1955 Humber Clipper 3 speed
 

A variant of the Raleigh Lenton Sports, this one is in fine order for a 60yo.

Pictured as found here, with an AW hub from 1978, (should be FM I think) but pretty much original else, bar the saddle!
http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/...as%20found.jpg

The celluloid guards are very delicate & survived well, with Humber transfers showing. Just missing the mud flap.

http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/...as%20found.jpg

This Clipper is the same as the Lenton Sports, but with different forks, decals & paint colours. (As is the Rudge Pathfinder.)

http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/...as%20found.jpg

Currently getting a rebuild, probably with an AM hub: )

Good gracious ! That is certainly a lovely bike. That could have been ridden in the "Cyclist Special " video.

Q, are you sure the handle bar set up is original, ie; tape, levers and placement of the shifter?

just wondering. Paint looks fine for a bike from ' 55. Look forward to hearing about the hub transplant.

Kind of interesting shift cable arrangement, no pulley wheel and the cable housing running to a stop on the stay. I'd like to see picture of the stop. I'm working on similar vintage bike and just assumed I'd hang a pulley. May be not?

The stem & Maes pattern bars are AVA & likely original.
The trigger position is a personal choice of the previous (1) owner I reckon, & the bar wrap appears to be electricians insulation tape: )
Weinmann levers are possibly replacements, but I think they suit & it'll be getting 605 calipers & probably alloy rims. Efficient brakes are more important to me than period correctness.

I bought it from the previous owners son & he - the father - used it frequently while he was able. He kept it well though, on a tight budget.

The hub transplant shouldn't be too difficult. I have AM & FM internals, just need the right shell. I've got it running with a 700 FM rear currently, borrowed from my 1955 FE Dunning while it gets a winter service. Trying out flat bars too, just to see how it rides before I spend a lot of time on it. First impressions are excellent, the original paint/decals look brilliant for its age, now it's had a fairly detailed clean/service.

http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/...%20profile.jpg

I think the FM suits this, (QR indicator is quite nice: ) but on the other hand the AM is a very sweet alternative.
http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/...20hub%20QR.jpg


Some paint loss on the stays where Miller Dyno & lamp were attached, but nothing too intrusive.
Decals are really clean:
http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/...DT%20decal.jpg

I just love it as a winter project....

These bikes have a braze-on for the pulley wheel, (so it was built for Sturmey Archer gears) but in the 'As Found pics' he's used outer all along the trigger cable, by-passing the pulley facility. Quite a common way of routing the change cable if you don't have braze-ons.
I would say it's better using a pulley wheel, as I've used in the temporary rebuild.

I've never seen this variant before. Beautiful bike!
I always use the pulley system with SA trigger shifters. In general, the less cable friction, the better. Especially since the trigger is totally dependent on tension from the clutch spring and can only pull and not push the cable.

110% agreed.
Bare cable will always have less potential friction, especially if internal lubrication is not attended to diligently.
Set up this way only 12" or so of the cable is inside the outer housing.
Can't do much better than that: )

I've heard all the warnings about cable length and running the cable under the BB leading to poor shifts and less than satisfactory adjustment. I've got bikes run with and with out pulleys, and don't really notice a difference even after years of use.

Mainly, I was interested in the cable stop on the stay, but if it's not original; never mind.

So after seeing my Triumph Palm beach tourist and wanting one for herself I managed to pick up a Raleigh Trent tourist for the Mrs for £30 which looks in better condition than mine!

More pics to follow when I've picked it up

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=490475

Nice - dynohub too. Are those old Bluemels fenders?

It's not original on mine, but it is only a simple cable stop on the seat or chain-stay. Which has chewed up the paint where it was....

[QUOTE... Nice - dynohub too. Are those old Bluemels fenders?[/QUOTE]

Don't look like Bluemels. One of the decals says 'Elizabethan', but the rest isn't clear.
The GH6 is very likely original & is date stamped of course: )

FIFY....it's all about the perspective ;)

Absolutely; )
I got a bit of patina myself....

I've always preferred the stop and pulley system purely for aesthetic reasons. Glad to here there's some engineering behind it as well.

This discussion on the pulley system brings up a question for me. My recent 1978 Raleigh Sports acquisition has very thin black covering on the cable which is beyond the fulcrum clip and almost the entire way to the mounting down by the indicator pin chain. When I had my 1955 Phillips it had the same thing only in clear. When I changed out the cables on that one, I ordered clear heat shrink tubing and it worked perfectly. I presume that was done to preserve the cable from rust.

I imagine ine that having this piece of plastic type covering on the cable as it rolls around the pulley would be a source of friction. Yes?

Maybe I should remove it (plastic covering) near the pulley for less friction.

What do you think? I have no problems shifting, but I haven't ridden it a ton either.

IMO, if they have it there; there must be a mechanical advantage. I just don't know what it is. Possible prevention of wear on the plastic pulley and ?

Waiting for the answer myself.

I don't see any mechanical advantage to coating the cable. Perhaps, back then, exposed cable might have been considered unfinished looking. The modern eye is very used to seeing exposed cables on bicycles, so it doesn't look out of place at all. A matter of aesthetics I think. I usually have to make custom cables for my bikes to get the fit I want and to get the correct case cap for the shifter I'm using. Personally, I don't like pinch bolt adapters at the indicator chain. So, I buy new cable and silver solder the correct ends on so I can run the cable directly into the barrel adjuster like the original factory cables. Coating the cable is a nice touch though. Might have to try that sometime.

I'd think those metal pulleys create so little friction that you could run hemp cord around it with no effect and the plastic ones aren't much different. That plastic cable coating is smooth and hard so I'd go with the rust proof aesthetic theory. The Sturmey gear wires are so tough and overbuilt. Just another premium part of an amazing transmission.
@BigChief Agreed with pinch bolts. Nice work cleaning them up. Pics?

Mine had the coating/covering, however the coating had a gap where the pulley would run. I figure with modern stainless cables it's unnecessary.

I always save cable parts, but when I needed a new cable for my DL-1 and had to make one up, I didn't have any shifter cable ends. Steel tubing is available at industrial supply stores, but I had some 3/32" brass tubing on hand, so I used that. This bike has an older shifter that needs a threaded cable cap and DL-1s should have black casing IMO, so here's what I did.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=490535http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=490536

Yes, I prefer the original vintage ends and that's why I kept it on the newly acquired Raleigh Sports. Only thing I did was clean & lube the cable I could access between shifter and fulcrum clip.

On my Phillips I used brass tiny tubing with JP Weld to hold it in place so I could use the original attachment piece (not sure what it's called - piece which screws onto the chain from the indicator pin). I wrote about it on this thread. It held. I sold the bike though so don't know how it's done long term.

It would be nice to know how well the JB weld held up. It is pretty amazing stuff. Probably worked just fine. Still, it's good to have a torch handy to salvage old cable ends. The new cables I bought already have one end in place and come with a pinch bolt adapter for the other end. When they get stodgy, I'll save those little steel tubes for next time. Some of the cables use a crimped on tube for the shifter end...What a waste!

I have a NOS Sturmey made shifter cable as you describe (mine is white). I add drop of oil to the wheel when topping up the hub. I see no difference between coated and bare.

I've just picked this up and yes they are Bluemels, they've got a couple of cracks so I'll try to repair them

Today I went and picked up the columbia that the man was selling alongside the 1953 Dunelt I picked up last sunday. What a creampuff this columbia is! I ran the serial and it looks like its a 1965? N581619

Aside from the speckled rust blotches she is cleaning up nicely. The best part of it all, it is a small frame so it fits my mother perfectly. Im gonna put the shimano 3 speed wheelset on this along with another fender and brake setup. I can use the goodies this one has.

Rigida Super Chromix wheels
Dia-Compe Deluxe brakes and levers
Sturmey Archer 3 Speed hub, I need to find the date it is a AW though.
Trelleborg T-608 Tires

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5732/...44b0c94f_b.jpgP_20151129_140959 by Ryan Silva, on Flickr
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5656/...f3bdbf75_b.jpgP_20151129_141008_1 by Ryan Silva, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/770/2...4448997c_b.jpgP_20151129_141018_1 by Ryan Silva, on Flickr

More photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryansi...57659482509734

that's nice . i have a Columbia Bromleigh womens 3 speed . they made a nice bike for sure. mine is near the end of their US production . it shifts and brakes flawless .

its coated almost the entire length . maybe so it doesn't damage the beautiful paint http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...psplzbswyj.jpghttp://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...psssef3b8u.jpg

Just an FYI, Brooks B66 saddles are all of $118 on Amazon right now. I just pulled the trigger on one for my Sports. They are usually around 150, give or take I believe.

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@Velocivixen, I like your avatar.