ROBIN HOOD 1965

[Criminal]

Purchased this bike on on of my travels for $75 from a really nice guy who said "I'm done with Sturmey-Archer"; he gave me a spare rear hub in excellent condition to boot. The bike itself had been completely rebuilt and rides/shifts perfectly. He wanted to clear it out and he did! Original except for paint, tires. Overall the bike is in excellent condition with nearly zero rust, great chrome, and Brooks two-tone saddle in very good shape for its age. Personally, I feels like a bit of a steal, but the man was only to happy to part with it. He'd gotten the "rebuild old bikes bug", but to him bikes from the '90s are vintage and that is what he really wanted to work on; he had a killer Peugeot model I had not heard of that I'd have bought in a instant. I actually like the color which matches well with the headbadge. I would repaint the same approximate color with a higher quality job; maybe highlight the lugs with piping or contrasting color.

   
   
   
   

[Papa Dom]

beautiful paint! what exactly did the owner mean with "I'm done with Sturmey-Archer"?

[Criminal]

(12-09-2020, 01:16 PM)Papa Dom Wrote:  beautiful paint! what exactly did the owner mean with "I'm done with Sturmey-Archer"?

Apparently he did want to mess with the rear hubs, and admitted that he had never torn one apart to service and was not confident if he had to. I have only broken down a couple; one for learning, the other for servicing. They are not as difficult as they may seem if you keep track of what you are doing; I've worked on enough automotive, and other various gear reduction systems that it did not seem very foreign in the manner of how maintenance needed to be done. I don't know if the spare hub he gave me (1972 dated) actually functions; he said it did and was quite up front about everything so probably a good hub considering it looked barely used.
I suspect it may have had more to do with the bikes he and his wife were riding, their ages (mid 60s), the gearing that he wanted to be able to use, and the weight of the bike. He showed me his other bikes (completed and in the works) and all were newer "sport/recreational" race frames and hybrid style frames from '90s-'00s. He asked me for some straight bars (which I don't use) so as to convert the other drops he had due to not ever riding the in the low position. The Peugeot (probably the oldest bike) he had I was a very good '80s "Challenge" model pretty much original, except with added bar end shifters (perfect for someone like myself) vice down tube; he wants stem or grip/thumb shifters; again, due to being older and not being able to (or wanting to) bend down. Trying to get a swap; my flat bar for his drop including the shifters would be very nice. He is not about having it original just comfortably rideable.

As I have taken a little more time with the "RH", I find that although the paint finish is a little rough, I may be able to buff it a little bit smoother. Regardless of whether I repaint or not, I am adding some hand painted "arrow" graphics to the frame and guard, and I'll throw in some small painted script with "Sheriff of Nottingham", "Friar Tuck", "Little John", and "Will Scarlet". Something I think all those bikes should have had in the first place, and I'll add white or silver outlining the lugs; if it was a ladies frame I would have to put a "Maid Marian" on it, but not the guys bike. I have a couple spare "RH" headbadges kicking around so I might fit one to the seat tube. Also going to mount a crossbow to the handle bar; just kidding, but might be cool to do it since one trail I ride is loaded with deer (need to check the legality of that!). I am taking it on its first relatively long ride (10 miles or so) this weekend wearing my vintage hairnet helmet to add a little more history for the trip. I have been remiss in wearing my racing helmet while riding the older 3 speeds, and my friend rightly commented on it so the old helmet is a good compromise for riding around 15 mph away from any traffic.

[Criminal]

I was reading up on the problems a new member has with an IGH bike making noise in the rear. I was recently riding the "Hood" with my friend and he has a bad habit of cutting into small parking lots to avoid intersections. When doing so unexpectantly, and with myself following I hit a rather severe speed bump (why I avoid parking lots!) before I could properly react and adjust my weight to allow the bike to absorb the shock. The drivetrain locked up with one pedal stroke after the impact (which gave my body quite a bounce off the saddle) and I was unable to properly shift or turn the cranks. Although I know my speed was slow (well under 10 mph), the fact that all my weight was borne by the rear wheel upon impact most likely broke or severely bent the rear axle. It caused me to tear a chain link upon the locking up. I have not torn down the hub yet (I have 2 entire wheel assys as spares, plus a couple loose hubs) so still a mystery to the actual damage. As a note: the rear wheel still spun freely since I had to "ride" the bike back home a few miles by standing with right foot on the left pedal and pushing like an old scooter with my left foot. My friend was surprised at the speed I was able to maintain; certainly felt it in my right quadriceps. I am only 145 lbs so it did not take much weight to cause that damage, and I have passed over many speed bumps safely at higher speeds, but with body off the saddle and weight being shifted to the rear for front wheel and then shifted forward for the rear wheel. Alrhough I never shifted my weight the front wheel was still true, if on a racing rims it would have cauaed severe damage to both wheels, but those large tires (and steel rims) helped keep the wheel intact; the rear rim was still true, but the hub took too much of the impact force to handle it with my weight to the rear Also, it is unknown what stresses that hub has been through over its 55 years of use since I am the third (at least) owner and rider. The damage caused by the aforementioned post in question was due to having a passenger riding on the rear luggage rack, but the particulars of the cause incident are unknown other than clothing caught in the chain. I suspect some of the damage, considering the rim was bent out of true and possible broken spoke(s), is going to internal to the hub and more than likely a bent axle.