1954 English 3-speed

[DebW]

Hi DebW

Oh yes, came across the following, not sure if it is the same:




Sally

The 3-speed coaster brake was the S3C hub. We used to see those in the shop in the 70s. I've got an AW hub, without coaster brake.

Further web investication reveals:
The S3C hub came out in 1970. Your poster looks older than that. There were a number of earlier 3-speed coaster brake hubs, such as the TCW in 1952 and the KC in 1922. The AW wide-range 3-speed that I've got came out in 1936. SA even made some fixed gear (non-freewheeling) multi-speed hubs.

Another oddity of my 3-speed: The trigger shifter is labeled "3 or 4 speed". It has a round window to show the gear setting: H, N, L, B

The double-ended cables on my 3-speed were used until 1966.

The full chaincase on my bike was supposedly discontinued for the US market in 1953. Either that date wasn't a firm change-over, or perhaps my bike was sold in England? The tapped hole on the right chain stay to secure the chaincase was continued for several years after the chaincase itself was no longer installed.

The 3-speed cable pulley is a clamp-on. By Sheldon Brown's table, it should have been a braze-on on my gent's frame, clamp-on for a lady's frame of the same year.

[margo49]

Lovely, lovely, lovely
Please post pictures and tell us stories

[DebW]

OK, here are some pictures. Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic before I started dismanteling it. Here's its current state (and the state of my basement workbench):



The steel cottered crank, 44 teeth, and pedals and cotter pins:



The bottom bracket and spindle. You can see the notches for the cotter pins. Sorry for the mat on the floor - it makes the picture harder to decipher. I'll try to redo this one.



The chaincase. Normally the chainstay passes through the wide center opening. That tiny slit at the rear gets it on and off the chainstay. Chaincase attaches to the frame in 2 places. The round panel over the chainring pops off. The oblong opening in the round panel probably had a sliding cover at one time.



The front brake and fork. The center wire is from the generator hub. Note that the brake has no fixing bolt, just a lugged cable end that fits in the curled end of the caliper. Fork crown is a horizontal piece of pipe.



The rear brake after removal of caliper and cable from the bike. The two cable ends are part of one cable, and so is the barrel adjuster.



Last picture is the Brooks saddle. I think it says 72L but it's very hard to read.



That's all for now. I'll probably get some more photos eventually.

[mimitabby]

hey did you try putting some leather treatment on that saddle? It looks like the top surface is cracked but maybe not all the way through?

[DebW]

hey did you try putting some leather treatment on that saddle? It looks like the top surface is cracked but maybe not all the way through?

I haven't done anything to it. It's close to pulling through a few of the back rivets and one or more of the front ones.

[Popoki_Nui]

NEAT bike! Enjoy the rebuild, especially the SA hub. Never been brave enough to tackle one of those, myself....

[DebW]

The steel rims on this bike are very rusty and the spoke tension rather poor. So it will get rebuilt wheels. Needs 26 x 1 3/8 (590 mm) rims, 40 spoke rear, 32 spoke front. Sheldon Brown, bless his heart, stocks alloy rims in this size with 32, 36, and 40 holes. So I'll be making a pilgrimage to West Newton at some point. Not sure if I want to keep the front dynamo hub as is because it's really heavy and creates drag. I could just remove the magnet (it's like a 3 lb annular rock) or replace it with a non-dynamo hub or maybe look at modern dyanamo hubs.

The BB lock ring came off easily. Not so for the cups. I've sprayed on some Liquid Wrench and will try again later. This project is using lots of Liquid Wrench.

I'm definitely going to follow Popoki_Nui's instructions on rust treating this frame. Portions of the exterior are showing more rust than I'd like.