I was lucky enough to find a couple of bicycle wheels dumped by the Yellow skip at my local allotment. They looked to be just what I wanted. The rear one already had a 3 Speed Sturmey archer hub in.
Here is the 1978 ( ladies ) Raleigh Traveller on it's back in the Cycle shop looking a sorry state , after briefly dropping the wheels on to see if they would work.
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There was a White wall tyre on the back of the Traveller, and I had them swap it for a Black world tour tyre to match the one that was already on the front. The original 10/78 hub was respoked into the newly found back wheel, now last month. Two cable sheaths, the front and back brakes were replaced with Super swanky braided in clear and cut.
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I took off the original saddle to find it had suffered damage from last Octobers Yob beating ( stamping ) One side of the saddles metal frame inside was bent. And after some banging with a hammer I managed to get it back to the way it was before, as if it hadn't been damaged at all. Unfortunately I managed to pull the actual leather and plastic underneath from the stud, this was temporarily repaired with two small cable ties and then later with a Bolt, two different sized washers and locking nut.
The day before I had bought new black brooks leather saddle and put it on. So it looks like the original will go onto another bicycle later , that I am rebuilding.
I also replaced the Car valve inner tube on the back wheel for a Dunlop valve one. I just prefer them, as Schrader and Presta valve tubes are a swine to pump up without air pissing out all over the place.
Soon I set about the arduous task of smothering both rims with Meguiar's Metal Polysh, now my fingers are not all that good due to my Osteo Arthritis. And all that rubbing with cloths " wax on , wax off " , was a bit hard on my hands, esp my fingers. The rims came up a lot better after " wax off " , although with all the dust like orange rust that looks like it has been sprayed onto the rims. They will never be prefect , but they do look a lot better now.
Some minor touching up on the blue paintwork, with a paint that did'nt quite match. But I wasn't bothered as it was just going on the road. I wasn't looking to get this one perfect at this stage . But it helps to hide the dents in the Mudguards a bit better.
And finaly some Auto Glym ( tyre dressing ) to finish off the job.
And here's the finished Raleigh Traveller. As was the previous photo.
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Unfortunately on Sunday night after leaving my Olds's flat after having dinner with them and the Girlfriend and my cousin Staurt having popped over too. I proceeded to ride home with Kim and got about a third of the way, before the indicator chain that goes into the Gear hub snapped. So I was stuck in 3rd gear ( hardest ) all the way back to my flat.
Luckily I had a spare one in my personal parts collection. It originally came from the Mid Green Ex PO ( post office ) Pashley bicycle , when that had a PO only AB axle 3 speed Sturmey archer hub on the back.
I wound it into the hub and screwed on the adjustor toggle.
So far all the gears 1 2 and 3 are engaging. But I won't really know until later tonite if it is going to work perfectly. This indicator chain is a bit stronger than the last one my guess, and we will have to see. The one that snapped was damaged by last Octobers ( half term ) holiday yobs or bored teens. After some inspection of the remains I had found that the chain was already bent and that I had in fact tried to straighten it out with pliers. I guess it just had to give in the end, due to the metal being stressed.
Hopefully this second hand Indicator chain will work, or I will have to see if the local cycle shop can get hold of one for me.
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=^-^=
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Enjoy