fiat - That is a great looking bike and will give you a pass for the Shimano 3 speed... knowing you will eventually find an SA hub to replace it.

I weighed my Shasta today and with the addition of the AWG and new fenders it is approaching the weight of a Raleigh Sports as well.. those hubs are seriously heavy.

I can't wait for my new addition to this post - I'm driving (8 hour RT) to pick up the Lenton Tourist tomorrow. I already picked up cables, cable Knarps, tires, and grips today at the LBS. I fricking love my LBS...

Anyway, I'll have before pics tomorrow evening, and hopefully after pics Sunday once I get it cleaned up and rideable. It doesn't appear to need much work, so I'm hoping a good going-through and replacement of the consumables is all it'll need to be a sunday rider, and perhaps a Lake Pepin rider next spring.

I'm considering the saddle as well. For $85, I can pick up a new VO Model 8, which appears very similar to the Brooks B66 that it currently is wearing, but I'm not sure if I want to go with that, or spring the extra $55 for a true B66. Having the Model 8 already on my Phillips, I love it, and would get another in a heartbeat, but don't know if I want to do that, or go with the original. I'm also thinking that in time, it's going to get a set of VO elkhide handlebar covers to replace the plastic grips.

Now to find a cheap (i.e. not $130) set of Black or white Bluemels on Ebay....Anybody be able to help me out on that?

That Schwinn looks like its angles are laxer and its wheelbase is longer than a Sports. It's more like a Tourist but with 26" wheels. No wonder you call it plush.

mickey85, that will be cool. You'll have a Lenton in Linton! :lol:

Your best bet for Blumels fenders is to find a donor bike that happens to have them. You can sell the bike for the same price you buy it for and get a free pair of fenders. It will take time for this strategy to work, but it will work, given enough patience.

Yeah, that's a thought. I did notice today that the fork is bent...I'll have to tweak it back into alignment, but the problem is that it's the blades themselves that are curved back - it's gonna take some finesse. Now that I look at it, I can't NOT notice it. ack.

Here's a little before and after and I was pretty thankful I did not have a derailleur on my bike today... the clay mud along the river is like velcro but had no effect on the AWG and cleaning this up will be easy...

Before... shiny and clean.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/uavatv7.JPG

After...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/uavatv2.JPG

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...vatvmudbog.JPG

:D

Not too bad, looks the the uper part of the fork and tube are ok, the bend seems to be at the the mid piont.

I know what an AW hub is, but what's an AWG?

AW with the generator built into the rear hub, they also made an FG 4 speed. I have a couple of them, I will try and add a picture as soon as I can find one.

Aaron :)

A friend has a Raleigh Esquire. It has an AWG hub and is complete with factory head and taillights. Seems info on the Esquire is pretty scarce. Can anyone enlighten me?

not sure i've shown this SA 3-speed before, but this is my wife's 1973 dutch-built union savoy:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4115/...7554df5a85.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/...edd6e6cefc.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/...3d6c7edafb.jpg

^^^^^^ What a beauty^^^^^^^^

Lol, awesome!

I need to use this to point out the benefits of full fenders... my frame and water bottle has nary a speck of crud on them and I stayed really clean.

Good heavens, Anton! That is a gorgeous, gorgeous bike! Lucky lady, Mrs. Southpaw.

I think I have seen it in another thread but it never fails to impress me. It's a pretty amazing bike. I love the wiring coming out of the stem, so cool.

I have got my bikes back to NZ from the UK.
But my Raleigh "All Steel Bicycle", with FG 4 speed hub and stainless Dunlop rims, has deteriorating paintwork.
When I first picked it up in the UK the paint was a lot better, but I foolishly left it in a carport in dank weather, and all this minor surface rust popped up.
It still has all its transfers, and mechanically is magic.
It has cracking Michelin tyres, so I have tracked down some all-grey Cheng Shin 26 x 1 3/8" tyres from a bike shop 'down the line'. Not my favourite brand, but they have the traditional 3-block tread pattern as per the old Dunlops which are now impossible to get. The LBS guy tells me the current NZ Schwalbe agent is useless, so that is depressing. Luckily I stocked up on cream 28" delta cruisers for the BSA a while ago.

Anyway, what advice can you all give me to gently renovate the paint on 'Old Steel'? I tried a mild cutting compound on a rear mudguard, and then some quality car polish (the stuff they use on Astons and Rolls-Royces) but no improvement.
I am unkeen on fiddling around with oxalic acid.

any suggestions?

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=174403http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=174404http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=174405

Nice! I can barely walk down there sometimes. The one time I took my commuter with fenders down to the waterline I got so much clay caked between them and the tires that I could barely pedal.

impressive. what was the logic behind the placement of the cantis so low on the chainstays on those early mtbs? it seems to me that they would be more susceptible to getting all caked up this way.

thanks! yeah, she's lucky, all right. she never has to do the work finding them!

It's a U brake and they were only on the scene for a short time (around 1988) for the reason you observe. They are okay for road riding though.

Try rubbing oil into it. Any oil will help; I've used motor oil, 3-in-1, etc. I've also had good luck with true drying oils-- linseed oil or tung oil (furniture polish). I am frankly not sure what's best. The idea is that the oil seeps into the cavities and fills them up, restoring the color from underneath, while sealing them from the outside as well.

Have it stripped and powdercoated with reapplied Raleigh decaling. The bike should last for a long time.

I have to agree with Rudi on this. The oil rub should work wonders preserving the original paint and decals. The one thing you do not want to do is to strip it and powder coat it; that would definitely effect its actual value in the most negative way.

+1 to rudi's suggestions. i've had great luck with drying oils such as boiled linseed oil, which dries to a semi-hard, semi-gloss clear film, and highly water-resistant. i've used linseed oil mostly on badly pitted/flaked chrome parts, but i imagine it would have a good effect on pitted/flaked painted surfaces as well.

My favorite thing about this image is that the AWG hubs are very old, and the bike itself is much newer.

That alone speaks volumes.