bikamper

Just finished this build using a Bendix 2 speed manual shift hub.

The frame is a mid fifties Raleigh, most likely a Sports. The hub was on its last legs when I got it so I converted it to 2 speed fixed gear with a little oxy-acetelyne magic.
I had had a Bendix bellcrank in my bin for years waiting for a hub but a friend had scored a Schwinn that was missing the bellcrank so I traded it to him for some SA stuff. About a month later, this hub showed up. No longer having a bellcrank, I cobbled together one from an old Shimano 333 hub, using the 333 bellcrank and a 5/8" long section of the 333 shiftpin.

I scrounged a Bendix shifter and found a nice place to mount it on the Belleri bars.

Front brake is a Fulgur (ever heard of them?)drum and rear is a run of the mill Raleigh caliper.


Crank is a French thread cottered Durax with a 48t TA ring. I won't go into what a PITA the crank was.


Someday, I hope to get over this dang chest cold so I can ride it more than a block.

sailorbenjamin

Nice, simple, tastefull. Are those 700s?
Tell us more about making a 2 speed fixy out of that Shimano hub.

bikamper

Thanks. And yes, those are 700s.
Here is some info on how I 'fixed' the Bendix manual shift hub. https://www.flickr.com/photos/2149929...7622894296310/

sailorbenjamin

Hmm. Interesting...

David Newton

Bikamper, I enjoy the stories of struggles more than anything. The crank surely is a rarity, tell about it.

randyjawa 

Not exactly my cup of tea but I do like seeing what other people are doing to ressurrect/preserve old bikes these days. Nice job and let's see what you can come up with next.

bikamper

You asked.
The arms are both Durax but mismatched. The nondrive side has a 9.5mm British cotter and the drive side is 9mm French. Not a big deal, in itself, but the 9mm pin was shot and I didn't have anything in that size and neither did either LBS. So, I hit it with a 3/8" drill bit and use a British pin. That problem was solved.
I hung the cranks on bike and started putting on the pedals. The nondrive side was no problem. I start on the drive side and I just can't get the pedal started to save my life. I take the crank off and clamp it in my vise and still can't get it started. I try from the other side and still no dice. I pull out a magnifier and and take a closer look at the threads and sigh. I pull the pedal from the other crank and it screws right in. The crank arm turns out to be a LH timing crank from and old tandem with LH threads. I walk over to the tool box and pull out my spark plug tap and solved the problem.

David Newton

Thanks, love it.
If that is how it worked in the health-care world, we would all be on easy street.

cman

Very cool setup. I especially like the bellcrank conversion.

sailorbenjamin

I'll nominate you for the "Most Fabrication Work Ever On a Raleigh Sport" award.

bikamper

Thanks, but this one was easy. This one, though,

is an ongoing project. AW fixed 2 speed w/neutral and 16t cog, 559 rims, flipped North Roads with bar ends, Raleigh Sprite 49t crank, rust galore. Wrecked so badly in 07 that the chain guard, front rack, right crankarm, right pedal, and spindle were bent.

sailorbenjamin

Jeepers. You gotta love these bikes. It seems you can do anything with them.
I've had a dozen or more (flipped all but one). They're great as they came out of the factory but they take well to mods, too. I can't think of another gasspipe frame that people exercise so much creativity on. Maybe those Peugoet uo-8s or something.
Maybe a good thread on its own.

David Newton

Gas pipe? In my mind they are all built of "mis-marked 531"

bikamper

The Raleigh Sports/Superbe lend themselves to some great mods. If I get one complete and undamaged, it will be overhauled and found a good home. Unless it is a rare one, then it's mine. If, like this red one, I get just a frame, or like the Dunelt, less the wheels, I take some creative license. Wheels, forks, hubs, cranks, all can make a difference.
I have seven Raleighs, spanning three decades, in the stable at present and six are variants of the Sports. Two are unmolested and one, a 1970 Robin Hood Lenton Sport that I've had since new, has been transmorgafied more times that I can remember. There is a slight possibility that the red Anglo-American may be a Trent Sports instead of a basic Sports which would make it 531 instead of 2030 hi-ten. Cool if it is, alright if it ain't.

sailorbenjamin

I have heard of a few 531 Sport variants. I'd like to find one. For now, though, I'm happy with my "mis-marked 531".

nlerner

I had one Trent Sports pass through my hands, a bit too small to be a keeper. I'd be surprised if it were 531 as it was one heavy SOB.

Neal

bikamper

Right you are, Neal. 2030 tubing on the Trent, not 531. I was thinking late fifties Lenton Sports Tourist. Similar frame specs to the Trent Sport but made of 531.

nlerner

How about an early 50s Lenton Tourist?





I'll be commuting on this one today.

Neal

bikamper

Two questions about that beauty, Neal. Are the seat stays tapered? Is there a chaincase lug on the right chain stay?

nlerner

No taper and no chaincase lug. It originally would have come with an alloy hockey-stick chainguard. A buddy of mine has an amazingly well preserved example as shown below.



Neal

bikamper

Sweet. I asked about the stays because the ones on the red bike are 15mm at the seat cluster and 12mm at the rear dropout. All my other Sports variants are 14mm from top to bottom.

sailorbenjamin

Ya know, Neal, If you ever get tired of that Lenton, I could be in Brookline pretty quick.

nlerner

That's one of my holy grail bikes! Now if I could only find one of those alloy green chainguards.

I rode it today from home down to the Boston Public Library and back. Just before it started to snow!

Neal

sailorbenjamin

Yeah, I remember the thread back when you first found it. I hadn't heard of them. Now it's on my grail list too. Of course my grail list is pretty long and loose but that one is closer to the top than most.