport in Rootbeer brown.

This bike was left sitting in the garage for years and as a result the paint was really nice, with only a few scratches and little fading.

The more I looked at it the more I wanted to give it some love.

I stripped it down and cleaned all the paint then Gave the fenders and Chain guard a clear coat. Boy did that make the color pop!

I derusted and polished the brakes, stem, bars, and pedals , replaced the bearings in the head set, Replaced the front wheel with an aluminum rim of the correct size we had at the shop, de rusted and polished the rear wheel and clear coated the chrome(while masking off the braking surfaces) and put on a new gear shifter and cable(also from the shop). I put on white grips and cable covers and a cushy sprung seat and even found a new shiny shifter chain. A new 20 tooth rear cog and new Chain completed the build. As you can see from the pictures she is a real stunner.

I stopped counting after 16 hours labor. but I don't care. I'm in love.

This bike will probably be sold and someone will be able to look forward to many years of pleasure from the old girl.

Ah that's perfect! Thank you.

An LTD was a "bare bones" Sports. Didn't have pump pegs, Brooks leather saddle, or Raleigh Pattern rims.

1937 E.Russ tandem

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...inted10001.jpg

1953 Mc Lean
with Sturmey FM

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...003/McLean.jpg

In a strong headwind, there is nothing more comforting than the wise decision to install that 22 tooth sprocket. I've been out on level roads and still found myself having to "tack" like a sailboat....LOL

I am new to vintage English 3-speeds but have already have fallen in love with them. I have read 15% of this thread dating back 10 years(?) and have learned much and I appreciate everyone knowledge on the subject. I cannot post URLs until I have ten posts, so I cant share the pictures of the bike.

Can anyone recommend what I need to do to lower the gears on this bike? I live in Asheville, NC and need a modification.

22T is the largest stock Sturmey rear cog so find one of those, or a larger Shimano Nexus rear cog that also happens to fit. I got a Nexus 24T for my Sports and have a 22T for a different bike. You could go to much more trouble and find a different crankset with a smaller chainring. You need a cog with the three nubs on the inside to fit slots on the driver of the hub. You'll probably need a longer chain to use with the larger cog so might need to buy two chains and make a slightly longer one by adding part of the second one.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-...0/sprocket.jpg

Swap out the rear sprocket.

Maybe the largest official SA one but the largest I could find was 28T:
http://i.imgur.com/IV7rjyxh.jpg
I use one for my hybrid gearing (Franken)bike

It is massive though and I would suggest taking a good hard look at gear calculators to see if it is even practical for you.
http://i.imgur.com/sc2RXich.jpg

ESJOT is a company that makes sprockets for SA between 14 to 28T and everything in between.
http://i.imgur.com/9L7x79D.png
The combination you see up there gives me a range of 33-102.6 gear inches and I could go even lower with a smaller front sprocket.

Thank you all for the replies. I am a newbie to all bikes. How do I determine which gearing will best suit me?

Beautiful! Is it as nice in close-ups? ;)

edit. I see the sweet lugwork at the BB. Williams C1000? Great bike.

JaccoW, are you pleased with the Nexus 24T? How much does it effect the gears? Is this what you have? Shimano 22 Tooth Cog for Nexus Single Speed Hub 22 Cog 22t Y33060100

here's a video that explains what to do.

Perfect! Thanks.

Welcome to the forum and the 3 speed hobby! You might want to try the stock gearing first to see how it appeals to you. It is very common among us 3 speeders to lower the stock gearing. With Raleigh bikes, Chainwheels changed from 48 tooth to 46 tooth in the early 70s. My personal preference is to use a 22T cog with a 48T chainwheel and a 20T with a 46T. I always use a new chain when I make this mod. KMC chains come with 112 links which is more than you need. You'll need a chain breaker to remove the extra links. Good luck and don't forget to post pics. We like pics.
It is tricky to use the on forum uploader. Somebody here will explain it to you when the time comes, although it's simple enough to insert pics from image hosting sites.