1957 Raleigh Dawn Tourist

The owner of this 1957 Raleigh wanted to get this classic back on the road for leisurely rides to the local post office.  This bike has the larger 23" frame, rod brakes, enclosed chaincase, 3-speed Sturmey Archer "AG" rear Dynohub (dated October 1957), and Brooks B-66 saddle.  A check of the Raleigh 1957 catalog indicates this particular bike with this equipment is probably a Dawn Tourist model. 

Unfortunately the front and rear lamps and Dry Battery Unit were missing.  The front brake pads and anti-vibration plates were missing, and the shifter cable anchorage was missing. The rear of the enclosed chaincase was mangled from the 18 tooth cog coming loose at some point.  The owner only wanted to get the bike in rideable condition and not disturb the patina (rust and dirt).

Since the bike was missing all of the lighting equipment is was determined to switch out the heavy, notchy "AG" hub for an "AW" hub and rims from a donor Raleigh Sports bike.  The rod brake pads were replaced and shimmed for proper contact with the cleaned and polished Westrick rims.  The chaincase was removed and straighten, the shifter cable anchorage and new indicator were installed, new 19 tooth rear cog installed, and all hubs cones adjusted.  After installing new tires, tubes and chain the old classic was again rideable and ready for the road. 



 

 

Lightweight Bikes with Sturmey-Archer Hubs

This past weekend I attended the Philadelphia Bike Expo.  One of the highlights of the show was a Schwinn Paramount display and seminar.  I was surprised to see some 3-speed versions of the Paramount.  I never realized that Sturmey-Archer hubs were fitted to the top of line Paramount model.  There was a Schwinn Paramount, model P-11, "Tourist", that could be ordered with a Sturmey-Archer hub and upright handlebars.  Here are some pictures of the two on display, both were early 1950's.

Alloy AW hub

Notice usual stem/handlebar combination,  this one had chrome fenders instead of the Bluemels Noweight's

The Paramount's were hand built in a special shop using lightweight tubing, very similar to the Carlton/Raleigh relationship.  Lightweight bikes (Reynolds 531 tubing etc.) of the early 1950's with 110 mm rear drop out spacing for Sturmey-Archer hubs have always had a special interest to me. Peter C. Kohler has written excellent articles on the Raleigh lightweights such as the  Raleigh Record Ace (RRA) and the various Clubman type models.

Here is another example, the little known Carlton Corinthian:

and now the Paramount P-11 Tourist. Today they are all very collect able and command high prices.  I have never owned or ridden any of them and probably never will, but I can't help but wonder if they actually ride that much better then a common Raleigh Sports 3-speed.  I guess it just matters what side of the fence you fall on, rider or collector, but I will continue looking for one I can afford.

Sturmey-Archer Service Manuals

Nick over at Three Speed Hubs just posted another vintage Sturmey-Archer service manual Servicing the Sturmey-Archer "A" Range Three-Speed Hubs  This is a very interesting publication that has information not contained in some of the latter manuals.  For those of you that like to "monkey" with old Sturmey-Archer hubs, its a good addition to your reference library.  Also, while your there check-out the other service manuals and vintage catalogs, many contain valuable information on classic three speeds.  

The Path Racer/Scorcher Project

In my July 2013 post "1953 Raleigh Sports Tourist Model 23" I mentioned the desire to replicate a path racer/scorcher type bicycle.  I was originally going to use the 1953 Sports for this project but decided to refurbish it.  Instead I will be using a 1970 Raleigh Sports, there will be little effort used to maintain its originality, this will be a fun build that will hopefully give the appearance of a vintage racer.  My only requirement was that it will have a Sturmey Archer hub and cotter crank.

I will be using a new (Sun Race) 5-speed Sturmey-Archer hub, X-RC5(W).  This is a wider hub (127mm) then the original 110mm 3-speed AW.

In order to accommodate the wider hub the rear drop-outs had to be spread (cold set) to the wider hub dimension.  This was accomplished by using a long 2x4 between the seat post and rear triangle to leverage drop-outs outward.

In addition, I had a friend braze a shifter boss on the top tube for a Sturmey-Archer 5-speed shifter lever.

  The original color of the Sports was a Bronze Green, I had the frame, fork, alloy rims (Sun CR-18), and handle bar and stem powder coated a Satin Black.

The handle bar used is a shorten and flipped cruiser type alloy bar.  In order to get the bar back to a more reasonable height I'll be using a longer alloy stem with a steep vertical extension.

End of handle bar that I removed.

Next will be setting the chain line and initial assemble.

Please share your comments and experiences.

LED Lighting: Circuit Board and LED's

The previous "LED Lighting" post covered preparing the original Sturmey Archer lamp housings and making "heat sinks" for the LED's.  This post will describe the circuit board and LED's.  The circuit board only contains two components, a Bridge Rectifier, and a Capacitor.  I ordered both components and the circuit board from Digi-Key.

The Bridge Rectifier converts the alternating current (AC) supplied by the Dynohub to direct current (DC) which is required to power the LED's.  The Bridge Rectifier has 4 leads.  The two center leads marked "AC" are used to receive the the AC input from the Dynohub.  The two outer leads, "+" and "-" are used to output the converted DC current to the Capacitor.

Bridge Rectifier 40 Volt, 2 amp, Digi-Key # 641-1213-1-ND

The Capacitor will receive and store the converted DC current from the Bridge Rectifier.  This will help smooth the current going to the LED's to reduce flickering caused by the 20 poles within the Dynohub which act like on/off switches.  The Capacitor has two leads "+" and "-', the negative lead is marked on the outside to the can with a Gold stripe and negative sign "-".  This lead will be connected to negative DC output from the Bridge Rectifier.  The other lead will be connected to the "+" output from the Rectifier.  Capacitors are rated by micro-farads, this is a 10,000uf capacitor, the high number the more storage capacity and a smoother current to the LED's; however, as the numbers increase so does physical size of the capacitor. This is the same size capacitor I used for the 1949 Comrade LED conversion, but it had a bigger lamp housing. Using a 10,000uf capacitor for the smaller 1953 Sports housing is really pushing the space available inside the housing.

Capacitor, 10 volt, 10,000uf, Digi-Key # P10241-ND 

Circuit board comes in many shapes and configurations.  This particular board is from Digi-Key, it's a extra piece from the Comrade conversion.  The original board was 3" x 3.5" and has a "common bus" configuration.  This means any component leads that are connected to a common row on the board will be connected electrically.  As an example, to connect the "+" Bridge Rectifier output to the "+" Capacitor input the leads must be positioned on the board in the same row.  The board has two sides, the leads are inserted on the plain side, and are solder into place on the printed side.

Circuit Board (plain side), Digi-Key V2018-ND

Circuit Board (printed side), component leads are solder on this side.  Any leads solder in the same lettered row will be connected electrically.

This is the circuit board and mounted components.

This is the board after adding the leads for the input from the Dynohub (Blue) and output to the LEDs (Red (+) and Black (-).  I also trimmed the board to better fit within the housing and added Velcro to hold the board in place within the housing.

This is the board positioned within the housing.

Next I mounted the LEDs onto the heat sinks.  I'm using the same type of LED as the Comrade conversion, they are Luxeon Rebels (neutral white) pre-mounted on a 10mm base.  They produce 230 lm @ 700mA.  It is much easier soldering the leads to the LED if they are mounted on a base which contains a separate soldering pad for each input.  I'm also using 10mm adhesive pads to mount the LED and base to the heat sink.  I centered the LED and then marked the holes to drill for the leads that will be connected to the circuit board.

Front heat sink, LED, and adhesive pads 

Mounted LED and solder  leads

Front LED and heat sink mounted in original reflector.

And the same for the rear LED.

Rear heat sink and mounted LED

Heat sink and LED mounted in original rear bulb housing.

I wanted a quick test to make sure the circuit board and LEDs were working up to this point.  Using some alligator leads I connected the front and back lights to the Dynohub and gave the front wheel an easy spin. Let there be light!

The next step will be mounting the light housings and running wire from the Dynohub to the circuit board mounted in the front light housing, then running wires from the circuit board to the rear light housing.

Please share your comments and experiences.

LED Lighting: Preparing the Housings

While waiting for the brake and shifter cable housings to arrive, I'm going to start preparing the light housings for conversion to LEDs.  The Sturmey Archer Dynohub and lights were an option on the 1953 Raleigh Sports Tourist.  This particular bike has the smaller front light housing, I believe the larger housings were used only on the Superbe models.  I previously converted the lights on my 1949 Comrade Roadster to LED's; however, it used larger housings.  Hopefully; I will be able to squeeze the circuit board into the smaller housing.

These are the housings before any prep work, there are some dents in the front housing, and someone drilled a hole through the side of the housing to install a switch.

I will wire brush the housings, try to fix the dents and extra hole, and repaint as necessary.  First I need to remove the internals and prepare them for LED lighting.  I'm going to use the same approach previously used on the 1949 Comrade.  Its been installed for over 3 years and I know it works with the Dynohub.  There is a wealth of information and opinions on-line for LED bike lighting.  The circuit I used for the Dynohub is a simple variation of more sophisticated options.  In addition to the LEDs, it uses only two components, a Bridge Rectifier, and a Capacitor.  Also needed is a Heat Sink for the high powered LEDs. From browsing the web, these seems to come in many variations, from commercial products to DIY versions using a bolt and some washers.  According to the "experts" a heat sink is needed to draw heat away from the LEDs to prevent damage.  I will make some heat sinks similar to what I used on the Comrade, but made smaller fit the Sport housings.  In addition; they will provide a mount for the LED's within the vintage housings.  These are the heat sinks made from aluminium rod to replace the bulbs, they are sized to be a friction fit within the original bulb housings.

Rear light heat sink.

Heat sink for rear light inserted into bulb holder.  The LED will be mounted to the face of the heat sink.

Front light heat sink

Front light heat sink inserted, the LED will mount to the face of the heat sink.

This is a patch to repair the hole that was drilled into the lamp housing by a previous owner.  With a little Bondo and some sanding and it will be unnoticeable.  I also had to shorten the screw that fits into the rear of the housing because it was interfering with mounting the circuit board.  I will use J-B Weld epoxy to affix it to the housing.

After Bondo and sanding

Shorten screw, will be epoxied to rear of housing

The next "LED Lighting" post will cover building the LED circuit board and mounting.  Please share your comments and experiences.