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For the love of English 3 speeds...

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For the love of English 3 speeds...

Old 09-18-13, 02:33 PM
  #4651  
Beic
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Originally Posted by gbalke
Let me be the first to welcomeyou the assylum Beic. Nice to have the UK represented. Now, about all of those vintage parts you chaps are hoarding over there.....
Thanks for the welcome.

We do have a few parts lying around! Although even over here the Raleigh Twenty bottom bracket can be a little difficult to find, but a set can be had for about $20 or so if you are lucky.

Complete rear wheels with 3 speed hubs in good condition are easy to get.
3 Speed bikes in excellent condition demand high values, but there are always plenty of project bikes available at our second hand shops.

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Old 09-18-13, 02:37 PM
  #4652  
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Here's a recent (fuzzy) picture I took, showing three English bikes and some other bike.

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Old 09-18-13, 03:09 PM
  #4653  
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Originally Posted by fixed1313
And there is what started my inquiry into help with the date............ the hub is not stamped.

The guy I bought it from thought maybe '71 ........... he was not sure. At any rate it is finished and I rode it this morning for it's maiden ride. I will try and get some pics this afternoon and post them up.
Sorry, I was talking about jethin's DL-1. I got crossed up in the thread.
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Old 09-19-13, 04:50 AM
  #4654  
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Wow thats a nice frame.
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Old 09-19-13, 01:39 PM
  #4655  
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Originally Posted by gbalke
Let me be the first to welcomeyou the assylum Beic. Nice to have the UK represented. Now, about all of those vintage parts you chaps are hoarding over there.....
I can only agree with Beic - parts are plentiful and pretty damn cheap over here! Although it's still fairly easy to pick up a near-mint gents 3 speed for max £50... women's ones are rather more pricey, mind!
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Old 09-19-13, 01:52 PM
  #4656  
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Originally Posted by tjkwood
I can only agree with Beic - parts are plentiful and pretty damn cheap over here! Although it's still fairly easy to pick up a near-mint gents 3 speed for max £50... women's ones are rather more pricey, mind!

And that's why I'm trying to convince the Mrs. that we need to retire in the UK. The first step in my scheme is getting us there for a long visit, say several weeks in length, and take along two or three empty suitcases.
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Old 09-19-13, 04:15 PM
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Originally Posted by gbalke
And that's why I'm trying to convince the Mrs. that we need to retire in the UK. The first step in my scheme is getting us there for a long visit, say several weeks in length, and take along two or three empty suitcases.
There's plenty to recommend it, trust me - good luck with that in the meanwhile, if you ever need anything facilitating/shipping over to you, do let me know and I'd be happy to help!
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Old 09-20-13, 01:31 AM
  #4658  
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Originally Posted by tjkwood
There's plenty to recommend it, trust me - good luck with that in the meanwhile, if you ever need anything facilitating/shipping over to you, do let me know and I'd be happy to help!
Living in Oxford must be a second hand bike hunters dream, out here in the wild west of Wales I have to venture to the bright lights of Swansea and Cardiff for used pickings, Ebay seems pricey..

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Old 09-21-13, 06:05 AM
  #4659  
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Originally Posted by gbalke
And that's why I'm trying to convince the Mrs. that we need to retire in the UK. The first step in my scheme is getting us there for a long visit, say several weeks in length, and take along two or three empty suitcases.
My son did his graduate work at Leeds UK... I helped pay for a couple of his airline tickets back and forth over the pond, he brought many parts home in his checked bags. The best one being a complete 16" dynohub wheel for my Compact RSW.

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Old 09-21-13, 06:55 AM
  #4660  
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Here's a thought; The C&V Forum's First Annual Group Tour of the UK. Package would include air fare, lodging & meals (perhaps at a UK C&Ver's house?) and of course a guided tour of as many C&V vintage British bicycle venues as we can hit in a predetermined period of time. We just need several UK members to volunteer as guides.

Anyone here either own a Corporate Jet or is a close personal friend of John Travolta?
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Old 09-21-13, 07:13 AM
  #4661  
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I have to believe that American one-speed coaster-brake bomber style bikes were more common in this country than English three-speeds at some point in time. Yet the 3-speeds have survived in greater numbers. I see so many of them in use in Manhattan. I think it's the most reliable and useful kind of bike I can think of. Manhattan has recently seen an explosion of bikes and cycling. Tons of bikes are locked up in public, and many bikes stay out overnight, which is relatively new. Many of the bikes have the characteristic white portion of the rear fender.

Noglider You are right! Single speed coaster brake bikes were 100x as common as English Racers in 1950's Phillidelphia(sic) and NOLA and rural small town louisiana.
We usually called them English Racers- Raleighs and Royce Unions(not sure who made Royce Unions-copy of Raleigh I guess)
They were as exotic to us as a fighter jet or a Triumph MC- little Kids would gather around them when they were "parked" on the sidewalk. Of course back then folks rode on the sidewalk whenever possible (cars had crummy brakes-and adults rarely rode bikes-older "kids" rode delivery bikes for grocery stores pharmacies etc)

Lotta 24" tires on bikes- back then,so the 26" tires looked very skinny and "fast"
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Old 09-21-13, 08:11 AM
  #4662  
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Originally Posted by gbalke
Here's a thought; The C&V Forum's First Annual Group Tour of the UK. Package would include air fare, lodging & meals (perhaps at a UK C&Ver's house?) and of course a guided tour of as many C&V vintage British bicycle venues as we can hit in a predetermined period of time. We just need several UK members to volunteer as guides.

Anyone here either own a Corporate Jet or is a close personal friend of John Travolta?
You'll be very welcome.
We'll have the tea and cream scones,...and proper beer ,waiting for you

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Old 09-21-13, 04:14 PM
  #4663  
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Originally Posted by Beic
We'll have the tea and cream scones,...and proper beer ,waiting for you Beic
Now, no one can beat the English at their cream scones, but I was at a "Realist Party" (for real cask ales) at the local brewery this afternoon and so I take exception to the idea that we have to go to the UK for proper beer......though I must say there are fewer duds over the pond!
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Old 09-22-13, 04:45 PM
  #4664  
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Originally Posted by phoebeisis
.
Noglider You are right! Single speed coaster brake bikes were 100x as common as English Racers in 1950's Phillidelphia(sic) and NOLA and rural small town louisiana.
We usually called them English Racers- Raleighs and Royce Unions(not sure who made Royce Unions-copy of Raleigh I guess)
They were as exotic to us as a fighter jet or a Triumph MC- little Kids would gather around them when they were "parked" on the sidewalk. Of course back then folks rode on the sidewalk whenever possible (cars had crummy brakes-and adults rarely rode bikes-older "kids" rode delivery bikes for grocery stores pharmacies etc)
.
I was a kid in the fifties, too. I grew up in Boston and the surrounding area. Raleighs were not uncommon. I did not have one but friends did. There was one hill in the area that I could not ride over with out getting off and pushing my bike, but I could do it in low with my friend's Raleigh.
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Old 09-22-13, 05:52 PM
  #4665  
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Maybe 1955 Boston was a bit tonier than 1955 Philly.
I used to visit my relatives in Fall River-which was a beat up mill town back then-
don't remember seeming any English Racers in Fall River- Boston,and everywhere else,was tonier than Fall River back then.
They were COOL bikes-and exotic where I lived.
Yeah-gears-what a blessing!
-English racers were adult sized bikes. Probably had to be 14-15 to be tall enough to ride one comfortably?? 30" stand over?? Adults DIDN'T ride bikes in 1955 USA
Can't ever recall seeing an adult on a bike in 1950's??(not counting college kids)-real working adult.
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Old 09-22-13, 06:04 PM
  #4666  
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There are many possible reasons the 3-speeds survived better than the bombers. Maybe the bombers were ridden into the ground while the 3-speeds languished in garages?

Beic, western Wales? Where, specifically? I had my best time cycling there, from Bangor, down the coast.

And here, the men's 3-speeds are harder to find in good condition, but the ladies are common and in good shape. I wonder why the difference between here and there. Did women ride more there? I think men rode more than women here. We do currently.
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Old 09-22-13, 08:23 PM
  #4667  
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Originally Posted by phoebeisis
.
Yeah-gears-what a blessing!
-English racers were adult sized bikes. Probably had to be 14-15 to be tall enough to ride one comfortably?? 30" stand over?? Adults DIDN'T ride bikes in 1955 USA
Can't ever recall seeing an adult on a bike in 1950's??(not counting college kids)-real working adult.
I did have a problem with the height. In my memory, I wonder if the bike was a 23", my friend was taller than I was and the bike had been his fathers.

I suppose one reason we had more Raleighs is that their main office was in Boston.

As a kid we road our bikes everywhere. We called it exploring and it opened our horizons.
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Old 09-23-13, 01:35 AM
  #4668  
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Mark,

The UK beer industry did take a major drop in quality and has not really recovered, things like pasteurisation, commercialism etc all demised the product, I'd say from the 70's onwards.

However CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) are always pushing for the return of good beers.

In the last few years there has also been a boom in the UK of small independent "Micro breweries" producing their own brews.


noglider,

I'm in south west Wales,Carmarthenshire,(home of Merlin!) however I know the western coast well and have family in Bangor and regularly travel the coast roads.

Beic.
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Old 09-23-13, 04:29 AM
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Raleigh-so HQ was Boston back then?
I distinctly remember seeing my 1st English racer-sitting on the sidewalk in Philly-about 1955-I was 4- kids gathered around-wondered what the levers were about-skinny tires- heck it made an impression on me-distinct memory almost 60 years later.
Kids did commonly ride WAY TOO BIG BIKES- we all did. Parents bought them too big-assuming-correctly-kid would grow into it
Funny I don't remember seeing another one(I must have seen some) until I went to college 1968 and by that time the 10 speed craze was on-beginning of bike boom.
Your-Schwinnista-38 lb Varsity's etc were THE BIKEs to have at LSU- 1968- but most had cheaper bikes- My 1st was a mail order store pick up sears single speed with "skinny" 26" tires($34 i think)
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Old 09-23-13, 05:19 AM
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It was the mid 60s in the far west suburbs of Chicago and my friends were getting Varsity's. I had saved every penny I made cutting grass ($1.25 per yard) and could only afford a $36 Sears 3-speed. I immediately stripped off the fenders and chain guard but it was never really the same, and my friends let me know it.
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Old 09-23-13, 05:41 AM
  #4671  
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My first "proper" bike was a dark blue B.S.A. similar to the Wayfarer which my parents bought me in 1965 for passing my 11 plus ( graduating to Grammar School).

My friends mocked the bike,they all had Raleighs with drop handlebars, B.S.A they classed as "Best Scrap Available!

This bike was only single speed. Even back then we stripped bits off bikes. Off came the mud guards, chain guard and brakes to be used for "Bike Speedway" at our local park.

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Old 09-23-13, 10:06 AM
  #4672  
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Originally Posted by Schwinnsta
I was a kid in the fifties, too. I grew up in Boston and the surrounding area. Raleighs were not uncommon.
Yeah, I believe the fact that Raleigh USA HQ, being in Boston, had a lot to do with the number of Raleighs in the area. That and all the colleges.
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Old 09-23-13, 10:29 AM
  #4673  
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To Full Chaincase or not? I bought this old Raleigh Sport ( decal says "Delux") years ago as an upright, fender-less, 3 speed with a rotted saddle. I decided the frame would become an "everything Raleigh" parts hanger and it now weighs close to a metric ton.


So, I'm still on the fence about hanging some black Raleigh fenders on it ( the fender stays have since been changed to a proper set from VO) proper grips but mostly I'm wondering about a full chaincase. Fenders and grips can be changed in minutes...a chanincase?


Well, I want to only do it once! So what do you think? The bike is only ridden on level surfaces at a lazy man's pace at best.
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Old 09-23-13, 04:12 PM
  #4674  
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I like the chrome fenders - snazzes up the bike and look good. I'd probably pass on the full chainguard as well - maybe a hockey stick style but the full one will make that metric ton weighted bike actually look like it weighs a metric ton.

Awesome chaincase though - NOS or repaired?
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Old 09-23-13, 04:58 PM
  #4675  
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I have some spare Raleigh fenders, Velognome. They're green, though.
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