Sturmey Archer Adventure

I have to admit, I was nervous...

You've heard of the "black box."  A container of technology or function that is akin to magic.  Inputs lead to fantastic outputs and it's all due to the "black box."  Don't try to understand it... for god's sake, don't go tinkering with it...

I guess I've considered the Sturmey Archer 3- Speed to be a black box in a way.  A wire goes into it, you flip a little lever and all of the sudden, it gets easier to pedal!  It's a silver "box."

Well, no longer.  I've read a number of sites about the rehabilitation of SA hubs.  THIS one in particular was very inspiring to help me gain confidence.  After putting it off for a few days, I had no excuse this morning but to dive in.

Here is the hub innards splayed out on my bench.  The only tools I needed are laying there as well.

It's one thing to tear something apart, but putting it back together again can be difficult.  Not these.  I even ended up pulling the pawls and pawl springs out and cleaning them.  The pawl springs are as fine as hair!

Anyway, the whole thing went back together with some fresh grease on the bearings and 3:1 Electric Motor oil in the gear compartment.  Once I got the wheel mounted back on the bike, I was AMAZED at how well it rolled and shifted.

Now I'm going to be working through the winter to do all the other bikes I have...  by the time spring comes.. I'm going to be an expert at this.

charles

Phillips Twenty: GOLD

Here's the second bike I picked up on a trip down to Portland...  a gold Phillips Twenty!

This bike was pretty much in original condition, but on the rough side.  It was missing the seat post and saddle, along with the seat post clamp lever.  The bike had the hi-rise bars on it.  The chain was just a rusty lump of grease and dirt.  Ditto the S-A AW hub and the wheel rims were pretty rusty too...  the fenders are in pretty sad shape.  I'm planning on putting the nice chrome ones from my spare green Twenty on this one.  Silver and gold...

Here are some more pictures in original condition...

Needless to say, this is still a work in progress to get it cleaned up and running again.

Luckily, I have an extra front wheel in real nice shape.  I have worked out a deal with a co-member of the http://raleightwenty.webs.com site for a replacement rear wheel in decent shape, so that should take care of the wheels.  I had an extra seat post and passable saddle.  It's coming back together nicely.

As soon as I get some updated pics, I'll add them in.

So, what does all this mean?  I think I have ALL the colors of Raleigh (branded) Twenty's: Carmine, Blue, Green, Brown , White and Orange.  And with this one, a Phillips branded Gold one.  Seven Twenty's!





UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 27, 2013
This Gold Twenty is now done.  The rear wheel arrived from my pal grumpyoldsquid on the Raleigh Twenty site.  It was in decent shape, but since I had it out of the bike, I used it as my first Sturmey Archer teardown wheel.  See the guts HERE.  Once I got it all back together, it looks pretty sharp.  Rides pretty well too!  The paint is still pretty rough and there is some rust on the cranks that wouldn't come off, but overall, and particularly from a distance, it looks pretty stunning in Gold and Silver...  Here are some pictures of the final product.

Here is the overall bike now.  The new wheels really make a huge difference.  Thanks GrumpyOldSquid!!  Originally, it had the high rise handlebars.  I'm not really a fan of these, so I put on a spare low-rise one I had laying around.  The original gold fenders were practically see through in many places.  Unfortunate, because they had the Phillips decal and these silver one sport the Raleigh decal.  But the silver really looks fantastic...

Here is the freshly re-built hub and Grumpy's wheel.  New 1/8" chain too... clean!

Like I said, the frame itself is pretty rough.  Here is the remnant of a sticker near the hinge.  I just left it for "cred."

charles

Raleigh Twenty: Carmine Red

I've added a couple new bikes to my Raleigh Twenty collection, the first being this carmine red example.

This was how I got it from the gentleman I picked it up from in Lake Oswego, OR...

As you can see from the "before" image, there had been plenty done to this bike over it's life.  It's wheels were aftermarket BMX single speed coaster brakes.  The rack was also a cheap add-on.The seat post was so long, it practically touched the bottom bracket spindle! The headset, forks and handlebars were all not original either.  Basically, just the frame and possibly the chain guard were original.  The frame showed it's age - a few scratches and chips, but the joints were still solid and there were no major damage.  Decals were acceptable.  Many of the original "bling" parts like chromed steel adjusting levers and Heron lamp bracket were gone...  So, it required a lot of work to bring it back...

Luckily, I had this bike kicking around:

This is a very nice green Twenty that my youngest son was riding, up to very recently.  He's in middle school now and was starting to think these bikes weren't all that cool anymore (go figure!)  So I was just about to sell this one.  It has 451-sized rims and Schwalbe Durano tires on it.  I basically stripped this one down to the bottom bracket and transferred ALL the parts to the red one, except the fenders - I put them on the gold bike I got... :-)

The fork on the original bike was actually a Raleigh threaded fork, but probably from a Sport.  It had been cut to a length that allowed a quill stem to be added.  Luckily I had a spare brown fork laying around and a rattle can of red that was almost an exact match for the red of the bike.  The chain guard was also in pretty rough shape, so I sprayed it out too.

The finished product looks fantastic and riding on those 451 rims makes this bike very responsive and fun.

My oldest son is going to take the remaining husk of a green frame and do something "rad" with it.  I can't wait to see that...

charles

Quadrophenia!

Remember this?

This image (courtesy of bringthenoiseuk.com) is from The Who's movie Quadrophenia.  I remember how amazed I was at the sub-culture of punks in England at the time who pimped out their scooters like this.  Since I had a Vespa at the time, I could kind of relate.  I also had a trench coat and my girlfriend had electric blue hair.  I loved it!

Well, look at the Raleigh Twenty I found on Criagslist yesterday!

Coincidence? I think NOT!  Just look at it.  The start of a glory ride...

I MUST stop looking at craigslist.  This is the kind of thing that happens.  Last night I was sitting on the computer scanning through the listings for "Raleigh" and came across a "Raleigh Folding Bike."  I clicked in and saw this bike.  The first thing I noticed was the front rack.  I had seen a rack like this on a bike recently found in Ireland.

I think this idea of a "randonneur" Twenty would be kind of fun.  The hunt began for front racks with short stays... nada.

Until yesterday.  And in my own back yard!

It turns out this bike sat all day at a garage sale with no interested parties.  The grandson of the woman who lived in the house posted a few remaining items on craigslist and that is how the bike got there.  I called, but he was already gone, headed back home to Everett, WA.  I asked if it was OK to go over and see it, possibly to buy and he indicated his grandmother would be there.  "Twenty" minutes later, after a stop to the cash machine, I was there.  But she wasn't.  I waited, knocked, waited, walked up and down the street, tried again.  I probably looked like someone casing the place.  Thirty minutes passed and I called the guy listed in the ad.  "Just head on back behind the house.  It's under a blue tarp.  If you like it, just leave the money in the mailbox."  We talked price a bit, and without giving it away, I picked this bike up for sub-$100.  Very sub-$100! They needed to clear the decks.  It was a win-win.

Once I got it home and into the light of my garage, I could tell this bike has seen almost no riding.  Very dusty.  Good, not mud.  No rust.  It had been stored inside all these years, probably a basement corner or back of a garage.  There was a real tacky sheepskin cover on the original Brooks mattress saddle... in PERFECT condition!  These saddles are notoriously delicate and usually rip out.  Not this one.  Low miles and a sheepskin cover saved it. No rust on the springs and even the underside is pure white.

Look close... a headlight! Battery powered, to go with the TWO pop-bottle generator driven lights on the front.  All three work (after freshening the batteries) And, yes, that is a chrome air pump too. 

There are only two things wrong with this bike.  First, it is missing the chain guard.  Not that big of a deal, they come around often enough.  I think I might even have a brown one in the shed...  Second, and of a little more concern is that the Sturmey Archer AW hub (dated 5-75) was free wheeling in both directions. I added a dab of oil, and spun it.  No good.  Shot some Tri-Flow down the hole and now I can get second and third gear.  After patching the flat, I tinkered with the adjustments, but I cannot seem to get first.

Plans?  Clean her up and get the hub working.  This might just be a nicer root beer brown bike that the one I currently have.  I may swap out a few parts, build this one up to be my keeper and sell the other.  It's still pretty dusty, but I can tell the decals are nice and it doesn't have many, if any scratches on it.

Now to find a few other Mods to hang out with...

My winter projects: Raleigh RSW's

I recently came across a couple of Raleigh RSW's on eBay that were being sold as "local pickup only" down in Nehalem, OR.  Nehalem is just east of Manzanita, a coastal town the family and I frequent almost every summer.  I knew it was going to be a stretch for the seller to get many bids,  seeing that people would need to go to the Oregon Coast to get them, so I put the bids in.

Here are some pictures for the eBay ad...

So, bike number one is a 1970 RSW MkII.  It looks pretty much stock

Bike number two is a RSW 16.

Post Script: 3/21/2013
It is now about four months since I originally wrote this post up... and frankly these bikes were what pushed me over the edge.  The condition was poor and they weighed a fricken TON... each....

Even our dog Hazel was disappointed!

I had just returned from a trip with my eldest son, and traveling with bikes was really on my mind.  But NOT these bikes. Too heavy.  And not Twenties. Too heavy and not small enough.  So what to do?

Sell these and get a Brompton!!  More to come on THAT decision..

Starting Over

There has been so much going on recently that I need to just clean the slate and start over here...

Bikes coming and going.  We moved to a new house (more storage - yeah!). Working again..

Where to start...

First, my dream of one day doing a bike rental business aside the Pacific Ocean has left.  Come on, I was thinking, is this really going to happen??  The answer came back at first as a niggling "maybe," and then continued to get louder as "no."  So the bikes I had been collecting for over three years, at one time thirteen (13) Raleigh Twenties are starting to find new owners.  I'm going to be headed down to Portland next Friday to deliver another two.  This will put me down to ( a still ridiculous) eight R-20's:

Current R-20 Bikes I Have
  - My eleven year old's bike.  He LOVES his R-20.  It's a really nice green frame with 20" 451 narrow wheels.  I have a set of Schwalbe Durano's only pumped to 80psi so the road shock isn't too bad.  It really moves and is very nimble.

  - Our electric bikes.  These are two Twenties we converted into electric motor bikes.
  - "The Rainbow"  I have five R-20's, one of each color (blue, green, brown, white and orange).  My kids won't let me get rid of them...



Second, I finished a custom re-build of my red Raleigh International frame.  Powder coated gloss black with gold pin striping and a fresh decal set, full Campy Nuovo Record, hammered fenders, Brooks saddle and bar tape... this bike is a dream.  I plan on making it my main ride this spring and summer.

Third, and most extravagant, we are now members of the Cult Brompton.

Fourth, I have two vintage dream bikes, fully stock examples (well, except for wheel rims) of a 1974 Raleigh Professional AND a 1974 Raleigh International.  Beautiful bikes...

Fifth, I have decided to keep the two Raleigh Tourists that I built up for my wife and I.  Even if we ride them a couple times a year, they are just fun bikes...

I will be doing separate blog posts on all these, particularly my experiences with the Brompton, over the next little bit.  For now, I just wanted to say:

I'm Back!

charles

A Grand Adventure

I have been woefully remiss is my writing as of late. It is my intention to re-ignite my blog again.  But I've said that before!

What better way to start back than to recount an amazing adventure I recently took with my oldest son around the American West! He, a recent high school grad, and I, currently in a state of employment limbo, had some unstructured time, namely three weeks, to craft the adventure of a lifetime. When would we get another chance?

So we loaded the old Honda Accord with camping gear, two Raleigh Twenties strapped to the roof and hit the road.

Our trip took us east from Seattle over Snoqualamie Pass, across the high plains of eastern Washington. We started up into the foothills of the Rockies ending up on the doorstep of Glacier National Park in Montana.


The bikes were very handy getting us around towns particularly. Here we are at the railway station in Whitefish, MT.
We spent a couple days in Glacier and northwestern Montana, then headed down to Yellowstone. What an amazing place.

One of the deep geyser pools in Yellowstone.  The colors are astounding.

We crested the Continental Divide 4 or 5 times during the trip.  Here in Yellowstone on the way to the lake.

From here, across northern Wyoming to the Black Hills and Great Plains of South Dakota

Devils Tower in north-eastern Wyoming... I saw Close Encounters back in the day.  This was WAY more impressive in person.

Here is my son in front of some of the natural sculptures of Badlands NP in South Dakota.  They had a solar viewing telescope at the visitor center.  The sun was throwing off a huge prominence at the time!

We drove almost a straight line from South Dakota to Los Angeles through Rocky Mountain NP and into the red rock canyons of eastern Utah.  Here is the Balancing Rock in Arches NP.

One of the "fin" structures of Arches NP.

My favorite picture of the trip.  My eldest son (I'm so proud of him!! Graduated high school this year!) "flying" on a cliff in Canyonlands NP.

Monument Vally, southern Utah, Northern Arizona.  There was NO ONE around...

Joshua Tree, NP... words cannot explain the coolness of these trees... Best visitor center we stopped at too.  Check out the home made sandwiches and soup there!

We headed north along Highway 1 on the Pacific coast.  Here is our very comfortable abode in Morrow Bay State Park, our Twenties guarding the fort...

My favorite bird... California Raven. Big Sur, Elephant Seal Beach.

Manchester Beach State Park, Big Sur California. Cold, damp and a bit lonely.  We had the place to ourselves.  A wild Pacific lulling us to sleep that night.  Did not see any Snowy Plovers though...

Redwoods NP.  We slept amongst the largest living organisms we know of in the universe..  humbling to walk amongst them, an honor really..

Crater Lake, NP.  I didn't want to go... really, I've seen the pictures a million times (like most of us, I'd guess).  I'm glad I did.  This place is spectacular! You MUST see it for real...

Not much bike stuff here, but we had a great time... and the Twenties came in real handy.  The only technical issue we had was one of the "L" shaped seat post bolts stripped and we needed to find a replacement.  This was harder than it seemed, and we limped along with a coarse bolt, nut and a couple washers till we got home.

~charles