Well put.
The Canadian CCM's equiped with Sturmey Archer components should be considered "cousins" of the true British 3 speeds.

Well, my late dad's antique Rudge has a fork made the same. It is pushed back 15/ 20 mm, so it leans terribly.
Too bad, I used to like riding it in my high school years. I'll need to change the fork when I go to a 100 mm dyno drum hub anyway.

WOW! That must have been exciting to see. I know it would have been for me.
Is he a member here? If not, did you invite him? I would love to see and hear more about his bike. :)

23" Sports! Non-stock crank and not as nice as a CCM (better now?) but worth a look.

https://richmond.craigslist.org/bik/6204189196.html

Vintage 56cm Raleigh 3 Speed - $75 (Church Hill)

https://images.craigslist.org/00202_...xc_600x450.jpg

make / manufacturer: Raleigh

Getting rid of this guy to free up some space at my new house. Would be a great cruiser bike or refurb project for someone.

Just picked up this Raleigh Sports over the weekend, haven't decided if I'm working on it or trading it off. Rear hub dates to 1974. The saddle has seen better days and probably needs someone good with leatherwork if the saddle frame is worth saving. Missing the cotter nuts on both sides, and either the shiney cap or fork lock on one side of the fork (I'm not sure if this year still had a fork lock).
https://i.imgur.com/yvJ7tUT.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4hqXE0d.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uF3UkrI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KANJNkN.jpg

(I'm also testing out the imgur app since photobucket is done for me)

I recently rescued a 1952 Humber Sports. Really looking forward to getting it into riding shape!


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4259/...61b98c1d_c.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4068/...55e84b27_c.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4255/...db49ee7e_c.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4034/...410d468e_z.jpg

Some more pics and details in my post here: http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...er-sports.html

@treebound

The fork lock would have been on the left side of the fork. The paint looks to be very good in the photos, and you have a coaster brake hub. I am thinking that the leather saddle may have been a dealer upgrade.

And very few Sports models ever came with a lock. In the 70's it was really just the Superbes, I'd be surprised if you could even order it as an option like you could back in the good old days.

+1. I think it's just missing the chrome dimple, not a locking mechanism.

Good score! Looking forward to progress reports.

I wonder if anyone knows a few details about what appears to be a 1971 Raleigh Twenty. It's all original. I'm the second owner. Front hub has an oil hole with a band. I've never seen this on a Twenty.
The pedal reflectors, which are built in, are white & not amber/yellow. I did not ask the seller where his grandparents bought them, but they have (406) 20" wheels - for the American market.

Due to the other items the gentleman had, I could easily assume the saddle was either upgraded when purchased or added later.

I'm fairly sure I have a spare Raleigh cottered crank or crank nuts stored away someplace, just need time to find them.

Paint should clean up nicely, but that will wait until i decide if I'm fixing it, and if so then the clean and regrease will happen once I have some new tires in hand for the bike. The last few years have been kind of in turmoil but will hopefully settle down so I can get back into the cycling mode.

Does anyone have a source for the fork side cap piece? Otherwise I'll have to try forming one out of a soda can or a piece of wood and paint it silver to stuff into the hole.

Edit: I'm also toying around with the idea of replacing the leather on the saddle. I found several older threads on the site here where others have done their own leather work. I'll need to look over the saddle framework real close first to ensure it will be worth re-leathering.

I ran across a pair of Raleigh "thimbles" on eBay once. They're out there.

Thanks for the terminology, there are two current thimble auctions, got them on the watch list for now.

Prior to having a Twenty powder coated I attempted to carefully remove them. Be aware that the metal is soft. I didn't want to marr them, so I just left them in. Looking back I could have worked some fishing line or dental floss between the edge of the "thimble" and frame to get it out. Oh well.

Anyway, they're very soft, so be mindful when installing.

My Twenty has a 1969 TCW hub and a 1970 serial number. The front hub (original) has the oil hole with the band. I upgraded the old steel rims to alloy.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7789/...24728193_o.jpgIMAG1004 by w1gfh, on Flickr

Pedals are not original so can't say. The original steel rims and tires were 47-406. What looked like an "S" was embossed on the rear wheel rim. I thought it was "for Schwinn", but not sure.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/421/1...1a849acb_o.jpgRear 20" wheel - "S" embossed on rim by w1gfh, on Flickr

Save the Date
 

Attachment 570959Coming Soon!

I've been having a fun read of this sub-forum, have a lot more insight into the humble 3-speed, and lots of tips towards what I'm doing with my '63 DL-1...sigh...got to about the 250th page when the photobucket ban set in :( not quite half way!!! :( grrr :(

I did a fair bit of dismantling today, managed to catch every single headset bearing - weirdly the crown race just slipped off after removing a bit of hardened grease. After cleanup it sits with no snugness at the base of the fork tube. Can't see any wear, and I didn't feel any looseness in the handling on test rides.

So much spider vein type rust has spread underneath the paintwork right down to the metal, I'm going to have to re-paint. It's at least 50% of all the paintwork. Next jobs - cotter pin removal and straightening one of the fork legs.

I did end up buying a '65 front drum and a sturmey archer wheel, so also have to work out some measurements for ordering spokes. Metal pulley wheel is in the post! :)

Just picked up this old boy: a '68 Sports (according to the rear hub).

The good: it's a 23" frame (i.e., my size), tires and tubes might be salvageable, rust is very minimal, rims are true, crank arms are properly aligned (so cotters aren't worn), rear reflector is intact, Concord, MA, license plate.
The bad: Wrong color chain guard! Missing the three speed trigger and cable (though clamps are there), paint is quite faded and scratched, that saddle!
Overall: For $40, a good project for this year's Clunker Challenge contest, and something to keep me busy and in a cool basement during the hot summer.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4233/...9db1df5b_c.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4216/...4cd59283_c.jpg

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4208/...59bffdba_c.jpg

I like it! It's sort of quirky like that.

I agree! The black chain cover makes it somehow look 'classy' like the 2-tone sports models. Ties in nicely with the black grips and saddle. Maybe paint the head-tube black?
What is that saddle? Is it one of those weird rubber compound ones?

I like that painting idea! That would make the wrong chain guard look not so wrong.

The saddle is indeed one of those weird rubber ones--it has a logo, but I need to read it more carefully. I definitely need to swap in something else.

I'm interested in towing a Chariot child trailer with a '73 Raleigh Sports, but like an earlier poster I am finding the Sturmey AW axle too short to fit the left side rear axle nut over the trailer hitch cup. The Thule hitch adapter for Shimano IGH is an extension nut threaded to 3/8" 26tpi which I understand ought to fit on a Sturmey AW axle, Thule says to torque the nut to 40nm but the Sturmey AW manual advises to torque the nut to 26nm. I'm inclined to follow Thule's safety guidance but am a novice and wonder what might be the effect on the Sturmey of having over-torqued the left rear axle nut?

@Dewey101, if you overtorque the axle nut, you will strip it. In fact, it's surprisingly easy to do this. It's annoying, but it's also a design feature. They make the nut out of soft metal deliberately so that you can't strip the threads on the axle.

Thanks for your advice @noglider, so I could potentially strip the thread off the Sturmey axle if I attempted to tighten the Thule nut to 40nm?

No, I'm saying they make it impossible to strip the axle by making the nut vulnerable to stripping. You will strip the nut. I don't use a torque wrench, so I don't know how much force it takes to strip the nut, but it happens if I try to make the nut as tight as I make it on other hubs. I have learned to torque more gently on Sturmey Archer hubs. I know how tight to make it, but I haven't calibrated the effort. Buy a few spares, either to learn the limit or in case you strip yours.

If you don't have enough axle thread you likely will strip the nut. Maybe there's small spacers you can remove from each side? (not the serrated axle locking washers) In my motorcycle experience, 40 nm is very tight so I would cheat towards the SA spec. As long as you've got the safety strap attached of course.

I ordered a spare left axle nut from Harris because the current one is in poor shape and I foresaw the potential for the nut to come off the end of the axle if attached over the hitch cup - I'm hoping the Thule extender nut will solve this problem so fingers crossed I don't strip the axle thread.

The axle is made of good, hard metal and isn't prone to stripping.