I'm thinking along those lines too. I wish I had some badly damaged cables to experiment on.

I'd stick with the retainer and replacing the missing ball.

Men's 1960s 21" Raleigh Sports on Boston's north shore for $30. While the handlebars might be beyond saving, the rims look remarkably rust free. Saddle might also be salvageable:

https://boston.craigslist.org/nos/bi...635829498.html

https://images.craigslist.org/01010_...S8_600x450.jpg

Time was where I would wipe a light coating of gear oil onto all the parts. I've changed my mind about this after my more recent experience. Now, I use marine grease on the wheel bearings and only squirt 5ml of regular 10-30 motor oil in the hub once a year. I've taken hubs apart to regrease the wheel bearings after a few years of use and all the parts inside were still wet with oil. That little bit of oil spreads around well and lasts for a long time.

What is your area? maybe it would be helpful to account.

Right, these were utility bikes. Got you around town, to work, shopping, things like that until most people moved to cars later in the post war economy. Even back in the 50s, bikes intended for longer distances took advantage of configurations learned from racing. Here's an interesting video of bicycling clubs in England from the mid 50s.

I've long had a goal of taking an IGH bike on a century/100-mile ride, but haven't quite pulled the trigger, even with converting relatively lightweight road frames with 700c wheels and 3- or 4-speed hubs. It's mostly on account that when riding that long, which I don't get the chance to do terribly often, I'd rather be on something I know is well-suited in terms of gears, comfort, tires, fit. And given that I'm not terribly fast on a "regular" road bike, it would be a very long day to ride a century on a 3-speed, even if I could find a mostly flat course (which is fairly difficult but not impossible here in eastern MA).

I concur.

That looks like a real good deal. Appears to be complete and unmolested, sheet metal all in decent shape, maybe salveable rims and Brooks saddle. I'm lucky that it's about 1800 miles beyond my reach or I'd own it. Heck, it's worth way more than $30 for the sheet metal and hub, in my opinion.

Those bars are worth an oxalic soak. Can't replace missing metal, but it might end up looking decent with some copper colored freckles. Otherwise, those bars in decent shape aren't scarce.

If I had to try it, and I never have, I'd opt for the 4-speed or 5-speed with the lower ratio high gear (as compared to the AW 3rd gear) and then one of the smaller later model chain rings (46t, I think) and a 21t or 24t rear. Sacrifice top speed for the ability to do a bit better on the hills. 46/21 with the 4th gear would probably give me more than enough speed on the flats with no head wind and that's probably fast enough for me.

I guess I'm done with the Rudge front mudguard. Gotta know when to stop. I had to trim the back. Less than an inch I think. The thin area is reinforced from underneath with JB Weld, bottom painted and the brown rusted areas are covered with black enamel.
I polished the whole thing to blend in the repair.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...dcd71436da.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4b9ffc726a.jpg

On the underside I hand paint loads of epoxy two pack lacquer over the enamel. Let guard dry inverted so the inevitable excessive lacquer pools on the underside . It will soon be covered in road grit so no bother. The idea is to keep salt, stone chips etc from exposing the weakened/rusted repairs to the elements again.
Very well saved guard.

AW hub standing for 75 years.
 

Having never rebuilt an AW hub I asked my LBS owner's retired Dad this exact question regards my 1934 Sports resurrection.
It had stood for 75 years and the rim had literally dissolved where it had sat on the garage floor.
He advised WD 40 in the filler cap, free it up, spin it up by hand over the next few days. Shake the WD 40 out as much as poss and then pore a tablespoons worth of gear oil whatever into the filler cap and off you go.
With serious doubts I followed his advice.
I've loaded it with 4 panniers and done 500 miles and I swear the gear changing is getting smoother by the day.

These hubs are 90% bullet proof.
A quick clean out will revive these things.

I'm so used to AW hubs that I enjoy a tear down and clean up, but the alternative for getting AWs that have been sitting for years going is to flood it with a light oil like AT or brake fluid and let it make a mess for a few days then start the regular oil routine. Personally, I think it's more work cleaning the oil off the rim than taking the hub apart, but it is an option. I wouldn't pour in heavy gear oil. I think it may interfere with the pawls. Those pawl springs are very light and I think the gear oil may be too sticky. I don't know this, it's just a thought.

You may find some inspiration here: http://www.charliechadwick.org/

This fellow rode English bikes on English roads in the 1920s and beyond. Distances of 170 miles in a day on a 28-inch roadster? What you are proposing would be a doddle compared to that.

(Apologies if this has been discussed before here. I was too lazy to look... at the end of a very long day.)

.

Getting Organazized!
I bought a nice vintage tackle box yesterday and decided to re organize
my small parts.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...60a0c63fa6.jpg
It's a nice old Summers tackle box from Smith Falls, Ontario.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ef43b8191e.jpg
On another note,
I've pulled this 1964 Glider out for a bit of attention.
I like the ride I'm just not keen on the colour.
The mini fenders were suitable with the inverted bars but will
probably be taken off.
The saddle is a "Belt" from Japan.
It also has a larger cog on the hub, I think it's a 20T but will check.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0d34748e8b.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...76cfa27669.jpg

I've revived many hubs with a simple flush
A quart of varsol poured through the hub followed by
a big pot of boiling water.
Time to dry and then add some 3 in 1.
If the hub is still troublesome I'll open
in up and and see what the problem might be.
Problems found so far:
-Seized/rusted pawl (my fault as I tried to make a spring out of a staple years ago before I really understood how they worked)
-bent axle (Same hub, cause unknown)
-mashed up sun gear (Over tightened nuts)
-broken indicator key. (again, my fault. Came loose during re assembly)
Considering that I've currently got 15 3 speeds (all running like clocks)
and another 20 or so that have been passed on I continue
to be impressed with the quality and reliability of these
vintage machines.

Eaton's Glider
A clean example here in Toronto @ $225.00
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fba905ba0a.jpg

I'm short of recent three speed news because I need to wait until the next local bike jumble sale (early September) to find parts to continue the projects. And so, because they don't yet have rear racks, I'm not using the Rudge sports or the step-thru Raleigh for rides to beach; which they're perfect for the 20 mile round trip. Meanwhile as frequently happens I'm the Grim Reaper with photo of another local derelict. Past the point of no return, I'd say. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...04753a2e0a.jpg
Has the auto adjusting brake levers. Early 70s? I couldn't read the stamping on the AW hub. You'd think someone going to the trouble to do a changeover to cotterless would be more interested in the bike. As it's U-locked at the Brooklyn Long Island Railroad terminus in a spot that's always busy and patrolled I don't think I'll be trying to pull bits and pieces, despite there's things I could make use of. Sigh. What a shame.

I love the Cyclists Special film! Love it! Can't get over the traveller's wagon at 10:36.

I like the idea of using a tackle box as a parts organizer. The Glider is looking GOOD! :thumb:
About the shorty fenders, while they may look cool, I doubt they really do their job on wet and muddy roads.

Dunelt was my pride age 11 or 12. LBS, Eddie's on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, sold many of them way back. Eddie showed me how to move the fulcrum stop to adjust the shift cable. He also straightened many a bent cottered crank. And stamped all bills of sale, in red ink and big capital letters, DO NOT JUMP CURBS!