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For the love of English 3 speeds...

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For the love of English 3 speeds...

Old 09-26-17, 06:29 PM
  #13926  
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Originally Posted by Scipunk
Well no kidding, were down in Massachusetts! We are talking about moving to Maine someday
That one, the first one, is $125 in Damariscata(sp)
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Old 09-26-17, 06:43 PM
  #13927  
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Originally Posted by plympton
That one, the first one, is $125 in Damariscata(sp)
That one is right up my alley, I do love it, now funding...lol
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Old 09-26-17, 06:54 PM
  #13928  
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Originally Posted by plympton
That one, the first one, is $125 in Damariscata(sp)
oops. I meant Camden.
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Old 09-26-17, 07:12 PM
  #13929  
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Originally Posted by plympton
oops. I meant Camden.
Not bad, only 4.5 hrs away, we're looking at places to stay overnight and im trying to find 125 extra bucks...lol

Found the link on CL
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Old 09-26-17, 08:42 PM
  #13930  
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Originally Posted by rhm
Yesterday evening I got my Falcon three speed out of my bike locker, pumped up the tire (story told elsewhere), and rode off. A hundred yards later I stopped for a traffic light. When the light went green I started pedaling and something went PANG! and my pedals spun freely. It turned out the circlip had popped off the driver, and the cog had slipped out to the groove where the circlip was supposed to be. I had to take the wheel off to get it back on, pain in the neck. But why had this happened? There are two 1/16" spacers, and one cog, so there really should be plenty of room for the circlip, but it seemed to be just barely hanging on. This was the first time the circlip had popped off, though, and the hub has been on this bike for several years.

Today on the way to the station, it happened again. Again I had to take the wheel off to get the circlip back on. I removed one of the 1/16" spacers, so the hub is now noisier than before, but the circlip fits better.
I had the same thing happen ('70 Hercules) out of the blue.
I'd been riding the bike for a couple of years, then BANG!
No cause found.
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Old 09-27-17, 03:15 AM
  #13931  
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3 speed slow I have scorcher envy again! I think it was gster last time
Plympton nice tear down pics and cool new find with great chain case font
BC great fix on the brakes

Soooo....has anyone used the 'Raleigh Roadster' tyres? (635 x 40/28 1/2" x 1 1/2") They have a nice tread pattern, do they roll well?
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Old 09-27-17, 05:40 AM
  #13932  
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Not cheap and not English but it's Sturmeyized and these seem to have a following.

https://richmond.craigslist.org/bik/...322478296.html

Schwinn Speedster ~1972 3-speed men - $399 (Glen Allen)



condition: excellent
make / manufacturer: Schwinn
model name / number: Speedster
serial number: DK612159

This 1970s Schwinn is in excellent condition and is all original. It has been completely cleaned and lubed. All bearings are in very good condition and the wheels are true. It rides and shifts smoothly. I have more photos and videos if you would like to see them.
call or text 5%4$0)-9(0)8*-0)7&0)4$
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Old 09-27-17, 06:14 AM
  #13933  
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Originally Posted by thumpism
Not cheap and not English but it's Sturmeyized and these seem to have a following.

https://richmond.craigslist.org/bik/...322478296.html

Schwinn Speedster ~1972 3-speed men - $399 (Glen Allen)



condition: excellent
make / manufacturer: Schwinn
model name / number: Speedster
serial number: DK612159

This 1970s Schwinn is in excellent condition and is all original. It has been completely cleaned and lubed. All bearings are in very good condition and the wheels are true. It rides and shifts smoothly. I have more photos and videos if you would like to see them.
call or text 5%4$0)-9(0)8*-0)7&0)4$
I have a lot of experience with these. I worked at a Schwinn- Raleigh dealership from 69 to 70. These welded Schwinns felt like a lump of rock compared to the lugged and brazed Raleigh Sports. The old timer at the shop explained to me that the Schwinns used softer steel because they were easy to weld and brazed frames had the advantage of using harder, lighter high tensile steel that made them feel more lively. So the Raleigh 20-30 steel would be something like a 10-20 or 10-23 compared to the Schwinn 10-18 or even lower carbon. So the Raleigh light roadsters might be lower tensile compared to chromoly, but next to these, they were actually high tensile.
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Old 09-27-17, 06:39 AM
  #13934  
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I paid the asking price & its in better shape than I thought. There are issues with the left side shift controls, I don't know what hardware is suppose to be there.
IMG_3369.jpg
FullSizeRender.jpg
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/r...277071875.html
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Old 09-27-17, 07:04 AM
  #13935  
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Oh good. This is the S5 you want and it has the better bell crank. Originally this bike probably had the same twin stick shifters mounted on the top tube like the Raleigh Sprite. Don't worry about them being missing...they're terrible. Just use a regular 3 speed trigger on the right. The left side bell crank only has two positions, so you have a choice of handlebar mounted shifters. I used a SunTour power shift on my Sprite, but there's other options like only using 2 positions of another 3 speed trigger.

my Sprite
Sprite_shifters.jpg
edit:
I knew I had a picture of this. Here's the bell crank. The cable goes from the shifter to a cable stop mounted on the seat stay.I used a modern pinch bold adapter to connect the cable.
bell_crank.jpg
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Last edited by BigChief; 09-27-17 at 07:25 AM.
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Old 09-27-17, 07:18 AM
  #13936  
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Originally Posted by Scipunk
Well no kidding, were down in Massachusetts! We are talking about moving to Maine someday
Coastal Maine might as well be Massachusetts [ofcourse it once was] but western Maine is beautiful, slower paced and looonng winters
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Old 09-27-17, 08:02 AM
  #13937  
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Originally Posted by arty dave
3 speed slow I have scorcher envy again! I think it was gster last time
Plympton nice tear down pics and cool new find with great chain case font
BC great fix on the brakes

Soooo....has anyone used the 'Raleigh Roadster' tyres? (635 x 40/28 1/2" x 1 1/2") They have a nice tread pattern, do they roll well?
Thanks! Just trying to match up with all the cool bikes I see on this thread.

Not personally but there is someone on a Perth site that has them on his Pashley Guv'nor and gives them high marks for ride, look and price.
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Old 09-27-17, 08:20 AM
  #13938  
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path racer envy

I threw this one together last year, but just didnt like it so much that i had to keep it, so i convertered it back to full fenders and steel rims again so i could sell it. Kept the bluemel tour de france fenders for future consideration, mounted the wheels on another project
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Old 09-27-17, 10:51 AM
  #13939  
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^^ You a tall hombre! Looked like a decent Scorcher. What exactly did not work for you?
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Old 09-27-17, 02:25 PM
  #13940  
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Originally Posted by plympton
Coastal Maine might as well be Massachusetts [ofcourse it once was] but western Maine is beautiful, slower paced and looonng winters
It's not the winters that bother me about Maine. It's the spring. Takes forever to warm up and when it finally does, the black flies eat you alive.
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Old 09-27-17, 02:29 PM
  #13941  
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As I recall, there were four seasons; winter, mud, summer, and a glorious fall.
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Old 09-27-17, 03:42 PM
  #13942  
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Originally Posted by BigChief
It's not the winters that bother me about Maine. It's the spring. Takes forever to warm up and when it finally does, the black flies eat you alive.
Here's a picture of my front lawn.0927171110-00.jpg
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Old 09-27-17, 04:10 PM
  #13943  
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BigChief, Thanks for shedding some light on some options. I haven't had time to look anything up today. I'm liking it.
IMG_3394.jpg
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Old 09-27-17, 04:48 PM
  #13944  
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Originally Posted by plympton
Here's a picture of my front lawn.Attachment 582491
Yikes, I didn't think the storm hit down east that hard. Glad you got out OK
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Old 09-27-17, 05:19 PM
  #13945  
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Originally Posted by BigChief
I have a lot of experience with these. I worked at a Schwinn- Raleigh dealership from 69 to 70. These welded Schwinns felt like a lump of rock compared to the lugged and brazed Raleigh Sports. The old timer at the shop explained to me that the Schwinns used softer steel because they were easy to weld and brazed frames had the advantage of using harder, lighter high tensile steel that made them feel more lively. So the Raleigh 20-30 steel would be something like a 10-20 or 10-23 compared to the Schwinn 10-18 or even lower carbon. So the Raleigh light roadsters might be lower tensile compared to chromoly, but next to these, they were actually high tensile.
It looks quite different to the American 3 speeds in SirMikes stable. I guess the 70's bikes are from a different era with different values and probably having to compete with cheaper bikes starting to enter the market from Japan. Or was this too early for Japan? I know they had a big export boom during the 70's but not quite sure when that started.

3speedslow thanks for the tip for the Perth guy - I'm looking through his site now, he has some nice bikes including a nicely restored Australian made '65 Malvern Star single speed with 28 x 1 1/2" westwood rims. I'll have to post an image of my '68 Malvern Star sometime. It came with an S5 hub that was obviously set up as a 3 speed from the factory. They must have been short on the standard 3 speed wheels on that assembly day They were also starting to be built with shimano 3 speed hubs at this time.

Last edited by arty dave; 09-28-17 at 04:57 PM.
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Old 09-27-17, 05:36 PM
  #13946  
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Arty Dave, looking forward to pics of the Malvern Star. I know they are somewhat of a cult bike over in Australia.
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Old 09-27-17, 05:37 PM
  #13947  
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Originally Posted by arty dave
It looks quite different to the well made American 3 speeds in SirMikes stable. I guess the 70's bikes are from a different era with different values and probably having to compete with cheaper bikes starting to enter the market from Japan. Or was this too early for Japan? I know they had a big export boom during the 70's but not quite sure when that started.

3speedslow thanks for the tip for the Perth guy - I'm looking through his site now, he has some nice bikes including a nicely restored Australian made '65 Malvern Star single speed with 28 x 1 1/2" westwood rims. I'll have to post an image of my '68 Malvern Star sometime. It came with an S5 hub that was obviously set up as a 3 speed from the factory. They must have been short on the standard 3 speed wheels on that assembly day They were also starting to be built with shimano 3 speed hubs at this time.
SirMike's bikes tend to be fillet brazed. More than likely, they were brazed because they used harder steel tubes than the lower grade welded models. I don't know this for a fact, just a guess, but why else would they take the trouble to fillet braze them.
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Old 09-27-17, 06:05 PM
  #13948  
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Krazy 3 Speeds

A guy here in Toronto is selling these 3 speeds. Look like SA hubs and shifters.
Not my style, but I appreciate the work involved.
$_2swdws7.jpg

$_2wqde7.jpg

$_2wqd7.jpg

$_2xsad7.jpg
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Old 09-27-17, 06:09 PM
  #13949  
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Originally Posted by johnnyspaghetti
I paid the asking price & its in better shape than I thought. There are issues with the left side shift controls, I don't know what hardware is suppose to be there.
Attachment 582427
Attachment 582428
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/r...277071875.html
You just need a cable and a stop.
Do you have the dual shifters attached.
These throttle shifters are cool but somewhat rare
kgrhqzk4fb090bv4bqtj6i2fog60_3.jpg
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Old 09-27-17, 06:10 PM
  #13950  
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Originally Posted by BigChief
I don't know this for a fact, just a guess, but why else would they take the trouble to fillet braze them.
The answer is here. A good read too.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/varsity.html

I disagree with the lump of rock description. Both of mine roll nicely, absorb bumps and vibration well, handle and steer well, no creaks, and tip the scale at ~26.5 lbs. A quality saddle and tires makes a big difference, but the frames themselves are straight, strong, and reliable.



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