Perhaps it was modified to quicken up the steering? :bike2:

Mmmm... Sporty!

I was in search of an old-style, "all 'rounder" type tire, so I bought them. The Sunlite/Kenda mini-roadster tires are good, functional tires. They work well on pavement and on pavement where there is light-to-moderate debris. If you're riding on paved streets where you get he occasional patch of sand, stones, sticks, acorns, etc. they will work fine. They roll reasonably well. They are not as cushy as the DL-1 sized bigger brother tires.

If you will be on un-paved roads, or heavy gravel a lot, I suggest the Schwalbe Delta Cruiser tires or Panaracer Col de la Vie tires.

The full write-up is here:

http://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/2016/...tires-iso.html

Some of my favorite 3 speeds are American. Here is a 1948 Schwinn Continental. Many people remember the Continental as a middling road bike with a welded frame. These very early ones were fillet brazed seamless cro-mo, lots of aluminum parts, etc.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bBENyO5RZ...022_170044.jpg

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d82LcUwov...022_170128.jpg
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KQQfGqlqd...022_170152.jpg

Thanks for the reply. I love the delta cruisers but want to get something a bit more eco for this build up. Ill give them a shot. They have been ordered and are on the way. Thanks!

Now, I've read about early Schwinn bikes built in Chicago as being of very high quality, and this bike certainly bears that out. What a beautiful machine! Doggone it... you guys are going to make a collector out of me yet.

And that's not what I got into this hobby for. I just wanted to be self-sufficient for local transportation and recapture that sense of freedom and adventure I felt when I was just another kid on a bike. But the sheer variety and dedicated craftsmanship we find in bicycles these days, both vintage and modern, opens up all kinds of temptation and irrational behavior.

Don'tcha love it? :thumb:

Now that is cool. Is that a Schwinn paint scheme, or custom?

Can you post more pictures of the frame brazing and front hub? Stunning bike and I've not seen one before.

Very nice! :love:

Quick question: Did these pre-1950's Schwinn lighweights use the same 597 tire/wheel size that the later ones did?

Well, thankfully for you, "adult" "lightweight" pre-1960's (Varsity) Schwinns are pretty rare, so they don't pop up on Craigslist/ebay/etc that often. I only remember seeing a few recently on Portland CL. One was a nice step-through Continental (I believe) that was late 40's. I also saw another nice 40's men's frame, I think it was a Superior (step down from the Paramount). It was tempting, but the current owner did all sorts of "modernizations" to it like 700C wheels and possibly a cotterless crankset, which I didn't want.

Sad Day in Toronto..
 

On Friday night somebody thought it would be a good idea to kick in the door of my bile shed and steal this bike.
A 1967 Dunelt 3 speed with a very nice Wrights leather saddle and period pump. I have some suspicions on who it was and will be doing some detective work... They didn't really want the bike they just wanted to cause some damage and steal something....punks!

SA 3speed old vs new
 

I had a 1952 Raleigh Dawn Tourist which I let get away from me. Now I am thinking 3 speed thoughts again. What I didn't like about the old SA hub was the false neutral and the bit of freewheeling before the pawls kicked in ( which I guess is normal? ). How does this compare with the newer units? And how does the Nexus compare to the new SA? Thanks.

I sure hope you get it back. Very distinctive bike, wouldn't be hard to spot. There's all kinds of new security equipment that's very affordable. You would never guess to look at it, but between this farm and the neighbor's a person couldn't walk through the yard without setting off house alarms and having pictures taken of them and sent to cell phones. Forget breaking into one of the buildings.

Once you get the hang of adjusting them, false neutrals aren't a problem at all With old Sturmey Archer 3 speeds.

The paint scheme and graphics are original. The paint looks to be a two-stage job of aluminum and blue coats. I love those wing graphics on the frame. The British bikes tended to be a little more subdued in that era, but Schwinn loved putting its monogram and logo all over the bike as a status symbol. Both approaches have their appeal.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WSbPTf5O3...023_160750.jpghttps://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a2n5yKW_j...023_160822.jpg

Here is an eletroforge welded joint from a 1947-48 New World by comparison:

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mo0tyoC01...023_165458.jpg

The fillet braze joint is really well-done and smooth, but still a bit chunkier than the electroforge welded.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ktuIQPjQ0...023_161306.jpg

The hub shell is aluminum with Schwinn script and typical Schwinn profile. But it has an English-style oiler hole and spring cover.

The earliest were 599mm and the later ones were 597mm. They changed over in the 1940s at some point. The best part though is that I've found Kenda 597mm tires fit both sizes. The 2mm difference, in my experience, has not been enough to prevent use of the 597mm tires on both rim types.

A little more comparison of a 1947-48 Schwinn New World and a Continental from the same time period: https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/2016/10/comparing-1940s-schwinn-new-world-and.html

I've always kept an eye out for American Lightweights. I just don't find many. Especially in the large frame size. Even the most common Racers always seem to be small frames. I wouldn't pass up something like a 50s Traveler project in 23". Nice bikes.

Here' s a picture of my (pre- Ralleigh) 3- speed 1954 BSA Roadster on my daily ride through the woods.
Though the 3-speed hub bears the name BSA, it is actually a Sturmey Archer model X, built under license by BSA from 1908 until 1956.

Peter

http://www.lembrechtsart.be/forum/BSA_woods.jpg

Yesterday was the Tweed Ride in Boston. Along with the usual Raleigh Sportses (and a couple non-Raleigh bikes, like a CWS that I didn't get any pictures of), there were 3 other rod brake roadsters. A '40s Tourist very similar to my '37, but with a different handlebar bend, larger frame size, and AW hub instead of K. There was a loop-frame single-speed (year unknown), and a '49 Tourist that had been painted red at some point. It was awesome seeing all of them together!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_112816.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_132323.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_132334.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_140241.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_140259.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_140308.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_140315.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_140421.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_140505.jpg

Continued:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_141043.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_141054.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_141106.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_141612.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_141615.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...023_141619.jpg

And here's me with my bike:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...17873267_o.jpg

Sorry for your loss, Gster. That is a nice bike, but you know the odds in the city. It'll probably disappear into the woodwork. It's not valuable to anybody but us old gearheads. Not that it isnt valuable, but there's far more value in reselling a modern stolen brand name bike.

@agmetal Concerning your roadstercentric photo coverage of the Tweed Ride :thumb:

More pricey three speeds on Portland CL
 

This one's been off-and-on for quite awhile. Nice that it has alloy wheels (though 700C) but I feel like I'll be seeing this one for a bit.

You'd figure for $500 they could at least install new tubes and tires. Gonna be seeing this one for a bit too.

That's houndstooth, not tweed. Get it right. :roflmao2:;) Kidding. Looks like a fun gathering. Thanks for posting.

PS I know houndstooth is technically tweed.

I feel bad for this guy. He obviously put time and money into building a custom that suites him. You really do have to figure that building a custom out of a vintage will be a big money looser. That's why it's always best to only customize bikes that are almost junk to start with. That way, if you decide to sell, you only loose money on the new parts and not much value from the project bike. It would help if he still had the original parts.

This may be a question for the moderator.

A while back I bought a couple of rough Raleigh Sports for cheap - like $10, but I had to take both of them. One is a root beer 23" frame that I spent the winter getting into shape as a beater, and I'm keeping that one. The other is a silver 19" Camelback Sports. The Camelback has the original fenders and chain guard. I didn't know that Raleigh even made the Sports as a Camelback model.

I can't use the 19" Camelback frame, so I would like to trade (preferrably) or sell. I know the the "Frame Doesn't Fit" and "ISO or For Trade" threads are for this, but I mostly see road bikes there. Any advice?

I more or less did the same thing with a '74 Sports. I realized early on, though, that there was no way I'd ever get selling it what I put into it (way too much). In short, I'm stuck with it...but that's okay. I only recently started riding it, because I'm close to my target weight for riding it (long story). It feels good, though I need to fiddle with the size of the rear cog (23T), gearing is too low even with our hills.

I do not buy bicycles with the intention of flipping them. I have sold or given away a few but when I bought them it was to keep. But somethings do not stick, others do. But, I do not worry about the money so much, try to keep it reasonable but I have a lot of money in my wheels sets on my wife and my Sports. I just spent near $300 on new Mavic wheels and hub rebuilds for a nice old Bridgestone MTB that is so nice from five feet it looks new, heck from one foot! If I were to buy anything like any of these bikes today they would be hundreds and would be machine built instead of essentially hand built. My Sports looks new and my wife's will be getting there with a little more detail work. Why not spend money on them if the intent is to use them and enjoy them, something that cannot be bought.

I like things that are unique or have personality or show something of human touch and imagination even if machine built. That Schwinn up a few posts with the art deco bullet top forks, very nice and attractive. Just do not often see that kind of work these days.

In the Jeep CJ/YJ/TJ off road world there is a saying, "Built Not Bought" and I think that can apply to many of these bikes, particularly E3Ss. I am not especially fascinated with patina though, I prefer things to look like I just bought them, albeit 20 or 30 or 40 years ago :). And took care of them all along.

do they make replacement pedal blocks for raleigh pedals? Im just curious. Chances are i will go with a modern lighter MKS pedal but was wondered if they made blocks. The original pedals seems to well made. No reason not to reuse them if possible.

That does seem pretty low geared. Especially since by 74, Raleigh switched to the 46T chainring. Although, both of my roadsters are 70s with the smaller chainring, the chromed 22T coaster cogs are just about right for me on those.

This is an interesting discussion on a subject to which I have given much thought. When I put a 24t rear cog on my DL1, it was for one purpose: Getting 60lbs worth of loaded-down bicycle and my own 220 lbs up Maiden Rock Hill on the Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour without dismounting to walk. It also meant that I could only go about 18 mph max on level ground.

But ya know what? That's all I've ever needed on my Roadster, and it all comes down to aerodynamics. See, in the dignified upright riding position dictated by these old English steeds, we present much more frontal area to the air we are moving through. At some point, as our speed increases, that "wind resistance" begins to increase exponentially, to a point where each additional mph requires much more effort to maintain.

So nobody is going much over 15mph anyway on that ride - and if they are, it's not for very long. I found that I didn't need to change that cog after the big ride `round Pepin. If I go downhill at a speed exceeding 18mph why, I just coast. I don't want to go much faster than that with rod-brakes anyway. And the low gearing means that climbing any hill I am likely to find on your typical bike path will be a doddle! :)

Yes. I saw some on ebay just recently.