thumpism 

But 23" frame!

cudak888 

A great candidate...

-Kurt

Ged117 

Thought I'd update. The S5.1 hub is fully operational! I took Sheldon's advice and installed a friction shifter for the left-side indicator chain. This seems to work very well, and the bike holds in the various gears, and shifts crisply. No issues there as yet after a service and light oil feeding.

The lamps work well and the LED bulb put out light reasonably well enough to be seen. I had a fork mounted lamp holder in the parts bin, so I moved the front lamp down for the cool factor. I already have the voltage regulator thingy for use with the dynohub. The wiring is....hilariously ill-kempt, which I think gives it a certain devil-may-care aesthetic, the results of which being I am more than OK with locking this guy up around the city.

Had it out last night after getting the front brake sorted out with KS pads and a new cable. Just as comfy as I remember, but I'll need to think about the reach - might need a longer reach Nitto Technomic to get my posture just right. The mudguards are battered, but just need an adjustment and they'll be right as rain for this fall and winter.

Pics for funsies:

PXL_20220929_180304428.MP

Mounted the trigger and friction shifter on the stem because I like to ride on the outer part of the handlebar at times (going to put on some dark blue Newbaums)

PXL_20220929_180252654.MP

PXL_20220929_180648813

Left side working great!

PXL_20220929_180657608

SirMike1983 

Raleigh Sprite on the road the other day:

BFisher

@SirMike1983, Nice Sprite!

I put my Humber (which was originally identical to a Sprite 5) back to hub gears. Missed having a drop-bar three speed.

jamesj

Where does one acquire some rims?

bwilli88 

I live in Cambodia and there is a plethora of 26 1 3/8 bikes, tires, tubes, and rims available here. Tires for $3 or $4, tubes for $1.50, rims for $8 or $9. A step thru 26" x 1 3/8 bike is about $40 for a Single or three speed and $50 for a six or seven speed. Add $5 for a Dyno hub on the front.

thumpism 

Looks like a factory-chromed Sports. Too bad about the ripped Brooks and the price-for-condition. Looks like the ad's been up for months.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...20414961341389

thumpism 

$150 for an early reversed and inverted Sports in OH.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...20388062394266

thumpism 

Here's a quaint oldie marked down in MA.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...10142387456807

Einar03

I've never seen the left side shift--is it like an overdrive in a car?--

Charles Wahl

On the S5, it's both an overdrive and an underdrive: when engaged, it simply increases the gear ratio difference from the direct drive (middle gear) in both directions, lower on the low gear, higher on the high gear.

thumpism 

Some overpriced oldies in RI.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...64543774847121

thumpism 

Looks like a 23" ladies' for $15 in CT.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...88190595266383

thumpism 

Four nice but overpriced ones in VA.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...14612045378794

Ged117 

This one is just about complete, at least for the moment. It isn't as nice as a 1950s Raleigh, but it'll do the job. I have about a five mile commute to work along various multi use pathways that feed into the Rideau Canal path that any visitors to Ottawa would be familiar with. It is a pleasant ride and the terrain is perfect for this bike. The rack was a nice bonus and my backpack pannier with my laptop and lunch fit on one side and regular pannier for bits and bobs fit on the other nicely. Grips are classic Hunt-Wilde, still made in the States and found in a Montreal bike shop that caters to C&V tastes. Bottom bracket was in good shape and I installed fresh bearings and grease, along with cotters from Mike using his cotter press to get them in. The right side grip is an old cracked one I had in the junk bin - good to go for testing the reach before I install a new one and bar tape. Overall I'm pleased with this thing, it delivers a comfortable ride, not quite to the level of comfort and handling provided back when by my old 1950 Raleigh Superbe with Brooks B66, but close enough. The B17 is from the parts bin, it has come along for the ride on a few different builds now. Pedals are MKS Monarch and will be suitable for winter. KoolStop pads work great on the steel wheels. If I like this bike enough, maybe I'll build a 650b wheelset next year for it using my stash of '50s Sturmey Archer parts. Then again, I might find a '54 Sports for such an expensive upgrade project...but that would defeat the purpose of a cheap commuter! I digress.

PS - I need to find a chainguard now. Anyone have a surplus chainguard?

PXL_20221004_205659472

PXL_20221004_205717131

Handlebar is French and from the '50s. It came with a nice alloy stem - but it was too short for this application. Used a Nitto stem instead.
PXL_20221004_205838907

Chain is like a KMC rust-buster or something, it was on sale. Ugly, but it won't survive the winter anyway.
PXL_20221004_210055331.MP

clubman 

Ged117 I've got a chrome Raleigh hockey stick, might suit?
Pm?

Ged117 

This is my first bike with an S5, and I am starting to get used to this hub - when engaged, it really helps on the hills and just the opposite when you want to get things rattling a bit and pick up some speed.

Today was my first longer ride - the hub slips in low (not engaged - when the left side is engaged, no slipping). I assume this means I need to adjust the indicator on the right side.

Charles Wahl

I have an S5 (and an AW alloy shell to put it in!) but haven't put it into service on anything yet. I've ridden an AW for years, and I don't use the Sturmey trigger; just don't like it. Normal downtube (retro)friction shifter, and I just mark 2nd gear with Sharpie marks on the lever and clamp housing. Setup is just like Sturmey says: put the shifter in 2nd gear position, and adjust the indicator so that the half-flat on it just meets the end of the axle (presuming that you have the correct indicator (length) for the axle length you've got. I always operate the thing a few times fore and aft, put it back in 2nd position, and make sure, from either direction, that the flat is ending up right at the end of the axle.

My S5 is one of the Mark 2 or 5.2 ones, with a bellcrank on the left side that pushes a rod in, rather than an indicator with chain into the axle, that pulls it out.

Ged117 

Mine is a 1980 marked S5.1 and the bike came to me with a left-side trigger, which when oiled operated the left side indicator chain very poorly. I switched it out with a friction shifter, as Sheldon recommends, and now there are no issues, at least for the left side. Just including here in case anyone needs to set their S5 up in the future.

clubman 

I also like the flat alloy Northroads. What brand, maybe SR?

Ged117 

I'm not sure - I found them on French eBay, attached to a very nice 1950s aluminum stem. I think I searched 'peugeot handlebar', because I was looking for a similar moustache type flat bar you'd see on 650b touring or city bikes. The same guy was selling a pair of 700c 1960s Peugeot fenders with integrated rack that I'm going to install on my Sun Wasp w/Sturmey FW over the winter.

Plenty of cool stuff on French eBay, seem to be many more small sellers. UK eBay is like the intl version - high prices for everything.

browngw 

It's getting cooler, the days are shorter and it is the time of year when I try to figure out what bikes will stored and where. The 1972 Raleigh Sports (23" frame) will be stored in my basement work area for the winter. We have had a metal heron sculpture by the front of our home for a few years so I took a couple of shots of it with the bike.

gster

I also have a couple of possible chainguards for your bike.
Black and blue....

erileykc

Interesting that there is no text in the listing. The descriptions of the bikes are a photo of a printed page. Would this be to prevent a search from finding the listing? Would this be sinister or simply try to ensure security? Just seems odd.