In a previous posting, I talked about my fear of starting on bike repairs and projects. I see now that my post was written three months ago. And I haven't really done anything since then, other than planning in my mind.
I had a good excuse and a lousy excuse: I didn't have much work, so I had a lot of free time during nice weather, so I rode more. But I also had free time on rainy days, and I see I didn't get down to the workshop on those days either.
Now I'm busy with work again, and keep thinking about working on bikes. It's an endless cycle with me. Pun intended.
I missed a pretty good opportunity. A set of his and hers Raleigh Sports on Craigslist at a really cheap price, and I made arrangements to see them, but they were sold before I could get there. I was a bit relieved to not bring more bikes into the house, but disappointed because those bikes had some parts that I could use or learn on.
It's back to the same problem: I'd rather not fix the bike I have because I'm fearful of not knowing what I'm doing. I'd rather have a spare that I can use to learn on. I don't think that fear is entirely unjustified when we're talking about overhauling a Sturmey-Archer AW3 three-speed hub.
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As I consider tackling the rebuilding of the 1961 Raleigh Sport I have several problems with the bike that I am trying to solve. First, the stem and handlebars are seriously rusted. So I need to replace them. I'm not a purist, and I'm not going to sand these down and have them re-chromed. This is why it would have been nice to get a couple of cheap bikes. I could probably have used the stem and bars off one of the other bikes just fine. I don't need flawless, but I want them to look pretty good.
Second, I want to replace both wheels. I'm going with something like the Sun alloys. As it so happens, these wheels are available already built by Harris Cyclery. The rear wheel comes with a new Sturmey-Archer hub in it.
Now this is a tough decision for me. I'm not saving a national landmark, it's an old Raleigh three-speed bike and there are millions of them. But it would be great to use the existing hub if there's nothing wrong with it primarily because it dates the bike. The hub is stamped with the date of manufacture.
Secondly, I have been considering that removing the hub and putting it into a new rim would be a great opportunity for me to learn to build a wheel. There's really no pressure here. I have plenty of bikes to ride, so it's not like I have to do it on a timeline.
But before I would think about pulling the old hub and building it into a new wheel, I'd need to verify that the hub was in good shape. That presents yet another challenge: I will need to tackle overhauling that hub, making sure it is in good working condition and well lubricated.
Thus, another reason for wanting "extra" bikes around: a laboratory and spare parts for learning to strip down the Sturmey-Archer AW3 hub.
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I'm also going to need to get into the bottom bracket and service it. When I test it on the bike stand, the drive train has some sort of problem. This will be another good project for me, since it involves learning how to remove the cotter pin and get into that axle assembly. I am hopeful that it will go well, as I really want the traditional crank with the Raleigh Heron pattern to stay on the bike if at all possible. Again, I could probably have used that extra bike for the parts!
Then there are the fenders. Lots of little bumps and dents. I had thought that it would be quicker to just take these newer fenders and paint them rather than try to hammer out the 1961 fenders.
Some time back I bought a good condition Prestube Minor rack. I believe that would have been period correct, and it will look good on the bike. It also may help hide some of the fender blemishes!
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Let's just assume that I succeed with all that. All that's left is ordering a headlight and a new Brooks sprung saddle and a modern seat post. I use Brooks saddles for my bikes and find that I need a micro-adjusting seat post in order to tune in the proper tilt and position.
