When I first saw that photo I thought, "Now that's a damn yard sale!"

Somebody please buy this. This looks like a Sturmey hub with a Cyclo x3 setup. I've seen the Cyclo conversions (have one NIB) but never seen a bike built like this.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...42179991227061

https://scontent.fric1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...9b&oe=60C7E653

Turista! Seller says 23" frame (they came in 22" and 24") and coaster brake (nope).

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...33586900074133

https://scontent.fric1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...cf&oe=60C7A55E

That's my 73 Superbe with the very full Carradice bag in the bike rack next to my wife's 74 Humber with black bag in back and wicker basket in front.

-Mike

It was an 1897 Stearns. Rear steer, so gent in back with lady in front step through frame. It has a Sturmey 3 hub and quadrant shifter. The front has rod brakes while the rear has a coaster brake but no free wheel. Quite fun to try out, as I got a chance to near the Frontenac stone wall.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6c9f12898e.jpg

Wow, that really nice and fixed to boot. Fixed tandem, rear captain - the ultimate marriage tester.

Lake Pepin envy & another thanks to Johno59
 

Thanks again Johno - a lot of googling and I think I've now found a local source, they're called 'solderless nipples' here (Australia), and used for things like motorbike or moped throttle cable. Look exactly like your french brass not-knarps.

I'm glad you all had another fun Lake Pepin. It's definitely on my bucket list. Nice Pics

I got a ride on that tandem as well!
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The infamous Bay City Hill- why you install a 22 tooth cog on the rear! Making our way out of Bay City on the way to Maiden Rock.

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The Laura Engles Wilder cabin, about 7 miles north of Pepin, WI. Its a bit off-route, but I much prefer to take the quieter country roads. The main route can get a bit busy, and the founders of the Tour are adamant that the best enjoyment is had by those that take some time to explore and arrive late :) Its a nice descent from there into Pepin; if you don't need to resupply you can avoid most of it right until hiway 35 drops into the Chippewa River valley. My Humber came with a 1953 alloy 4-speed hub installed; its geared so that the extra low is about the same as a 22-tooth cog on the rear of a regular 3-speed. This means that high is a bit extra high so it takes longer to get spun out on the downhills. If you have rollers (like are common between Wabasha and Lake City on the second day) that extra high gear is nice helping you up the next grade. Dinner had been going for an hour by the time we arrived in Wabasha, but it was nice to enjoy a glass of wine at the Nelson Cheese factory first.

All those Lake Pepin shots got me jonesing for a ride so I took out the Humber for a spin. Great albeit short ride; I renewed my opinion that it really rides beautifully. You hardly notice the weight.

As we are still locked down and under a stay at home order I tried to avoid areas where there were people which was hard as it was a fantastic warm and sunny day today.


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https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b29c854422.jpg
A few of the rides parked in Wabasha. Dinner was across the street to the left in this photo. Pulled pork, British peas and mashed potatoes made for a great meal after a day in the saddle. The Eagles on the River (formerly the historic Anderson House) is in the background on the right. The off-white add-on shed there is where a good number of bikes were stored overnight. A thunderstorm with hail appeared (not in the forecast of course) to round out the day about an hour and a half after this photo was taken.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...639df945d1.jpg
This bike's owner custom-built the frame and painted it. Its built to be a Lake Pepin 3-speed tourer. Note the dual boxlining and 531 transfer. The geometry is relaxed and designed for an upright riding position. It also features 650b wheels and a SON hub for lighting. The curve of the seatpost helps reduce road vibration making for a smoother ride.

Isn't that this bike? https://www.thespoken.cc/world-champ...ke-pepin-rider
Sounds like it was a fun time! Maybe one day ill take the trip up from Arizona to ride this.

This renews my thought that these bikes can look really fantastic with a powdercoat finish. I remember when you put this back together and the wow factor in the before and after difference. I'd love to get one of my patina challenged 3 speeds PC'd, but it's so much more expensive here (Australia).

Thanks for the comment, but when doing this I ended up *not* going powder - that is a rattle
can job! Done very carefully mind you and with lots of surface prep (and redoing areas that didn’t work out - that chainguard has been painted and stripped again at least 4 times to fix mistake). Biggest downside so far has been that rattlecan enamel is very soft and even a couple of years later can be chipped easily. But I know how to correct it if needed!

Obviously its the same bike :) I didn't want to 'out' Jeff without talking to him about it. Jeff is doing some paint work for me on a 1935 roadster- mostly because I saw this bike on a prior Tour.

The Tour is a wonderful time- after taking a detour my GF and I were resting in Pepin and watched a good number of riders pass, all dressed nicely for the event (you certainly want to be in good kit). Some bikes are expensive tourers, like Jeff's, some are Raleigh Internationals or Competitions that have been '3-speeded', some are older machines like the Humbers we were riding and still others are newer machines from the 70s and 80s that you might pick up cheap on CL. One rider in particular was riding a golden step-thru Sports that she had bought for $10.00 at a swap meet. It needed a complete going over at the time but proved up to the Tour. People come from all over the US; one person we rode with for a while was from San Antonio.

There's been a ton of them around here for sale too, but most are pretty rough. The nicer examples aren't selling unless their darn near free. That goes for all bikes lately.
The winter was slow, spring is proving to be slower when it comes to bike around here.
I listed a pretty clean ready to ride Robin Hood in a 21" frame about a month ago for $100, good paint, decent rubber, everything worked, I relubed the axles, headset and BB. I got nothing but $25 offers and nasty emails telling me I had a lot of nerve asking $100 for such an old bike. I gave up and ended up using it for parts to fix a bike that fit me and hung the frame in the basement.
Yet I listed a 15 year old Huffy beach cruiser for $180 and it was gone the next evening.
The sad thing is that I think they only recognize the cheap brands here. Huffy, Murray, and Kent is all that sells. Good stuff sells but only if you give it away for cheap.
I had a 23" frame Trek 512 listed for two months, all original, ridable but certainly in need of some tlc, but clean overall. I put it up for $150 cash and didn't get a single email. I lowed it to $125, and I got dozens of $25 offers and scam emails.
CL is better than FB here by far, I almost never even get a reply both buying or selling on FB. Its like they list things and forget about the ad. The one person that did reply to something I emailed about got back to me 4 months later.

It wasn't this bad where I lived before. I can't tell if its the area or that things have changed.
Something that I've gotten lately is people buying something used, then they want to return it a week or two after they bought it saying they want their money back because they found one cheaper somewhere else. A friend of mine has had the same thing on fleabay lately. Her returns have gone up to about 37%. All of the items she sells are new and basically just decoration, so they can't say it doesn't work. They just change their mind and get a refund, if the seller is lucky, they actually get the item they sold back and not a box of rocks.

I've been watching a Huret Jubilee derailleur on SJ CL for $120 that looks in pretty nice condition, its been listed and relisted for months now with no takers.
I had a pair of these that I put on fleabay a little over a year ago and both went over $200 with one going to Japan, the other going to Maryland.
I would think its the perfect add on for an older Super Course or any number of French bikes. There's a few sellers on there that have some nice stuff listed but nothing sells there for some reason. There was a set of Simplex Super LJ derailleurs new in the box for $150 cash that sat for over a year. I later saw those on fleabay and they went for over $300.
There's been quite a few English and French parts listed there with no takers for months on end too.
I bought a pair of new old Raleigh Westrick rims with 1959 hubs and Dunlop tires two weeks ago there for $100. The guy had them listed for $300. I offered $80, he took $100. They were listed for over a year. I didn't need them but figured sooner or later I will so I grabbed them up. A week later, I found a 23" 1960 Men's Sports at a yard sale in PA for $10 that needed two good wheels.

https://southjersey.craigslist.org/b...314700420.html


I sold an antique blacksmith's vise to a guy about four weeks ago for $120. It was in perfect condition. The guy called me today saying he's going to return it because he realized he really didn't need it. He left a long message about how he feels I should also reimburse him for his gas since he lives over a 100 miles away.
He's not saying there's anything wrong with the vise, he just changed his mind. I'm getting this over and over lately with all sorts of items.
I've even seen it happen at yard sales.
The family across the street just had a yard sale, and they had someone who bought a used pair of pants last fall at their last yard sale that wanted to return the pants because her kid outgrew them. They refused to take them back, the woman got loud and the police were called. The woman eventually left in a patrol car over a $4 used pair of jeans.

I wouldn't in a million years ever consider returning a used item to a yardsale or fleamarket, let alone online. Its used, there's no warranty, period. If you want a warranty, buy a new one at the store.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...24987198898042

https://scontent.fric1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...ec&oe=60D01F41

As hard as I tried with gloss rattle can paint I could not get the mirror finish I wanted so I switched to satin finish.

I know this is late to the discussion, but I just acquired what I believe is (may be?) a black Hercules Coronation model. It is, however, the King model (not one of the three you lasted as the ‘53 coronation models). It does have the proper seat tube decal (script Hercules flanked by white falcons and multi-colored chevrons), the proper chain case decal and matching model name on headbadge, cream paint treatment detail, Hercules name on chainring, Type 3 rear hub. However, it has chrome fenders, not painted. It was indicated in some discussion (here or another forum?) that Hercules kept the same design for a few subsequent years. So is it possible that this is yet another model available in ‘53, or a model that was introduced in a later year with the same paint/decal/design scheme? The bike is pretty complete if a bit dirty (though with what I believe is a replacement saddle), but ought to clean up nicely. I’m eager to determine more precisely what I have here!


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f1ab870a4.jpeg
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https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...de2345a07.jpeg
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53 Hercules
 

I have a black 53 Hercules with Chrome fenders, like the one you have. Mine however has the tourist head badge. Other wise the chain guard and decals seem to be the same.

I don't know about WITH the lumber, but I find performance of step thru bikes much more fun than that of top tube bikes. And they're much less expensive.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...54a2c91dfa.jpg
Kind of funny lookin' in a funny lookin' kind of way.

Rherdegen Love the details on your Hercules! Did you look at the hub for a date? Could have been changed but starting with the assumption it is original that would give you a year.

It is a Type 3 hub, which I understand puts it in the '50's, but I've not been successful in finding a more specific date on it (and I've been told that those Hercules hubs didn't always (ever?) have specific dates stamped into them). But it is still pretty grimy, and I'll keep cleaning and searching.