Yes, my thoughts were heading exactly in this direction. The wedge is still in there too. I'll plug it up when I get home and put some evaporust in there to soak.

Are these bars, stem, and levers English 3 speed parts? They were on a older Schwinn I picked up recently but don't look like Schwinn parts to me.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lFXvsCagBt...593-741252.JPG

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9myK2kcFdg...594-738305.JPG

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GZvHEqcD05...595-734370.JPG

Thanks johnnyspaghetti, I replyed to your PM.

The bars & neck appear to be standard Raleigh although the type of wedge to cinch the neck tight I haven't seen on a Raleigh, Hercules, Dunelt, Robinhood, many other store brands American & Canadian & elswhere. & Huffy. All English made. Raleigh did make Schwinn's around this era but I just don't have date parameters. I have a neck like that was on a 1969 that style I'v seen on 68's too. Same on top but the wedge was conical & round spreading the bottom of the neck tube. The brakes levers look to be Weinmann.
Are the calipers aluminum? Do they have markings?

I have those levers on a Sears 3 speed made by Steyr in Austria. They are indeed Weinmann levers mated with Weinmann aluminum side pull brakes.

That's a Brampton shifter. Its compatible with SA hubs- Brampton also made copies of the SA hubs.

Thanks for the info. The calipers are Schwinn script Weinmann. It's possible the levers and calipers came from the same bike because the Schwinn script may not be original to this 1960 Varsity. The stem and bars are available cheap if anyone here needs them. Here's a pic of the Schwinn after switching to drops (repainted and incorrect decals):

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P5cexzvSSM...598-746362.JPG

Huh?:foo:

I've always heard that Schwinn made all of their bikes in that era. They wanted anything with "Schwinn" on it to be built in their Chicago factory. They only started to outsource bike production in the mid-70's, when they realized they could not build lightweight 10 speeds (except Paramounts and the fillet-brazed models) in house, so they had Panasonic build the Le Tour.

Anyone else want to weigh in?

I don't think the stem was Raleigh made.

Well, I think it's a Hercules shifter. As you say, like Hercules, Brampton had their own version of the SA hub. Here's the shifter.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Sg...=w1172-h903-no

^^ That too is a Brampton. I have the first style (in the prior photo) on one of my bikes so I know they made them both ways. Funny that the Hercules and Brampton shifters look identical. Is the Hercules rebranded?

I suspect that Brampton was the actual manufacturer of the Hercules branded Sturmey Archer clone hubs as well as the shifters.

Ha, twins. I'd forgotten about the Hercules Herailleur shifter. They (Brampton?) made both shifters and hubs for both marques.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yO...=w1596-h903-no

A quick question to the cognoscenti: best shifting technique on a British 3-speed that would go easy on the mechanicals?

I just joined the British 3-speed club by acquiring 1960 (?) Raleigh-in-disguise Sports. I got my first (thrilling!) spin yesterday, and want to avoid damaging the machine.
As an example, I haven't lubricated the hub yet (discovery stage), and there is a slight delay in shifting - normal, or should I adjust my technique?

Rule #1... you HAVE to bring pictures!:roflmao2:
Rule #2 add some oil to the hub

When riding on an IGH you need to let up a bit when shifting, some people stop pedaling completely.

Unless the hub is way out of adjustment and you put our 750 watts of power you will be hard put to damage a Sturmey-Archer AW. Good news is if you do manage to break it, there are plenty of repair parts available.

Aaron:)

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.