Doris, the Robin Hood Step-Through 1969 Three Speed

Late last year I came across a classic 1969 three speed Robin Hood bike named Doris at a thrift store for only $55. The Robin Hood brand at that time was essentially a re-branded Raleigh bicycle, made in Nottingham, England. Doris was just begging for some fresh life to be breathed into her, so I picked it up and had myself a nice project! It took several month of cleaning, steel-wool-ing, polishing, greasing, waxing, etc. I took this bike down to each bearing, and rebuilt the wheels with new nipples. I rarely think ahead, but for this project I remembered to take some before and after photos! Oh, and the name Doris? I didn't give her the name myself. Just check out the photo of the underside of the saddle.

Before: not too far gone, just needs a serious tune, clean, scrub, and rust removal service.

The Robin Hood headbadge, perfect condition! Made in Nottingham England.

Rust and putting on the Robin Hood Stem and bars.

Sturmey Archer 3 speed shifter, quite dirty and with a crack on the cover.

Seat tube decals were in fair condition.

The best part about this bike was certainly the pedals. This model could easily be ridden barefoot. Very nice pedals.

40 spoke Sturmey Archer 3 speed AW hub. It is a 4 cross wheel but the spokes aren't laced! I changed that when I rebuilt the wheel.

The decal on the rear fender was in poor condition, poor Robin Hood has no face!

Rust and light pitting on all chromed surfaces.

I ended up replacing all the loose bearings on the bike.

CH CH CH CHIA

Cleaning the Sturmey Archer 3 speed AW hub.

Here is her namesake, a blue Dymo label, the one and only: Doris!

All done!

I ended up not replacing the shifter casing, just cleaning it.

Fine steel wool and polish on all the chromed parts... wow that is labor intensive.

A shot of the cleaned up crank and wonderful pedals.

Fender mount, indicator chain nut for Sturmey Archer toggle chain.

You can see in the bottom center of this photo I laced the spokes. They weren't like this before. This is my first 4 cross wheel that I have built.

At that time I had a coworker at work whose teenager was obsessed with all things UK, and happened to desperately want a cruiser bike... so she ended up with this one!

COASTER COG KING

I have a ton of variations of cogs for coaster brake and internally geared hubs. These are the three-tabbed, or as Sheldon Brown called them "3-lug", style cogs that are nearly universal to fit a variety of hubs: Shimano, Sturmey Archer, Suntour,  and Sram and Fichtel & Sachs. When I list these cogs I classify them in a three main ways:

1) Tooth count - the greater the number of teeth the easier the gearing for acceleration and climbing. Most internally geared hubs have a max number of teeth recommended for the rear cog. Using a tooth count higher than what is recommended can add extra torque on the internals of the hub and can damage them. A lower tooth count is harder to push but your bike will travel further for every revolution of your crank.

19 Tooth Fichtel & Sachs Gray Dished Sprocket

2) Dish - Most of these coaster cogs you will see out there have a few millimeters of dish. When looking at the cog from the side, you will be able to see that the "toothed" portion is offset from the "three tabbed" part that slides onto the driver. The dish of these cogs is reversible, so you can install the cog with the toothed portion inward or outward. The idea is to create the straightest chainline possible with your crank. The straighter the chainline from the crank to the cog, the quieter and smoother the chain will run, not to mention it reduces wear on the teeth and chain. On each eBay listing I quantify the amount of dish on each cog, usually around 2mm. I also carry a few non-dished (flat) cogs.

15 Tooth non-dished black (flat) cog

3) Color & finish - If you are working on a restoration you may want to get the exact brand and finish on the cog as the original. You will be able to find different brands with different detailed cuts and colors... so have fun!

Suntour 18 Tooth Silver Dished Cog

Sachs 3-Speed Cable Pulleys and Stops

I've always been a sucker for the golden area of bicycle part packaging... and one of the nicer example of that are these Fichtel & Sachs Torpedo Cable pulleys and stops for older three speed bikes. Back then, the shifting system of three speed bikes was less varied. Shifting cables were constructed with heads on each end, and they were sold with a pre-designated length of housing for different applications... which means all of the cabling had to be run externally to the frame and could not be passed through any holes in solid cable stops. Three speed bikes all used these for long time:

The housing stop is slotted for the cable to slip into from the side and the housing to sit in. You may take that for granted, but most modern housing stops on the market are solid and require that you thread the shifting cable through like thread through a needle. These parts are really a critical to a good restoration. Also, they come in the common 28.6 mm size for steel frames.

I don't have a ton of them, so get one while you can! http://www.ebay.com/itm/291808182809

Bike-powered saw

I thought this was really cool:

Sturmey Archer SW Hub Parts Service Pack!

I've come across some new part stock and finally listed on eBay. Unless you live in vintage bicycle heaven, you will never be able to find these parts at your local bike shop: they are from 1954 Sturmey Archer SW hubs. Get at them while the getting is hot because these don't come around often and I don't have much of them!

Check out some of the highlights:

L1 6" Axle:

L9 Slide Clutch:

L12 Pawls:

L19 L.H. Ball Cup:

Vintage Coaster Brake & Three Speed Axles in Stock

I've listed a few more axles, some for Fichtel & Sachs Komet hubs, Sturmey Archer coaster & multi speed hubs, and Shimano three speed hubs. I still haven't found the best way to take photos of these things so that the perspective is right and the photo shows enough definition.

American thread Sachs Komet 165mm Axle 3/8 x 24 TPI K 110/4A

Single Speed Sturmey Archer 165mm Axle 3/8 x 26 TPI, Possibly for SC or SC-1 

Sturmey Archer multi speed axle 152mm 13/32 x 26 TPI... don't ask me the part number...

Shimano long three speed axle 168mm part 334 1500-1

Sram T3 Indicator Chain - Ribbed Version

I have just started to sell the SRAM ribbed version of the T3 Torpedo indicator chains. These are the more recent chains, but good luck finding one locally! These are the short version of the chain. These chains use a series of ribs upon which the black plastic clips slides to add tension to the shifting cable. This chain has the same hub-side threading as the older Fichtel & Sachs "dreigang" style chain, so you can use this one if you want to update your older shift cable connection to the black clip variant.

Rockfish in Central Virginia