Gazelle (long shot) question

[Geonz]

... but hey, maybe somebody out there...

I have a flat on the front tire of my Gazelle, and can't tell what to try to unscrew/undo to release the brakes (internal drum brakes) I've taken pictures to take to the shop and ask (and as an unwanted resort I'll get in the CAR and take the thing out there ) ... but just in case ... any clues?

[DebW]

I've never worked on these things, so can't say for sure. I went to the SA site and found this figure, and you can download a pdf of the hub internals, but I didn't find anything about cabling.

http://www.sturmey-archer.com/hubs_fh_XFD.php

You can also go to this page http://www.sturmey-archer.com/contact.php and click on pdf catalog. Page 32 of the catalog has a pic of the cable and anchor bolts.

In the pic of the hub, you can see that both the end of the cable wire and the end of the housing attach to fulcrum levers coming out of the hub. So you could look at removing it from either place since they are both just anchor bolts that sit on a u-bend. The end connector is called a pinch-bolt, and if yours is the same as the pictures in the catalog, then the red thing next to the fulcrum is the pinch bolt and the small collar beyond it is not shown (and maybe not necessary). The pinch bolt doesn't show if it has a screw or how it works (possibly you just smash it on with pliers?). If the anchor on the housing end has a screw holding it to the fulcrum, you could remove that. Can you manually squeeze the two fulcrum levers closer together and get cable slack? If so, try slipping the pinch bolt or connector off one of the fulcrums when you've got slack. Another possibility would be to remove the short fulcrum where it's attached to the hub and then lift out the cable from the other end.

If you really can't get the wheel off, how about trying to patch the tube without removing the wheel?

[DebW]

It's possible that the cable for your brakes came as a unit (wire, housing, pinch bolt, barrel adjuster) and doesn't come apart, as did the brake cables on my 1954 3-speed (there's a picture link in my 3-speed thread that shows both ends of that cable). The SA catalog picture shows a barrel adjuster on the housing end. Your bike doesn't have that. Is that an adjuster on the pinch-bolt end? If there is an adjuster, I'd say to screw it in all the way and then see if there is enough slack to remove the cable from the u-bolts. But in your case, if that is an adjuster, looks like it's already bottomed out. Another way to get cable slack would be to pull the cable off the brake lever. There should be a ferrule between the housing and lever that you can pull back and then slip the wire through the groove. The anchor end should also pull out through a groove.

[Triskeliongirl]

Do you need to release the brake to remove the wheel? Perhaps if you simply deflate the tire it can come out without releaseing the brakes.

[roadfix]

Unless you're replacing the tire or tube, another option is to simply pull out the tube and patching it the old fashioned way, without removing the wheel.

[Mimosa]

If you just want to patch the hole then leave the wheel in.

If you want the replace the inner or outer tube then pull back the brake lever at the drum. You then should be able to remove the part with the red stopper. Then pull out arms of the front wheel protector. Then you can pull the wheel out.

[Geonz]

I did it, I did it

One of the guys at www.bikejournal.com gave me directions (and annotated the picture even, tho' I didn't notice 'til I was done!). It still took forever (I blogged the whole process if you're totally bored) but now I think I could do it on the road.
Goign to swing by the bike shop with it anyway 'cause *something* is rattling, and everything is built in on that sweet little thing, so that shouldn't be. I charged on it into work this morning, though.

[Mimosa]

Aren't those good old dutch bikes the greatest.
Wait until the moment that you need the replace the rear tire ... that's just SO much fun with these bikes *not*

[Geonz]

YEa, my LBS guy thought that it was the rear and started talking chain case Those tires are pretty sturdy, though.

[DebW]

YEa, my LBS guy thought that it was the rear and started talking chain case

Don't know about your Gazelle, but the chaincase on my 1954 3-speed has a gap in the bottom rear just big enough to pull the wheel out through. So rear tires can be changed with minimal effort. Removing the chaincase is a pita since it is bolted to the frame and threaded through the dropout. If yours doesn't seem to have any gaps for tire removal, look for a sliding panel or removable section.

[Mimosa]

YEa, my LBS guy thought that it was the rear and started talking chain case Those tires are pretty sturdy, though.

In the netherlands we have this nifty tool to remove the rear tire from bikes like your gazelle. And hoera it's also manufactured by Simson. I laughed really hard when I saw you picture of the simson repair box with the dutch labels on them ... I wonder, do you also know what was written on the top of the box?