Changed; 15/11/2024 - 14/11/2024
You never forget how to ride a bike.
How to ride a bike for the first time or after a long time,
Comparison of bicycles,
Positive social aspects of the COVID-19 lock-downs,
TV manipulation using health fear, COVID, walking and cycling to get away from it,
Air quality, climate change and challenging green-wash,
Bicycle maintenance including hub gear maintenance,
Epicyclic gears,
Links and references.
Preview of Ethical Consumer, Issue 197, July/August 2022 (bicycles and transportation - view in Firefox)
Thank you, Nicholas Bates (Facebook) for allowing me to use your photo
Nicholas's
grandad said his bike was made by Colson - he referred to it as 'The Fairy Bike'. I have previously heard of a "Fairy cycle" as a general term for a child's first bicycle. "Hi Andrew. It's black and white with added colour by me - I did a few for
VE day to chart my Grandad from being a lad in the village through to the day he landed on the Normandy beaches and beyond. The colour somehow made it more real - and more relatable for my own children. Of course, you can use it for your blog. That'd be fantastic."
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Scope;
That awful meaningless phrase "Going forward", went out of fashion during 2021. This blog intends to discuss different types of bicycles and share sources of tips and recommendations about bicycles, repairs and cycling. The blog also shows how to carry out some repairs and maintenance. The page also discusses changes that might come about as a consequence of the pandemic where people are cycling more but people are also worried about their financial security and the old hated being kept in. Although the environment is very damaged by human activity, species died and the climate changed but even in this short period big improvement in air quality is being enjoyed all over the world. People enjoyed their own better health and time with their children more whilst working at home or on the government furlough scheme (partly paid whilst employed but not working or not working all your normal hours).
Look over your bike, check for loose parts and low-pressure tyres, pressing your thumb
into the tread rather than the edge you should hardly be able to indent the tyre as a
guide before you start. Wide rim 41mm tires are able to push your thumb in a little but
with narrower rims the tires should be pumped harder. Use a gauge to check against
the recommendation maximum on the tyre. Listen for rattles, rubbing noises and other
changes, work out what they are and fix them on your bike. Test the brakes soon after
you first move off but if it starts to rain keep checking the brakes, they improve with use.
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Experimental cycle lanes segregation on the A26 Tunbridge Wells,
Kent. This solution addresses the concerns new cyclists have
about road safety following the lifting of the national lock-down.
Update although criticised by some car users the temporary plastic bollards reminded car users not to cross into the bus and cycle lanes. New cyclists reported they felt safer and personally I find that road better than it was in the 1970s when I cycled once and decided not to do that again, by the measures introduced over the past two decades anyway and improved by new measures. The bollards were replaced with cats-eyes in late 2020, cyclists use the road and the lane discipline has been maintained years later, but many of the new cyclist and family groups did not continue to cycle on the A26 after the lock-downs ceased.
Tunbridge Wells had become very congested with traffic by 1990 so that vehicles could not travel through the town easily but since 2000, there have been restrictions so that fewer vehicles move through the town but the town is less congested so cars move more quickly and air quality, though bad, is improved. The government under COVID air quality and health measures have speeded up the measures and in some towns, but where those road changes were poorly designed they were have been undone. It is the nature of roads and towns that traffic management has always required planning studying and change continually as road culture changes and the planners are often not listened to first due to public and interested parties' pressure.
The A26 has sections that are difficult for cyclists. For example Southborough, London road is narrow, congested and intimidating for cyclists. Then navigating by foot or bicycle the A21 bridge to Tonbridge is difficult because it has fast-moving traffic on the road, there is no footpath on the north-west side and short sections of footpath, grass, trees and brush push you into the road on the south-east side. and there is no signposting for cyclists and pedestrians which way to go.
In recent years more and more 20 miles-an-hour schemes have been introduced. They calm the roads, reduce pollution by 25% or more and are popular. Not that an internal combustion engine is any more efficient at the lower speed, they are not, but drivers accelerate much less reducing emissions.
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Introduction;
Riding an adult bike for the first time;
You can take the pedal and pedal arms off and lower the saddle that should help at first.
The
Video; Put the pedal and pedal arms back on the bike (if you removed
them) and carry on scooting then transfer your feet to the pedals and
pedal. Finally set the saddle higher when you feel secure otherwise the bike will be hard to pedal.
Alternatively, someone can hold the
saddle or the back of your coat to steady you briefly whilst running
with you. I understand a cycle trainer may also hold the handlebars
with their other hand to help an adult learner balance. As far as I
recall the helper only needs to do this once and the learner will be
off. I was held back from learning until dad took the stabilisers off my bike as a child.
I expect dad held the saddle briefly then, let go and I was cycling.
- Avoid derailleur gears, or ask someone to select a gear for you then don't change gear they are very distracting. Select a middle or lower speed should be about right or a higher gear if it is a mountain bike. You need to pedal a little fast but not frantically in order to balance well.
- Choosing either a single-speed bike or a hub-gear bike they are very good. Select 1st or 2nd gear if it is a three-speed or four-speed Sturmey-Archer hub whilst stationary move the pedal backwards, or a light forward movement is recommended but there is a knack to doing this way, whilst moving the speed selector leaver. When moving, stop pedalling, there is enough movement with your feet on the pedals for the gear to change. It is very easy, but do not change gear until you are confident cycling.
- Some bikes have very low gears which are too low to balance without pedalling very fast otherwise the lower or the lowest speed is generally easier to start with because you move fast enough to balance well quickly so you feel less wobbly.
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| The 1976 Bickerton folding bicycle was the lightest folding bicycle of its time at 9 Kg, notably is a very floppy bike and is difficult to cycle more so at first. Folding bicycles are not suitable for learning to ride a bike on. |
- Modern full-size bikes are stiffer short-wheelbase frames and are easy to balance at low speeds, such as mountain and children's bikes to learn on but not folding bicycles. First, start off on the flat. Not so easy to learn on are veteran long wheelbase adult and adult sports bikes need more space to turn in and you need to be moving a little faster. But folding bikes are difficult to learn to ride on I am advised, because they are floppy.
- Folding bikes are okay for established cyclists on quieter roads and cycle paths.
- The saddle height should be set so that sitting on the saddle, one leg is nearly straight or straight with your instep resting on the pedal at its furthest distance from you.
You balance with the handlebars and you steer by leaning and turning it is an almost automatic process. Notice at low speeds you wobble more, cycling is harder work, and you noticeably move the handlebars by bigger amounts to correct your balance. You also wobble more at low speed in a high gear or if the steering bearing needs adjusting and lubricating depending on the bike.
- Brake gently, progressively increasing the pressure on the levers, equally is okay, but with the front brake doing more of the braking as your weight goes forward onto the handlebars if you choose. The bicycle brakes are not usually so powerful that a bike is likely to skid. In any case, avoid skidding, or braking hard by reducing pressure on the brake levers. Skidding makes any vehicle uncontrollable and reduces the rate of deceleration. Although you can signal before stopping by waving your right arm up and down you have less control of your bike and it is usually better to keep holding the handlebars. Look behind you before moving off or stopping and stop gently except in an emergency but still taking care.
- Car braking if skidding occurs takes longer to stop but on a bicycle you would be hurt. In car rallying, rear wheel braking is used to turn sharply is called a 'handbrake turn'. A front-wheel skid is never done intentionally, but vehicle tends to stop in a straight line. When braking the weight of the vehicle transfers to the front which is why more braking is applied to the front.
- Road users should not brake or not brake hard when cornering or when road conditions are poor. Roads are particularly slippery when it rains after a very hot period. I don't cycled on ice and snow but it is done and the rule is if you might slip or be slipping, steer with the slide, and don't get into that position with a bicycle. Some bicycles and cars handle corners really well, my Mini car and my Lenton Sports bicycle both were or are like that, so it is more tempting to speed with them be careful.
As easy as riding a bike - Starting and stopping;
- I swing my leg over the crossbar and go when I am ready.
- But as an older and stiffer person, I lean the bikes over much more getting on and off.
- The method in the left video works well. I reposition myself on the saddle and my feet on the pedals whilst I apply pressure to the pedal after I move off.
- Put your outside foot on the pedal scooting off with your inside foot then swing your leg over, I have never used this method. The postman in this video on the right uses this method.
- The method is suitable for older long-wheelbase bikes which need more speed to start going. It is not necessary with a post world war two long wheelbase bikes or modern short wheelbase.
- I have seen a 1920's bicycle with a very high crossbar and a latch to hold the pedal midway at crank height. So the rider can step up higher as he scoots off. I am told it was quite a hard bike to ride.
- Observe that the postman is with the time, choosing to get a new bike every two years, many people like new things and like the postman chose not to repair and reuse in his case as he would have been brought up to do. Bikes during his working life were all made to last much longer than the postman has chosen to run his bikes.
- Another postman anecdote from a bike shop in an earlier time, I have read, was of a postman who had his bike serviced for 50 years, 75 miles a day and when any non-consumable part broke Raleigh replaced the part at no cost but for bike shop's fitting charge.
As easy as falling off a bike; I only step off as I am finishing braking in circumstances where the braking is found to be poorer than I expected. Falling off the bike needs to be planned to do least harm. I can only recall falling off once when I was a small boy after that I had learnt about the bikes maximum speed for stability and that slowing down is the only remedy. Bicycles all vary in there ability to corner, comfort, speed, pedalling effort required, stability and you learn to sense and manage or avoid those things. You will wobble if you try to start up hill in a higher gear but the wobble is different and will stop as you get a little speed. Now that I am retired and I am finding that I have to take more care and have fallen getting on or riding but have come to no harm.
It is important to talk to people about health and cycling technique as children, athletes, mechanics, would. To corner, balance and braking safely and keep the bike in good order. The bike will feel wobbly at low speed but if the bike ever feels wobbly at speed then slow down gently, particularly on corners and avoid doing whatever you did on that bike again which usually means slow down, otherwise the wobble will increase rapidly and you will fall off. Don't brake on corners or at least brake more gently. The technique if you have such a bicycle, most bikes are okay, is to not over correct your steering because your corrections escalate till you fall off. My Lenton sports is particularly stable and secure on the road but there will be a point where you either graze your knee on the ground or the wheels slide sideways because you are leaning so severely but that is faster than I have ever cornered on any bicycle even as a boy. A vintage mini car is probably the only car I have found controllable in a intentional high speed sideways slide cornering, but don't try it.
Riding a bike again after a long time;
The next hurdle is to get your cycling strength up - just cycle out and back on a quiet, flat road. Do no more than 200m then rest then repeat 200m, and build up to 1 Km over a number of weeks after that progress as you feel fit to. I spoke to an older guy, like myself, who did not pace his build-up and was in pain for a few days after his first ride. It gets a lot easier once you get cycling again to cycle further. Do cycle further at first if you are younger.
- When you start a new exercise and are older first your muscles ache but after a few days' rest if you did too much you will be okay again and you soon start getting stronger. Then as your muscles get stronger your joints may ache and you may need at least a few weeks to rest. As this is occurring your breathing might be uncomfortable at first but gets easier and you feel better for exercising harder at all other times. A good bike is comfortable, light to pedal and you should will ache less despite doing more exercise.
- When you start going push the pedals with any part of your foot you need to get going but then reposition your feet to push with the balls of you big toes. If you push the pedals with the arch of you feet the pedalling will be hard work and could cause you orthopaedic issues.
- You should make up your mind in advance and start to manoeuvre early so that if you don't see what is behind you or don't manage to signal others on the road will see what you are doing in plenty of time. Don't take your hands off the handlebars if doing so would make you unstable, such as if the road has a bad surface ahead. It may be better to push the bike on the pavement across a road junction or around a parked vehicle on a busy road with limited width.
- Cycling on the pavement is fine if you take care and don't get caught. The serious point is to put your foot down and stop or dismount if you think you might worry pedestrians. Cycle slowly on the pavement even if you don't see anyone. Policing mostly does not apply rules unless you could cause harm. Whatever use your bell or speak to people though it is difficult some take the bell to mean get out the way rather than what it means, I am here.
- Cyclists need to take their position on the road just the same as a motorbike user would be taught to or they/we will be driven or feel intimidated to cycle into the kerb, broken glass or knocked off their bike. Take corners fairly wide so that you are seen and can be seen and have room to take evasive action.
- Speaking to or acknowledge with a wave a road user or pedestrian, only if you feel stable on your bike. Plan ahead including for pot holes, different bikes handles them better than others. You do not see much looking behind but doing that also indicates to other road users that you are there, maybe stopping, changing lanes or turning soon.
- If you feel inclined to pull over to let other vehicles pass be careful some will not wait for you to do that properly and squeeze a gap you are starting to make for them. For example stopping for an on coming vehicle it might be better to your bike in the road blocking the vehicle then move.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/signals-to-other-road-users The hand signal for slowing down or in a car turning left looks the same so a car driver should just try to wave his arm about. Do not rely on other road users signalling but to repeat the point, start making your manoeuvre early so that your intention is clear.
Keep looking forward in a confident way helps you feel confident and makes you safer. Give yourself plenty of space on the road don't cycle close to cars or the curb.
Regulation and policing or personal responsibility with calming measures;
Do take part in government and local government consultations on green, road and cycling. Join local groups, and social media for discuss, on road or bicycle or cycling issues.
- Pedestrians need to take care to not step off the pavement in front of a bike, there is nothing a cyclist can do about this.
- Cyclists should proceed with care when they are moving in a lane next to slow-moving or stopped vehicles, particularly for vehicles turning into or out of entrances and side roads, I am ready to stop or do stop when the cars stop or have left a gap.
- But the list of things some car drivers do, reversing out of parking spaces and particularly onto major roads, intimidating cyclists who can not get out of the way because of parked cars. Squeeze gaps without allowing a cyclist's room to wobble. These things are not so common though.
- Anyone on the road squeezing or walking through a gap where something is happening that others on the road have stopped for. The lack of patience and empathy for the heavy vehicle driver manoeuvring, the bus driver because he has to reverse at a terminus with compromised standards.
- On starting a manoeuvre and then a car appears in sight. There is doubt about halting and wobbling or continuing. This is a situation where there is no fault but both road users have to take care. I had stopped at the point of turning right because I sensed a car very close, he was overtaking me also turning right.
In cycling, the derailleur gear bike is risky because it is a distracting and inefficient choice for town use and requires more effort to cycle in a low gear ready to stop and start consequently the cyclist feels more reluctance to stop suddenly. But hub gears were designed to cover all cycling needs, with close, medium or wide spacing, fixed or freewheel on bikes. For veteran bikes, in their time, there were kits to form a hybrid wide hub and derailleur, A kit to bring out the 5th speed and improve the gear change on a four-speed early-type FW hub was available. The heydays of cycling were from 1890 to 1950 but cycling started to decline by 1960 and by 1980 fewer people cycled to work than used other means. The epicyclic gear is particularly efficient and the cyclist feels no reluctance to stop, switch gears and go again. But the derailleur is a good cheap choice for a long easy ride on a clear road or cycle way whether hilly or flat and a good steel frame bicycle will tend to encourage you to cycle fast so take care they are so easy and get easier and smoother the faster you travel.
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| 1955 Raleigh in new condition with an in perfect order dyno-four. FG and FW four wide gear hubs have a justified reputation for wearing and becoming unreliable quickly though they were made for 20 years. The bike is heavy, heavy to pedal, low geared, short wheelbase bike. A classic desirable bicycle with an original basket and a very comfortable Terry saddle nearly all parts made by Raleigh, plus all transfer labels in very good order. |
Bicycle selection;
Vintage means over 25 years old, Veteran means over 100 years old but its not a strict rule.
Many modern hubs or crank gears sacrifice efficiency, for spec. points such as lots of speeds. By comparison, the old bikes were made for a very long life, very serviceable, efficient and light to pedal because they had long-wheelbase flexible frames. Buying a modern bicycle is a bit of a minefield but there has always been a need to ask the sellers advice on suitability which then becomes part of the contract you have with the seller. Hopefully, this blog should help you select a nice old bike, a long wheelbase sports bike is like a touring bike because they were very well tuned for very light comfortable road use but they will not carry a lots of weight as well as a short-wheelbase bicycle does. A modern sports bike having just 23mm wide tires is very uncomfortable on ordinary roads, is unsuitable for gravel cycle path, but is very good on a top quality road surface.
Raleigh and probably most bikes made before about 1955 had a forever guarantee and were made to last 100 years. But although Raleigh particularly stood out there lovely efficient FG and FW 4-speed gear hub were very well know for the poor reliability. Perhaps the exception that proves the rules because most of what Raleigh made under there various brands Raleigh, Sturmey-Archer, Brooks and saddles know as Terry do what they are supposed to do particularly well and really do last. And a veteran AW 3-speed hub can still be running fine after a million miles and the efficiency is as good as good modern gears derailleur or hub types.
I there is more on bicycle selection and maintenance further below.
Making things to last, recycling, reuse and repair were the normal way of people prior to 1960. These things changed during the 1970s and are sadly more talk and green-wash now.
By comparison, life on Earth has been running continually for 3.77 billion years, which is vastly longer, than any machine could be envisaged to last. As far as we can tell life has never gone extinct and started again but survived the hot rock late bombardment period 3.9 billion years ago, if it occurred, would make life on Earth slightly older. On the other-hand life has managed the environment increasingly keep the temperature down and more recently controlling the environment, breaking down and recycling took a long time to evolve. The sun has got three times hotter despite the Earth's orbit remaining the same distance from the sun, whilst there has been life on Earth. That is until modern humans started causing mass extinction of species and changing the climate causing greater rate of heating increase since 1950.
Victorians strived to make machines with good function and reliable, although they did not succeed but for what has survived until recently. There was a lot of intuition relied on in engineering design then. Design was less formalised and more an art. At that time one man could know all the known science, it was said. There are many companies making excellent products that last though they may be dismissed by our modern culture of high, waste, failure and re-growth. https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/degrowth-and-green-growth-what-s-difference-rapid-climate-action
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The Oxford electric bell has been operating since 1840. It operates by electrostatic force that attracts the pendulum alternately between the high voltage battery (pile) |
Since 1980 Britain has switch from manufacturing being a major income for the UK to Financial services and arms sales being the kingdoms main business. Big companies like Raleigh and later Tube Investments kept up the quality but in the main big companies and conscientious engineers chose to work for small companies, if they want to do good work. Bell of USA run very many small offices all of the world in nice locations, such as the modernised heritage premisses, near one of the parks in Maidstone. So many young people are turned cynical in adult life.
Volk's electric railway, Brighton, East Sussex, opened in 1883; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volk%27s_Electric_Railway
London buses known as the Routemaster but had other models such as Titan 1 would last indefinitely because they were easy to maintain and they were dismantled and refitted every 5 years. The double and single-deck type buses that required a driver and a conductor were over 40 years old when they were taken out of regular service. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEC_Routemaster
To sum up;
The News showed us pictures of places all over the world with much
cleaner air resulting in mountains being seen from towns and cities
during Covid-19 lock-downs that had been obscured for decades. This was
and was said to not be reversing climate change but does show us we can
quickly have a better quality of life by making changes. Brighton
has a clean air zone in the city where the buses run on there batteries,
in the summer it is noticeably easier to breath though the difference is not noticeable when it is cooler. I
have discussed the best of the past ways that had worked, so could work
again, if we get out of the modern way of consumption, waste, choice of
poor food.
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TAKE CARE WITH ALUMINIUM FRAME BIKES AND PARTS TO NOT STRIP THE THREADS BY OVER-TIGHTENING BOLTS OR CROSSING THE THREADS SO SCREW IN GENTLY AT FIRST AND UNSCREW START AGAIN IF NECESSARY. Aluminium threads bind when crossed more easily and started badly but you stand a chance of correcting it, whatever the parts are made of, if you unscrew back until you feel the thread go past the start then start screwing in again ensuring you keep the parts aligned precisely. Using the appropriate tool a ring spanner rather than an open spanner but at least start with a socket particularly if the thread start is doubtful.
Differences between types of the bicycle;
- Short wheelbase bicycle - mountain bikes very noticeably can go in and out of all the bumps and taking pedalling effort doing that. You can turn sharply and move and manoeuvre at very low speeds. A fun bike but more work to pedal and have a range of low to very low-speed gearing. Starting from stationery you can almost lift both feet off the ground at the same time and start pedalling.
- The cheap mountain bike pictured has [3 x 6] 18 gear derailleur which provides about 8 speeds or three mostly overlapping ranges of six speeds. The gears change by twist grip micro-clicks. You move two clicks for a one-speed change. The chain came off a lot and I carried a rag with me because it was dirty, the metal thin and sharp.
The front derailleur outer plastic guard is damaged as a consequence of trying to adjust the setting so that the gear can be changed from the smallest to the second front sprocket reliably. I learnt to not change the front derailleur and use the middle chain-wheel. To change gear I needed to move the grip too far and then bring it back to the correct position. I found derailleur gears on other bikes, easier to use.
- After fixing the front disk brake is very good, progressively increasing and works in the rain. The rear brake is poor.
- A tube kept on puncturing and I was advised to run my fingers around the inside of the tire until I found something sharp. It turned out to be a piece of thin stiff wire.
- The bike is lightweight and sprung so the bike is not suitable for a heavy person.
- I am advised not to yank the handlebars to help bump up a curb with such a bike because the suspension will cause the wheel to drop and hit the curb knocking you off the bike.
- I got the bike in January 2019. Probably equivalent to a £200 bike and was available in new old stock for £160 at the time I was running the bike.
Because the bike's highest gear is quite low I found I had no reluctance to stop when cycling in town because I could start moving again easily enough in any gear, except at the lowest speeds which are too low for me. Modern derailleur gear bikes can go up any hill!
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Raleigh, Urban 2, - is a modern road bike,- 8x3 derailleur gears, 24 combinations, amount to 10 speeds. The front dérailleur provides a little greater gear spacing. The control trigger levers operate easily for a derailleur. The gears changed easily with gentle pedal movement as they should. The derailleur changes easily under severe cross-chaining and the rear derailleur changes easily under heavy load although doing those will shorten the chain's life. The front derailleur changes easily provided you pedal lightly and hold the up-a-sprocket lever for a brief period whilst the chain hooks onto the larger sprocket. Unlike the bike above the chain does not tend to come off.
- The bike is in good order and is a very nice, aluminium alloy frame and wheels. Light to pedal but the frame is stiff causing a little road vibration in the handlebars for the rider. That is more vibration in the handlebars than an old 1970s steel bike, so it is a little tiring on a long ride. Other people had said to expect that of other makes of good modern bikes. The bike turns in a fairly small circle and is easy to get started on provided gears are set suitably.
- The bike is much heavier than I expected at 15 kg, which is similar to or heavier than a good high-tensile steel frame bike. The front forks are steel, though this is not mentioned in the spec, giving the bike some springiness and the pedal effort lighter. The bike feels lighter than its weight but also feels dead, unlike a good steel-frame bike. That deadness and little feeling of momentum in the frame tends to make me inclined to change speed more. Other people have said the same about aluminium-frame bikes.
- It has road bike optimum 32mm wide 700x32c (28x1.25") tyres. With the close spacing of the derailleur, you need to go down a gear on dry-cut grass where you may not with 41mm wide tyres. Changing from the smallest to the second front sprocket does not work reliably unless you are pedalling lightly and holding the lever until the chain has caught the bigger sprocket but I prefer to leave it that way rather than adjust the setting and risk damaging the outer plastic guard on the front sprocket. In any case, the derailleurs are correctly set up. I rotated the handlebar a little to improve the comfort of gear operation.
- The braking is unusually good for a bicycle and fortunately it is also progressively increases with leaver pressure. The brakes also work well in the rain. So the cyclist needs to take care to avoid skidding. The brake pads will wear but I understand that the aluminium wheel rims will wear as well.
- The brakes squeal loudly. This was resolved by loosening one brake pad bolt then placing a penny under the front and squeezing the brake lever whilst tightening the bolt. Then do the same on the other side but put the penny at the back of the brake pad. The brakes have started squeaking a little again as the pads have worn down.
- The front rim is okay but the rear wheel rim is worn close to its limit. There is a groove cut in the braking surface to indicate wear when the alloy is worn down to the point that the wheel rim should be replaced.
- The pedals are nice and your feet probably won't slip when it is wet. Modern plastic or these are better or different to the good steel pedals on my Lenton which are better than most in the rain and my feet slip less on.
- The saddle squeaks but is fairly comfortable. The squeak was resolved by repositioning the saddle the back to front position was more central and tightened the bolts tighter.
- Raleigh started making some frames using aluminium alloy with steel forks rather than all steel from 1960, I understand. The forks steel gives some spring so that the bike ride is smooth and light to pedal. Apparently, these aluminium frame bikes remained branded ALL STEEL for some years. No doubt there is a cost-saving in welding the aluminium alloy frame, instead of brazing and lapping steel tubing. There are parts that are stiff with corrosion due to electric reaction (cathodic reaction) between dissimilar metals, aluminium and steel, electrolyte water and salts. There are many plastic insulators fitted to break the electrical circuit and minimise corroding electrical current flow, due to electrolytic (battery) action but temperature gradients are less likely to be significant because the thermoelectric effect would produce much smaller voltages.
I got the bike in August 2021, put the chain back on, carried out some lubricating, tightened some bolts, slacked a brake cable and set the saddle height. I have been able to go up and down through all the derailleur speeds reliably and without the chain coming off. The bike has been kept lubricated and there is very little rust but the transmission parts are coated in a protecting-lubricating carbon black as if 3-in-one oil had been used, which is a good choice of oil.
The bike can be ridden at low speeds and fast, is fairly easy to lift the rear wheel and turn the pedal in a forward direction with your foot or hand in order to change gear, when you could be stuck in a high gear because you are not moving. At the lowest speed, it is necessary to pedal fast which is more tiring than just pushing the bike uphill. I could just start off on a steep hill in the lowest gear after a few tries because it is difficult to balance at first but turns out to be practical on a less steep hill.
The speeds are close together, although that is nice on this bike which requires more gear changing than a steel frame bike does. It is good that the derailleur control is sprung so that the required speed is pre-selected and the change occurs when the cyclist starts pedalling but this method does not work well and is not a good strategy.
Because it is necessary to wait a long time for the gear to complete the change it is necessary to change down earlier. The front brake is on the right with the rear up-down derailleur trigger, up and down is top and bottom but the left trigger is up-down is bottom and the top trigger so I still get it wrong. I found the long trigger lever push to derail to a larger sprocket a bit difficult but rotating the handlebar resolved that. Derailleur gears are nicely implemented on this bike.
This bike like modern short wheelbase bike's handling is not affected by carrying a heavy item on the rack. You can turn in a smaller space but not as easily as the mountain bike further above. The only time when the chain came off was when the front derailleur had not completed the change but the bike had been pushed in and out of my shed. Generally, with this bike like all modern bikes, I understand, such as the Astra (below) there is more vibration in the frame and my wrists soon ached as well.
Although I found I put more effort into cycling rather than getting off and pushing including going up a curb in the lowest gear so I became more exhausted. But when managed properly this bike is particularly good on varied terrain and easy road conditions I have found the bike less tiring than some other bikes. The bike is not a good town bike compared to a hub gear bike.
- The present-day price may be about £475 (2021), so it is not much more in price than a basic single-speed Raleigh bike in 1947 which would have a forever guarantee at £10 (equivalent to £425 in 2021). https://www.thebikelist.co.uk/raleigh/urban-2-mens-2009 http://www.bikeroar.com/products/raleigh/urban-2-mens-2012/specs The guarantee is much reduced but may be up to 15 years for the frame?
- I have added more reflectors and have fixed the bell by adding a spring with a screw as a hammer for the bell.
- There is little handlebar adjustment you can raise and move the handlebars toward the cyclist by loosening the Allen key bolt at the side, then loosening the four bolts and rotating the handlebars to suit. The top Allen key bolt can be removed and an extension kit fitted, or the three shims can be moved to lower the handlebars this bolt sets the bearing pressure, retains the shims and has a seal to keep the water out. The bearing runs smoothly but the stem had some corrosion making it difficult to take apart to service the bearings. One of two O-rings and a flat plastic washer seal the top bearing, need to be replaced. The rust had made the shims tight and spilt the plastic wedge washer which I reused because the split has not harmed its function. I used emery paper to clean off the rust, then painted that section of the fork, unsuccessfully because the car primer paint can be scraped off which I cleaned and repainted. The adjustment is to tighten the top blot to less slack than you would bearings normally then tighten the side clamp bolt. The bottom bearing is similar but the top of the fork is wedge-shaped instead of the plastic wedge used with the top bearing.
- The bearing shell is pressed into the frame the bearing assembly was difficult to take apart; The balls are held in a cage, which I distorted a little and could not put back so I added more balls, ensuring that it looks as if there was space for one more ball. Because the bike judders at a very low speed when braking I then needed to tighten the bearing more than normal in order to minimise this juddering, without making the bearing stiff and the bike feel wobbly at low speed. The steel cone washer forms the bearing. The following hard plastic washer was difficult to push back into the grove in the bearing shell. The bottom bearing had rusty grease so I was able to clean and re-grease it. The top bearing was cleaner so I avoided taking it apart as far as removing the ball race but I added grease. This is an exception to not setting any slack in this bearing and the video is very useful.
- Before painting the fork stem I de-greased it with a solution of water and 5% vinegar.
- The front hub bearing was lubricated and clean and I added a little more grease too - The front wheel has a quick-release mechanism, remove the wheel by pulling the fork apart slightly.
- Remove the quick-release mechanism, which slides through the shaft easily.
- The shaft is conventional with a cone nut and lock nut on each side but with an additional rubber seal over it. I used two spanners to loosen the bearing working on the side that came free then push the shaft through to inspect both sides and grease the other side. Push the shaft back and grease the first side.
- To reassemble, screw the cone nut back with your fingers then loosen by half a turn. Hold the cone nut with a thin spanner (14mm) and tighten the lock nut. Finally, put the sealing rubber washer back by stretching it over the lock nut.
- The bottom bracket does not look serviceable without a specialist tool. But all the bearings run freely.
Concluding aluminium frame bicycle;
A good quality bicycle but being aluminium frame you continually feel the need to change gear with every undulation of the road much more than you would on a steel frame bike. The benefit of having many closely spaced gears is you can indulge that need you feel to change gears a lot.
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Hub versus Derailleur gear bikes;
With the derailleur gear bike, I have to keep changing down, slowing my ride a lot in anticipation of needing to stop. It is necessary to resist; the wish to use a comfortable higher gear so that I can stop and then start again when cycling in town. I have nearly got stuck in a high gear not able to move so nearly falling off having changed up one or two speeds instead of my intention to going down two speeds. I found I was pedalling a lot more just to get the right gearing and be ready for what I anticipated may arise on the road. Using an E-bikes also resolve the issue of not being able to start moving in a high derailleur gear, but those bikes have a range or a weight penalty.Operate the derailleur in time for the change to complete before you stop. How you handle a derailleur depends on you and the nature of the bike. Modern bikes have stiffer frames for cycling at lower speed that means you may be able to push off and change down as you get going. Bikes with friction lever selectors you can sweep across many speeds quickly but reach down to the levers takes some practice.
Hub gears do slip and need be adjusted which is easy and clean enough to get off the bike and adjust the cable. But although Sturmey-Archer hold patents on non-slip between speeds on all there gear hubs the feature was rarely included, having no slip operation between speeds would surely make out of adjustment fault ambiguous. On the other-hand if you pedal standing up then a pedal slip is not nice this is a reason given to prefer derailleur gears.
If you stop in high gear with a derailleur it is best to get off and deal with it. Operate the derailleur, lift the back wheel whilst turning the pedal in a forward direction to make the gear changes. But you may be able to move again without getting of the bike by;
- Provided that any gear change has completed, lift the pedal ready to move off. If not scoot the bike without moving the pedals backwards.
- Select a lower gear with the rear derailleur, the right hand selector usually, so increase cable tension to pull the chain to a larger sprocket when you move,
- Friction levers type gear selector on the rising tube from the crank to the steering bearing tube on my Peugeot Course, I can move the right (rear derailleur) selector down several speeds ready to go this works much better than using the up/down selectors on the Urban 2,
- Push off with one foot and start pedalling with the other.
- I wobbled but if I managed to stay on the bike I could then go down more speeds and get going using the rear derailleur (usually the right-hand selector).
- Doing this the chain may come off though, if the chain movement selected has not completed and you stop and move the bike or the pedal backwards.
- The front derailleur will not change whilst you are putting power through the transmission so you need to changed when you are moving during or after selecting the speed briefly take the power off the pedals and the chain will move and engage with the other chain wheel as you start pedalling again.
Because modern bikes you can start at a lower speed it is a better strategy to push off on the ground rather than raise the pedal and risk the chain coming off because the derailleur gear change had not completed. But with a hub gear bike raising the pedal whilst you change down speeds ready, or tap the pedal in a forward direction as you apply pressure on the selector, either way is easy.
I found the close spacing of the gears and lower speeds meant that with some extra effort pedalling fast but moving slowly I could go uphill further before I get off and walked uphill. Whereas with my steel frame Lenton Sports which has hub gears, I easily get much further up a hill in a high gear then switching down a speeds when I need to, later but then stop at a higher speed so I get off and push. That veteran frame is very efficient and I get lot further up hill on that bike in higher gears than other bikes before its momentum runs out. That is unlike the modern bikes, I can't crawl up hill slowly with that veteran frame it is a fast frame bike. But I say again I like the Urban 2 and the Peugeot bicycles and enjoy the extra cycling skill required managing the derailleur gears over the lazy easy switch speed when I like the way of the hub gear, which I much prefer though.
Comparison of gearing on various bicycles; note that modern bicycles generally have lower and higher speeds. The very close and fewer speeds that Sturmey-Archer made until about 1960 are not common now. The link has a comparison of speeds of some of my bicycles. Single speed and swoppy bicycles are still used in the belief that any variable speed gearing is inefficient, and some century old records may have been on bikes with hub gears but the cyclist choosing to using Normal the direct drive speed which on most bikes you don't notice but is noticeably the best speed on the Lenton as well.
The veteran FM, FC and some modern Nexux gear hubs put Normal as the highest speed where the best efficiency is at the highest speed where it is most noticeable and the lower less efficient speeds you don't notice anything anyway. It is such a shame the FW did not turn out to be reliable because the speeds are so nicely placed with N(3 of 4) being the fast easy speed and H(4 of 4) for easy pedalling up to about 30MPH, where the frame helps much more than the efficiency of the transmission.
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Getting the best from the best gear hub the Sturmey-Archer 3-speed AW
The gear cable run is mostly unsheathed on this 3-speed bike made by Universal (see below).
The same strategy of running much of the gear cable unsheathed was normal with veteran bikes.
The gear change is much easier on the hub gear bikes. This is my experience with them;
- The 1985 Astra is notchy but is fine and as it should be, this bike has had very little use and the spring in the selector is tight. The bike feels unstable at modest speed on corners.
- This 1997 Universal is smoother probably because the bike has been used more but also much of the cable is unsheathed. That is despite the hub being newer (1997 light greased type) when they had a poor reputation for quality but this one is good (see photo above), This is the nicest AW I have used and the frame is fast heavy but moderate effort to pedal and good a low speed as well. The gearing is about the same as the Lenton.
- The 1975 Hercules is older and nicer, the cable is sheathed for its whole length. The hub like but the Lenton is chrome plated pressed steel.
- But the 1946 Lenton sports, probably an under guarantee replacement 1950 hub steel FW the gear change very nicely and easily except for bottom gear (1 of 4) which needs a strong pull, it now has a lighter spring but one of the speeds B or N does not work depending on how the cable is set. This gear hub and the bike has four perfectly placed speeds with N being the most efficient direct drive speed placed perfectly for resting and for fast cycling. The bike feels ever so stable and secure at speed but needs more speed to go.
1955 Step-thru Raleigh is a low speed, heavy and heavy to pedal but has an in perfect order 4-speed dynohub. The gear change is very nice on this bike which has a modern short wheelbase stiff frame. Most of the cable run is unsheathed. The bike gives you an unexciting ride and you can crawl slowly up most hills in a lower gear on this bike, which is hardly been used.The Bickerton is hard work to lift and
drag from the train (pictured) to the
rail replacement bus, folded. A
shoulder bag, a spanner for the
pedal and pliers should help.
- 1976 Bickerton folding bicycle; 3-speed AW works smoothly and nicely. The entire length of the cable is sheathed. The bike is high geared with a 13 and a 56 tooth sprocket but the five-speed hub is probably a good option?
Operation of the gear hub ensures that the speed can not be changed whilst there is forward pressure on the pedals. You can observe this feature by applying pressure to the pedal and moving the selector up one or two speeds, the cable will go slack until you take the pressure off the pedal you should hear the click as the gears changes. Some hub gears have no slip between speeds but nearly all British-made hubs do not incorporate this feature and there is a neutral between each speed where the pedal will turn but not drive the wheel, if the cable is not set correctly. Adjusting the cable is an easy and clean thing you need to do from time to time that can arise when you are on a bike ride. Although no-slip between speeds feature has been patented many times for different hubs it was never incorporate in earlier hubs because it surely would cause difficult to diagnose poor adjustment.
Back pedal-operated 2-speed hub gear - I have never
ridden one of these. Sturmey-Archer S2 Duomatic hub.
Gear hub with a back-pedal brake - I have never ridden such a bike Sachs is one of the makers of these hubs. They sound convenient but I understand you can not raise the pedal ready to start moving, you have to get used to that. I am told makes the bike fairly anti-theft as a thief would probably abandon the bike after a few metres.
Vintage bikes gears;
There were more variants of hub gears for vintage bicycles although generally, only three or four speeds were available with either hub gears or the cheaper derailleur gears. Wide spacing hub gears are for general use but medium or closer spacing gears are liked for sporting use so the cyclist can maintain his cadence. Both vintage epicyclic (hub) gears and derailleur gears have comparable efficiency but the hub gear is much more robust.
- Two and Three-speed fixed rather than free-wheel hubs were made in the 1930s by Sturmey-Archer. They are said to be very nice.
- Some modern mountain bicycles have gears in the crank (bottom bracket) with helical cut cogs for quietness and efficiency otherwise these are not new and here is a link to a 1937 Helvetic bicycle. All the power is transferred by cogs to a lay shaft and then back to the main shaft using cogs. By comparison, only a fraction of the power is carried through the cogs in epicyclic gears achieving good efficiency, consequently. There have been several bottom-bracket epicyclic gears such as Dana USA and there are a few modern robust multi-speed bottom bracket gears? But they are mostly heavier, less robust or less efficient than British-made Sturmey-Archer type hub gears.
- Generally, derailleur gears are close or medium spaced but wide spacing is not possible many gears can be had (Up to about 15% spacing compared to an AW 3-speed hub which has 33% or as close as 6% with an FC hub). But it is possible to have widely-spaced derailleur gears but with poorer shifting.
- Late 19th Century and very early 20th-century hub gears not made by Sturmey-Archer also may have a lay-shaft rather than an epicyclic gear.
Looking at the 3-speed epicyclic gear I think it amazing innovative design and be manufacturable. Sadly William Reilly the designer of the hub, and the person who was brought in to get the steel tempering right for the hub parts by Raleigh, Sturmey-Archer was not popular with other people, and probably would have been given a name for a disease nowadays rather than not liked. Not everyone tolerates others who do not conform or might be cleverer than them and being too conforming annoys them as well. Studying temperament helps explain the types. He got off his bike sat down and died in 1950 apparently in poverty I believe? I am surprised at this story because in scientific instrument making there are a lot of people like this and their managers understand and defer to them. These types of special people are not so common in mechanical engineering and management, which I observe in work are not so tolerant. Those I have worked with I usually like a lot, they do very good work, but may have had bad work experience.
Derailleur gears are also called Disraeli gears.
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Good modern sports bikes
- Modern sports bikes with narrow tires are fast on very good road or race track. But they are difficult or unusable on regular roads and gravel track.
- A Raleigh sports bike with 23mm wide tyres can not have tyres fitted that are more than 25m wide. But the bicycle is conveniently, low-cost, alloy that weighs just 14 kg. Well made bike that the chain never comes off.
- Traditional sports bikes were 32mm wide tyres these are best on regular roads. 41 mm wide tyres are also good on regular roads and do a little better on fairly dry cut grass. 41mm is traditionally what are used on a town bike and is about right.
https://www.tommygodwin.com/ Tommy Godwin, who lived in London was vegetarian had a limited quite poor diet of bread, butter and
cheese. By comparison my father in south east England had a more varied range of food, eggs, fruit, vegetables from his parents garden occasionally a chicken
and there food ration. Mum grew up in Scotland had a lot of
vegetables, beans and lentils plus rations of sweets. And people living
in northern England et a poorer mostly meat diet.
London like many cities did not have a good supply of fresh vegetables green grocers, for example the first green grocer in Manhattan, USA started up post world war 2, I believe. Medieval wealthy suffered the diseases of lack of fruit and vegetables, and excess red wine and red meat, has been addressed since captain Cook gave his officers vegetables manipulating his press gang crew to eat vegetables to avoid scurvy. Preserved food, tins, jars, of fruit and veg helped cities feed themself better but did not resolve the lack of raw fruit and veg in city peoples diet.
I am sure that a vintage Balmoral or my lovely veteran Lenton sports would be a far better choice of bike but the Course below is quite good after making changes and is lighter weight. The Urban is uncomfortable and the Universal is heavier to pedal but they are okay. Otherwise very much more expensive bikes may come closer to the 1940s and 50s long-wheelbase bikes, that encompasses the features in the bike frame design that lead to Tommy Godwin's 100,000 miles in 500 days on regular roads, summer and winter achievement in 1939/40. The record was beaten in 2014 but only on track not regular English roads, ice and snow, winter and summer. So weather a modern bike has been measured against a veteran bike I do not know I have not ridden a $12,000 bike that is suggested by its maker to be a match. I guess though a £5,000 trekking bike with a good variable epicyclic hub gear with helical cut gears would be though heavier but as good.
Peugeot Course - steel frame sports bike;
Peugeot Course sports bicycle new in about 2000
- I have moved the brake levers further around to the handles which makes them easier to use. But the bike was dreadful with the drop handlebars, very harsh road vibration and wobbly steering. Moving the brake levers on the drop handlebars further around to nearer the handle grips, the same as my Lenton was an improvement.
- Replacing the drop handlebars with straight handlebars makes the bike much more comfortable and lighter to ride and a nicer feel to the steering.
- I also replaced the 22mm wide tyres with wider 32mm wide tyres this made the bike much better on ordinary roads and okay on gravel tracks. The bike then became not so fast on very good roads but faster on most roads so it goes at about the same speed as other good bikes. These tyres need to be pumped quite hard because of their narrower rims and although some cyclists run such bike tyres softer for more comfort take care the rim must not hit the road when a bump occurs. I do not recommend this strategy, and in any-case rubber, plastic and air probably absorb energy more than a steel spring designed into the frame does.
- The bike handles easily at low speeds ~2 MPH but feels wobbly at all speeds, reaching down and changing gears is difficult but okay after some weeks of practice. Changing gear was not so hard with the drop handlebars. The gear change operation is easy and reliable but reaching down is difficult, but I can change many speeds at a time.
- Start in a high gear is possible, I can just about wobble about hardly moving change down and go again sometimes. That is the bike is easier to start in high gear because I can balance at lower speed so stay on the bike moving at a very low speed as the chain moves to a larger sprocket.
- The front derailleur can come off so ensure the friction adjuster on the lever is tight enough and that you fully complete the chain transfer before applying power or stopping. The bike has been greased and oiled and is straightforward to work on. The chain binds and sticks often when changing up but it is easy to move the pedal backwards a little then forward again and the change up on the front derailleur then completes.
- Sometimes the chain comes off the when changing up to the larger chain-wheel but by keep pedalling it often catches and goes on again without me having to get off the bike.
- The bike was purchased in about 2000, Mangalloy (HLE) steel is Butt-brazed apparently, is magnetic and has some spots of rust weighs 12Kgs,
- 6 x 2 Shimano derailleur gears,
- Aluminium wheels and other parts, 22x622 22mm tires at a pressure of 7 bar, the frame can take up to 32mm wide tires but the wheels do not need to be changed. The tyre width is limited by the dimensions of the front fork. I found that with 32mm wide alternatively known as 700c tyres the rear tyre has to be let down to fit and remove it.
- The bike gives the impression of being lighter to pedal but that is because it is easier to move more slowly in a lower gear on this bike. The tyre and handlebar change have been a great improvement. Road vibration in the saddle and handlebars is hard on the cyclist under all conditions. The steel frame is nicer than aluminium frame but it is not in the same league as a veteran long-wheelbase steel sports bike. That is the Lenton Sports feels lighter to pedal in one or two of four compared to the Course in 3 or 4 of 6 plus one more 7th speed which are about the same ratios otherwise both bikes are better at different speeds.
- I have added a rack pictured which can make the bike a little less stable but is is okay. That is the bike will take more weight than my veteran long-wheel base bike with less loss of stability so the bike can still be ridden at low speed.
- The saddle is a little uncomfortable and I would not want to go far on this bike. The gear change is more difficult with the straight handlebars and I wobbled from one side of the road to the other the first time with the new bars.
- The 2024 equivalent bike would be under £1,000 so is about the same comparing RPI as my Lenton Sports in money.
French bicycle part sizes; https://www.sheldonbrown.com/velos.html I have also changed the pedals to non-clip type, they are English-sized thread. The bike is light and easy to travel with on off-peak trains.
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Small wheel unisex, shopper and commuter bicycles;
Molton claimed the ride to be as good as a full-size bike and the bike had rubber suspension parts like the Mini car but not all models of the Molton had that better suspension.
The Moulton F frame bike holds the road well at speed and has a speed record, Cardiff to London, I am
told. The video above shows a Moulton with a number of nicely added modifications and a good fix
for the FW gear hub that also turns it into a five-speed hub. That makes all speeds operate more easily.
 |
| 1976 Bickerton, with the handlebars folded over to form the bike's stand. |
World War 2 military folding bikes were full size, heavy and heavy to pedal.
The Brompton folding bike goes along at a good speed I am told. But the Bickerton is floppy and heavy to pedal. Even so, I am surprised that the Brompton goes as well as it does all the design techniques have been used to make the bike work and be light weight.
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- This Astra bike (pictured below right), which I purchased locally cheaply in 2019, now has lights and reflectors. It also has new tires, all re-greased and running nicely. The bike is easy to maintain, and fully serviced and the bike cost so far has been about £90. The Astra of Scunthorpe was imported from Hungary, Czechoslovakia or Yugoslavia assembled and badged Barton, Humber, England and sold in 1985 (the date on the Sturmey-Archer, England, 3-speed hub). The tyres have perished and are poor quality Yugoslavian, the rims are German and the frame is a lightweight Soviet high tensile strength steel is strong but poor because it is a very stiff frame. I have fitted pieces of rubber tyre to the front basket to make it quieter with less rattle and squeak.
- The step-thru bicycle pictured is a good all-around bicycle. Particularly because you can mount and dismount easily. These bicycles have a longer wheelbase which makes them a lot lighter to pedal than the mountain bike above. This Soviet-era high tensile steel frame bike is lighter weight than a conventional steel frame bike at 15.5 kg. The frame is stiff, unlike a sports bike frame. The forks are stiff making the bike tiring on the hands and the ride heavier to pedal than it could be.
- The braking is okay with new Fibrax, and Raincheater brake blocks. But there is virtually no braking in the rain until the leather within the brake blocks gets wet. This is a problem with chromed wheels until the chrome wears away, or rust comes through the chrome. Some brake pads that have a sticky soft texture but not the leather insert are also used.
- The bike is not fast and you can find yourself going too fast for the bike that it feels unstable cornering, over bumps and metal water or drain covers, compared to many other bikes. On the other hand, you can load the rack with lots of weight and the bike's handling does not change. There is a lot of vibration transmitted to the frame and the handlebars of the bike. All the same, I did like the bike and ran it for over two years.
The hub had not been oiled adequately and the gear change was poorer when I got the bike. I oiled the hub a lot and eventually, a lot of black muck came out of the hub onto the chain and the gear change became good. This is a satisfactory fix. I opened the hub a few years later and found the hub wet with oil but not in a puddle of oil and clean as it should be, but one of the pawl springs needed replacing. Apparently, the gears and other parts made from the 1970s, I understand, were made using a sintering process which creates some sediment in the oil. It has been recommended to me that the hub be opened and cleaned out once a year but I have found that when properly oiled the hub will clean up or stay clean internally without being dismantled annually. I made a replacement Pawl spring from a strand of brake cable wire, it is the same gauge of wire but with more tension, which makes the free-wheel click louder, as it should be, so I can hear that it is working still after a test ride but I recommend that you obtain the correct spring. Significantly also I was able to clean and re-grease the water-repelling seals (labyrinth) which is a circular grove just around each of the two smaller outer bearings.
If the bike had had a comfortable and road stable frame, it could have have demanded a good new price. The strong light weight frame is an attractive feature of the bike that could have been branded Elswick Hopper, Astra in that case.
Pashley bikes are heavier at over 20 kg, do rust but I am told they ride well when they get up to speed and are more expensive bikes for example.
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Older adult bikes are lighter to pedal than children's and modern bikes. I recall that big difference going from a 24" children's bicycle to the Lenton sports. I was pleased to confirm that the 1975 Hercules Balmoral also moves ever so freely.
There is a little on bike frame geometry in this video - the flexibility of the frame and the springiness in the forks count for a lot.
Bikes made before the late 1970s (I am advised) may have a longer wheelbase, flexible frame and long curved springy forks that make the bike seem to fly over the bumps rather than go in or out of them. The increased length of the bike is small but the benefit is amazing (it is said). You see a bump, feel the bump in your arms and have a moment to transfer your weight from the saddle to the pedals if you choose to. The flexibility in the Reynolds 531 steel frame in the Lenton pictured further down the page also contributes to the lightness, and smoothness of the ride as well as giving the bike a very liked "alive" feel and light to pedal. The wheel hubs are also thin-oil lubricated making these bikes, made before 1961, transmission very efficient and at least as good as any modern super bike. -- Longer Wheelbase bikes are starting to come back again, I am advised.
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Universal, La Riviera, 3-speed 26", step-thru, hub date 1997.
Labels on the bike; - Universal bikes, Rayleigh, Essex (2 labels).
- Model; A267Y,
- Decoration on the seat post is; Tour De Assique, 3 speed, Sturmey-Archer.
- South Coast cycles, Hove, East Sussex and website so this looks like subsequent maintenance there are other labels that also say Hove but are unreadable may be the original supplier?
- Universal Cycles Ltd. was established in 1977 in Basildon, Essex, UK. Acquired Muddy Fox. Is now the major subsidiary partner of Sports Direct. (Wikipedia).
- The bike weighs 16.5-17Kg. Is the heaviest bike I have ridden but is not so heavy to pedal.
- I was given the bike in August 2021.
- I am told that cheap parts were fitted on this make of bike and that is what I have found. The pedals are a little broken but are fine, everything is cheap but it all works. I drip a little oil down the shaft to lubricate the pedal bearings. The bike is basically good but also poorly assembled and I have improved the brake callipers for example with a small patch using split anti-shake washers filed to size to correct the mismatch in the shaft diameter. This also gave the brakes more adjustment range so they now accommodate worn brake pads.
- Steel frame, the seat adjusted easily but the handlebar adjustment is seized and rusted but adjusted the day after pouring oil down the steering tube. The spokes are cheap unprotected and rusty, which I have treated with Hammerite, but the wheel rims and other chrome have rust spots. The paint is missing but rust has not eaten into the metal.
- Spokes are tight and even so the bicycle has not done many miles although brake cable nipples are mismatched with the leavers but they do the job.
- The bike was stiff to pedal because the chain needed lubricating. It turned out that all the bearings are in good order and have been lubricated. The bicycle has been serviced regularly by a bicycle shop. Having ridden the bike 3 years the chain has been brushed clean and oiled often and the bike is now faster and the frame is a little lively as a good steel bike should be.
The front wheel is narrower than the width of the forks so a shim is fitted on one side. It is a good idea to not turn the wheel around when refitting it or you will need to centre the brake calliper.
- Much of the cable runs are unsheathed and there is a nylon slide for the gear cable under the crank.
- The saddle was uncomfortable and I have fitted a better saddle.
- The hooter did not work but rubbing UHU glue into the tears and cracks has patched it quite well and the hooter works. It is not really suitable because it is loud rather than to informing people I am here.
- Eveready front light and a similar incandescent lamp-type plastic rear lights probably work they are in good condition. Which I have kept but I use LED lighting.
- The gear change is smoother probably because more of the cable is unsheathed but also trigger has had more use. That is despite the hub being newer and having a poor reputation for quality it is function is smoothest and nicest AW hub I have used.
The bike does not seem to have been designed to wear out and the ride is smooth and light to pedal but at first, the chain was stiff with rust and the brakes rub. The gears work, but then after being ridden a little needed to be set properly. The gear hub has been very smooth operating and I unscrew the toggle chain, side bearing and I recommend putting a little engine oil in at least once a year*.
* It has been suggested that simply unscrewing the toggle chain and putting a little more thin engine oil down the shaft is a good and easier way to lubricate the hub once a year.
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Hercules Balmoral - approximately 1975- 3-speed AW hub dated January 1975.
- I purchased it, not running, in May 2021.
The Hercules brand went into making sports bikes and competition soon after TI acquired the company. I think they competed with Raleigh though they had become brands of the Tube Investment company who also made the steel tubing for all British competition bikes for part of its history.
The bike is a lighter and small frame and shorter wheelbase than I expected, has a nice sprung saddle, with a brand name label broken off, made by Raleigh but was originally made by Terry (maker of Terry Clips), otherwise, the saddle is the same as my Lenton Sports but the covering material is synthetic. The bike does not seem to have a water trap unlike more modern bikes and is made to last.
The bike may be made with high tensile steel and is a lightweight frame bike at 15Kg. Many parts are Raleigh parts, saddle, brakes, and crank. But it is a flexible frame and forks, unlike many modern bikes, making it lighter to pedal and a smoother ride. So the frame is somewhat like a sports bike frame as I had been told was the case of bikes made up until the 1970s.
The previous owner planned to renovate the bike but is now moving. The brakes did not work, the hub gear needs a toggle chain but screwing a spoke in the hole, and pulling it, it looks like the hub operates. All bearings needed greasing. The chrome is in poor shape and I have painted the front wheel rim with Hammerite which makes it black. The bike evidently has done a low mileage because the spokes are not stretched and loose.
- The bike feels like a mountain bike, low speed, stable and can turn in a small space. Unlike sports bikes, these sorts of bikes are more stable at low speeds and carry a lot of weight on the rack. Like a Ford car of bicycle making cheap and cheerfully coloured in its pre-Tube Investments time.
- That is the bike is as good as a good sports bike and is comfortable, a pleasant surprise. Traditionally Hercules did okay in distance achieving records using conventional heavier steel, probably, by this time Tube Investments were making Hercules bikes.
- The bearings were dry with a little surface rust on some of the balls. The cotter pin needed penetrating oil on it and was pressed with so much force to remove it that it was not reusable. A bearing with loose balls should look like one ball is missing but if you fit another ball the bearing will tend to seize (I did not see there was one more ball bearing obscured by grease). When servicing the steering bearings I usually manage to drop some balls but find some of them with a magnet. A solution suggested is to spread an old bed sheet out and work on that.
- The 3-speed hub is running smoothly but I needed to get a toggle chain for it. After oiling the hub it leaks rusty oil, like all things on the bike including the wheel rims the rust and deterioration have been stopped in time. The bike has much more life left in It than a new bike.
- The seat and handlebars were raised easily, there is no built-in water trap in the handlebars adjustment, unlike the Astra bike. The era when so many things were designed to wear out, become obsolete and not supported after a short period of time had not affected the design of this bike.
- There is no lock-nut with the front wheel bearing so take care with putting the wheel back to ensure that there is correct freeness in the wheel. Turning the adjusting nut till it is finger tight and then turning it back 1/4 to 1/2 a turn is not so easy to do because the wheel clips into the forks tightly. The correct amount of slack is 1/2 a turn but it may be necessary to set less slack.
- The brakes are very good and that seems to be due to rust on one of the rim surfaces. That surface will wear out brake blocks and is best replaced with old hard blocks, and then put softer new blocks on another side.
- Unfortunately the bike has be let rust for too long and the wheel rims need replacing soon.
Right above - The bell, Harrods of Knightsbridge after de-rusting by soaking in water and 10% vinegar mixture for 24 hours.
--------------------------------------------------
Carbon-Fibre frame bicycle.
The owner of a Holdsworth Bicycle allowed me to lift the bike and feel how light it is. I am advised that the bike is from a British manufacturer that closed and the name has been revived and is made again in Britain. The bicycle is very lightweight. The forks are straight so I asked about the bike's flexibility, it depends on the way the carbon fibre is built up more thickness for less flexibility.
The carbon-fibre bike's frame does crack, and you need to check the frame for any part that has become flexible and therefore fractured. I am advised to avoid 1980s frames as they were more prone to fracturing.
There is no disputing that good steel-frame bikes are the most reliable, long-lasting, very comfortable and make the bike light to pedal. Steel frame bikes have brazed lapped joints or but brassed joints to minimise the chances of a joint fracturing and the frame can be repaired. Alloy is good and fairly repairable but repairing a carbon fibre bike frame is difficult.
Tube Investments promotional film explains sports bicycle steel tubing in 1982 the
company also was the biggest bicycle maker in the world with brands such as Raleigh.
The criticism of many modern sports bikes is that wider tires and wheel rims, ideally 32mm wide, can not be fitted to the bike. Tires and wheels 32mm wide tires are more suitable for road use and work okay on track and cut grass. 41mm wide tires work well on roads and better over cut grass, and are fitted to town bikes.
----------------------------
Carry weight low down is best. It is best to avoid carrying any weight in a front basket but that
depends on the bike's geometry, I understand. Alternatively, a front
basket that is mounted so that it does not turn
as you steer is more stable, I am advised.
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Lenton sports - purchased new in early 1946, for nearly £20 with the more comfortable terry saddle chosen instead. Top of the range bicycle in its time and £2 more expensive than it would be in two years time.
The Raleigh bicycle brand is still a very good brand became Dutch owned but is now made by Giant of Taiwan. Dutch light to pedal bikes the Gazelle is good particularly withstands salty sea air very well compared to other steel frames makes of otherwise, not cheap bicycles. The Gazelle has a long wheelbase making it very comfortable and light on a rough cycle track.
Conservative Governments have run many services marginally, the NHS was in poor health after decade of austerity. Perhaps New Labour had looked after the NHS, leaving it as the best in the world once again according to the Guardian Newspaper in 2010 so enough of the voters did not want that. The less important old and ill were kept out of hospitals and sent home in case the more important working people got ill. Now people can visit a hospital but many had been scared or are staying away. That was until autumn 2021.
The cartoon expresses the sort of concerns people had about the lifting of locked-down. The government managed the lifting of the lockdown by manipulation and retraction thereby creating annoyance but as required slower return to normal where people don't bicycle so much but also a new normal with people working from home. Unfortunately "Social distancing" laws were applied to old people but otherwise, people did and are talking to each other and enjoying their families at a safe distance.
The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells became uncomfortably crowded and has remained that way in 2024 so many of the market stalls stopped using this venue since COVID. The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells, known in Victorian times as the wealthy's playground for prostitution and gambling and was a tiny piece of Bath, Somerset. But in the 1980s it had been a quieter place to visit. The point is that places shops business varied how strictly they applied the rules and in the main those who pushed the limits survived better, that is modern post 1980 populism does not protect best practice and political parties chose or are trapped by the agenda set by the media and BBC news who play people but chose to not feel responsible for the consequences? The wealthy countries have achieved there wealth running most of it people in the cliche rate race, spinning wheel of work, pressure and exhaustion so much people don't even want to get off it or help those most trapped by it.
NHS staff suffered stress working this way;
Significantly people who needed a hospital operation quickly to survive a car crash say would get that quick intervention and may have survived 40 years ago, this would not happen now. That is even though better ambulance medics deal with things before moving people, leading to better outcomes. But overall still worse than it used to be that is the NHS has been cut back so we don't receive all the benefits from gains developed. Where the difference between first-class health care and NHS was once whether you got cherry cake on Sunday or it was offered every day, now it is whether you leave with the correct medicines or only some of the medicines you should have and so many agencies with poor communication between them do not apply the remedy prescribed, necessarily. The appropriate home-visiting care agency is not necessarily a contractor that can give eye drops or allow their staff to remind an old person to take medicine, one agency is informed of these things clearly but then in an assessment then they do not tell the agency continues the visits leading to a repeated ambulance call out. These things that would have occurred anyway have arisen now rather than later because the old lady has been chastised for going out when she was supposed to stay in. But even in the 1990s ageism had become bad in hospitals and an over 65-year-old retired person could be abandoned untreated, but by 2010 New Labour left the NHS covering every area of health and preventative medicine better and better value for money than any other country.
Taking more care;
Momentum Labour at the last
General Election, in December 2019, offered a path of social responsibility. That government would have promoted peace in the world, the environment and toward each other. Different from both New Labour and Old Labour, in not promoting self-interest. I was very surprised that Momentum Labour captured so much support. Momentum Labour's modernised 1945 Manifesto was very inspiring and I expect that Coronavirus would have been handled differently.
The Victorians built a sanitation system in order to protect the rich from catching a disease from the poor. Cricket and sport encouraged the health of all. But I doubt that the vastly rich will impose health, better food, air, and cycling on us, this time but in order to save the planet from the adverse consequences of human activity.
I have had enough of being played by the media (called politics), people set against each other - I'm going to ride a bike;
Time will tell but I hope people do not become reliant on big pharma and disinfectant for a sort of living instead I wish we all learn to like good health and much less waste as a way of life. There is less reliance on factory-farmed meat and more plant-based food. A high correlation between poor air quality (such as in cities) and Covid-19 fatalities but vehicle emissions and crashes is the major cost to the National Health Service. I hope people change their minds about cars.
During this Covid-19 pandemic, people have been cycling more and enjoying better health due to the better air quality whilst road traffic has been greatly reduced. Poor air quality in cities has been strongly linked to poor respiratory health long before the clean air act of 1956 and poorer survival to Covid-19.
The Costs of transport such as poor air quality
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/2018-year-multimodality-external-costs-ce-delft-preliminary-results.pdf
The
variable gear hub is an inspired and highly refined design that makes
it equal to the most efficient bicycle transmissions by modern or any
standard. Although complicated is straightforward to maintain and is
robust. I was fortunate to be given the working AG Dynohub pictured
right. If you live in the Tunbridge Wells area and would like to borrow
it to practice before maintaining your own please leave a comment for
me below. Take care to not de-magnetise the dynohub I can give you some
mu-metal to make a keeper.
The cables, leavers and selectors should be oiled or greased, and the toggle chain (linkage entering the hub) should be greased periodically. 
- The bicycle has always felt remarkably light to peddle and is fast. The transmission including the crank is lubricated with thin oil but the crank can be greased. In addition, the wheelbase is a little longer, a very lively springy frame and the curved forks make this era bikes feel that that it is helping me go along but hills are hills and spokes also break occasionally; The bike has a lot of momentum and goes a long way up hills is high gears changing down as the bike slows. The bike needs more speed so you will need to get off sooner when it slows and push the rest of the hill. 1946 Raleigh Lenton sports pictured cleaned with linseed oil, patched such as the bottle top for a pedal cap that I had crossed the thread on as a boy. I have since fitted a proper cap. The low left-hand side lamp shines into the curb so you to see hazards in the kerb when cycling in the dark.
- Modern super bikes - many people have an old lightweight high tensile steel frame sports bike and a modern lightweight such as a carbon fibre frame bicycle. These super bikes and old bikes also have low friction ceramic comparable to the old thin-oil lubricated bearings on bikes made before 1961. Many people like both, many others say the much older bike is lighter to pedal, more comfortable and better others say the newer bike will be 3-5Km/Hr. faster. Bikes made after 1890, that had shaft drive or chain drive and may have hub gears were a major improvement. Metals improved after each of the two world wars so bikes from 1920 to 1961, with cable and calliper or hub brakes at the height of bicycling, were the best bikes and best value for money ever made but were still excellent until at least 1975. These bikes and sports bikes are low and long and Raleigh's engineering was excellent during these periods. In comparison, a competitive sports cyclist may start the day with a hearty fried breakfast, and smokes his pipe before competing in the past but that is unlikely now. The bicycle racer Reg Harris OBE was photographed smoking a pipe sitting with the Lenton before training for example for the 1948 Olympic games.
- Generally, the steel rack and the rear and panniers, which I purchased in the 1970s to replace the saddle bag, was never good on this bike being wobbly and its welding has broken many times. That meant carrying a lot of weight made the bike unstable at modest speed. I have a better modern frame now.
- Pedals - metal types are good because they don't slip as easily as rubber pedals. I have not ridden a bike with toe clips they scare me and I am advised that people do fall over with them. My father used toe clips and a cycling cape that clipped onto the handlebars of this Lenton.
- In a lot of ways the bikes is different rather than better than the Peugeot Course sports bike,
- It noticeably picks up speed more quickly when rolling on a very slight incline,
- It goes up hills in a higher gear at greater speed though it also does not necessarily go so far,
- It needs to go faster so it seems to need more effort at low speed, though much less effort than most bikes, and anyway the effort is the same or less than the Peugeot Course in an equivalent gear, B(1) and L(2) equal to 3 and 4 on the Peugeot.
- Conversely you can go more slowly on the Peugeot so it is easier to cycle slowly up steeper hills,
- It beats all other bikes that are not the same vintage for comfort, Tommy Godwin's record of 100,000 miles in 500 days on regular roads of 1939/1940, which stood until 2014 and then only beaten on track, not ordinary roads winter and summer. His medium spaced 4 speed FM gear hub was promoted on Tommy's record.
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British promoted cars and motorways but the Dutch continued to like bikes from the 1950s. In Britain trains became more popular than ever despite a badly handled de-nationalisation in the 1990's and everyday use step-thru, low crossbar and hub-gear bikes remain popular. But the off-road mountain and sports track sport bikes, with derailleurs, no mudguards and less comfort seem a little mis-sold for ordinary daily use.
The Raleigh bicycle brand is still a very good brand became Dutch owned but is now made by Giant of Taiwan. Dutch light to pedal bikes the Gazelle is good particularly withstands salty sea air very well compared to other steel frames makes of otherwise, not cheap bicycles. The Gazelle has a long wheelbase making it very comfortable and light on a rough cycle track.
Velocipedium posts gentle cycle rides talking about the features of the bike he is riding and technical videos.
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COVID-19
 |
| The Craft Cafe, Southborough 4th July 2020;
The first day that cafes and pubs can serve sit down inside, eat and drink food since 20th March. |
This lovely cafe, had transitioned working with the old owner for a period then finally changed on the day the first lock-down started. It was not successful, and introduced lovely Japanese food. Renamed Hanna as a particularly nice Japanese restaurant/cafe but finally also failed for the same new owner in August 2023, sadly like so many do.
If I was to say what method works best if you want to do business selling good food rather than populist junk food do as the Cumbia Kitchen, St-Leonards-on-sea did. Run stalls and pop-ups in different places over many years and built up her customer base they then came to the restaurant when it opened in a permanent location.
But there is no rule or telling why something might or might not work. And to survive COVID lock-downs keep trading over the door step, a table outside or don't apply the rules fully. In England laws are not enforced by the law or maintained by social pressure as they were until the 1980s. Subsequently many cafes have reduced the number of days open and reduced the menu to just the populist choices, and as before a lot of business run fairly marginally.
Conservative Governments have run many services marginally, the NHS was in poor health after decade of austerity. Perhaps New Labour had looked after the NHS, leaving it as the best in the world once again according to the Guardian Newspaper in 2010 so enough of the voters did not want that. The less important old and ill were kept out of hospitals and sent home in case the more important working people got ill. Now people can visit a hospital but many had been scared or are staying away. That was until autumn 2021.
By
comparison, Germany and northern parts of Europe had capacity in their health systems but took a
varying degree of cautious approach and have coped better. Sweden informed properly and trusted their people but brought in measures as they became necessary in a measured way. Sweden and all these countries will probably come through with the best outcome, that is that the people feel most satisfied that the best was done.
 |
| Covid-19 a cartoon below circulating at the time that the lock-down started to be lifted in May 2020 |
USA's
health systems only look after those who can pay and ill people who don't have money would die anyway. Of cause, southern and northern states are quite different and each state has there own policies and customs.
The cartoon expresses the sort of concerns people had about the lifting of locked-down. The government managed the lifting of the lockdown by manipulation and retraction thereby creating annoyance but as required slower return to normal where people don't bicycle so much but also a new normal with people working from home. Unfortunately "Social distancing" laws were applied to old people but otherwise, people did and are talking to each other and enjoying their families at a safe distance.
I do not know how young employees will be mentored, chastised or pick up
subtle tips without there senior colleagues working along side them? But it also promotes individual selfishness over collective responsibility a trend since the 1980 that has got more built into what was called society.
 |
| CND Peace Vigil on the Pantiles in the 1980s. Marking the anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. |
In May 2021 a year or so on Britain did create the money which the government borrowed and used to purchase a lot of things that did not deliver but vaccines came through well. Herd immunity started to come about more than a year late in 2021. The pandemic is passed in the UK but Covid is an epidemic, but fewer will die of it but people are suffering because of an even more overstretched NHS than usual, staff have left the NHS due to unreasonable stress caused by government policy that voters found popular. Many urgent medical things that were not addressed for quite a long time. The overall UK has not done particularly well, it seems climate and air quality are big factors but also countries with better health systems have all done better what has been of great luck for the UK has been to have been the EU's health approval centre in London prior to leaving the EU and to have two of the first developers of experimental vaccine located here. I don't know if China looked after its own people the best or not but the rhetoric, has been very negative. The rich world ignored the UN secretary generals' call for a world cease-fire to concentrate on dealing with coronavirus in early 2020. The UK has 1/3 number of hospital beds that it had in 1948 and half the number of hospital beds it had 30 years ago whilst military spending and business is one of the highest of the high spenders in the world.
- AstraZeneca is a British/Swedish company that has chosen to sell the required two Covid Vaccine jabs at cost but not for profit. In September 2021 AZ's scientist who created the vaccine said that only two doses were required and a boost dose was not required. That is repeating a point made many times previously about all the vaccines, which is that the protection is very good and the outcome for those infected much better.
- Cuba though very small gives the world some health care without cost.
- USA under new President Biden is legislating to share their vaccine intellectual property freely to poor countries. But he is rightly criticised for letting the war makers provoke war in Europe and is called Sleepy Joe (Biden).
- Even under President Trump's rhetoric of scepticism of the virus, that country looked after its own health supplies redirecting things being shipped from the far east to the EU to the USA instead.
- The Covid Inquire in 2024 it was reported that Britain considered plans to invade some part of the Netherlands by battle ship to steal supplied of vaccine. Pirate methods evidently are still an option.
- There is a lot of commercial resistance to those things but if the poor countries who supplied most of our wants and needs suffer surely we all suffer. In India for example, hospitals are now overstretched but the UK chose not to enforce the export of vaccines made in India but let that country look after their own.
- Like the bikes, people mostly don't care about them, each other or harm to the environment but vary politically as to whether they admit that or just give lip service to those good things. Wars never stopped during the COVID period and there are more people either put up with them, some wave banners against them, but there is no difference people are killed Russians, Ukrainians, Palestinians, Israelis are in the news now but so many others due to war, climate change, pollution whilst British financial services and military businesses profit.
- Bhutan which has considered Gross National Happiness more important than GDP since the late 1970s. The country is carbon negative and suffers the consequence of absorbing four time pollution than it makes, to its environment. The first world does not clean up after itself, on the other hand Bhutan has been involved in conflict in its past but unlike the UK has changed. This way of change to co-operation rather than conflict can be observed in nature, with parasites becoming symbiotic partners. That is the Victorians were wrong nature is not simply red-in-tooth-and-claw, but the first world is.
- People feel we should not criticise Covid measures so few express fear of being led toward relying on a commercial medical industry to just live. Waiting for the next technical fix rather than stepping back from the intensity of daily commute and non-recyclable waste created. As if only the BBC are allowed to interview concerned people but they also play people one way and then the opposite way, rather than seek for consensus showing variations.
- Do those wearing masks out in open spaces risking their health also spread more disease?
- Wearing masks when driving alone just risks causing a crash?
- Discard masks and rubbish on the ground.
- Discard rather than compost vegetable waste and put oil-contaminated paper in the recycling. You can often take your own china mug and reused wooden cutlery and you may get a discount for doing that.
- Shops supermarkets and cafes that have bakery uncovers, and cutlery on the table are handled and breathed over by many customers.
Unhealthy scepticism;
We have so many more things, waste created, environment exploited is the claimed benefit of capitalism. Our post 1979 end of the post war political consensus. Buyer beware is more true. But it is wrong to be sceptical of everything, though it seems
true of US medicine, and particularly in the Southern
states, but the British NHS is full of consensus people
working for a wage not to get as much regardless of whether we die sooner and in a bad way.
Of course, your scepticism of vaccine was created, by
the BBC, we were led to believe the vaccines
were rushed through quickly, so people
held off having it consequently. But in the UK our NHS is excellent though severely kept under pressure, but it does check what it buys in and keep checking.
We also
know that civilisation would have been put under severe
stress, although the environment might have done better
if we all suddenly got very unwell at the same time, so
spreading the peak was a good strategy that vaccine and
facemasks helped. But there are many sceptical about this point.
The switch to making of health equipment was badly
managed, the car and bomb makers among others were
evidently not given the intellectual property to make
suitable equipment. The equipment such as artificial lungs was probably well made but, were of the vintage design that did not sense and synchronise to the patents breathing, so was not fit for purpose and was not used consequently. This is surely the fault of people selecting populist maverick style governments, in a way copying rather than learning from film story exaggeration of flawed people to make a good story. By comparison, during WW2 the
intellectual property was shared so The Soviet Union
also made the US designed CRTs for their radar (I have one of those 6BP1 CRTs in my home made oscilloscope), US
companies made Rolls-Royce
Merlin engines for aircraft.
NHS staff suffered stress working this way;
Significantly people who needed a hospital operation quickly to survive a car crash say would get that quick intervention and may have survived 40 years ago, this would not happen now. That is even though better ambulance medics deal with things before moving people, leading to better outcomes. But overall still worse than it used to be that is the NHS has been cut back so we don't receive all the benefits from gains developed. Where the difference between first-class health care and NHS was once whether you got cherry cake on Sunday or it was offered every day, now it is whether you leave with the correct medicines or only some of the medicines you should have and so many agencies with poor communication between them do not apply the remedy prescribed, necessarily. The appropriate home-visiting care agency is not necessarily a contractor that can give eye drops or allow their staff to remind an old person to take medicine, one agency is informed of these things clearly but then in an assessment then they do not tell the agency continues the visits leading to a repeated ambulance call out. These things that would have occurred anyway have arisen now rather than later because the old lady has been chastised for going out when she was supposed to stay in. But even in the 1990s ageism had become bad in hospitals and an over 65-year-old retired person could be abandoned untreated, but by 2010 New Labour left the NHS covering every area of health and preventative medicine better and better value for money than any other country. Taking more care;
Waitrose stands out for taking precautions to avoid cross-infection including wrapping all bakery products whereas most other shops notably do not do that. Many small bakery shops still keep a traditional distance between the bakery and their customers. For example, Lidl has unwrapped bakery which people handle, drop and put back, this could also happen at Tesco. Whereas a Waitrose partner will quickly take something dropped away.
 |
Picture left; Barnett's Wood Nature Reserve, April to July 2020 - People enjoy nature, home cooking, cycling, social media, and their children instead of working, in cafes, high consumption and shopping. |
Publicly people have never campaigned or rarely even spoken of cutting the health services although there is some overcharging of supplies to the NHS but nothing like, the overt degree of military spending grows buying equipment that does not work or is not delivered. There is clearly private lobbying for the channels that deliver less service and a more lucrative path to the already wealthiest. Health in the UK can be profitable but is not so plagued with corruption so what is contracted does work by comparison so the NHS is deliberately starved of cash. 2020 was the year of lucrative contracts and 2021 is the year of dealing with the pandemic. 2021 started with a longer lockdown, continued with employees leaving health, lorry drivers due to poor working conditions among other workers not so highlighted, which demonstrates the flaws in having no slack in the system, just in time systems of purchasing failing. Meanwhile the considerable wealthy became more wealthy and fewer in number, openly admit paying tax is voluntary for them in the UK. That is as if the past 30 years of opposition to the EU was to break the systems and the quantitative easing of 2008 had postponed that, a struggle between liberals and the right with the left or those who would put more effort into resolving war, conflict and green issues. So things never work properly given a good try and cynicism breeds more cynicism and destructive behaviour.
Lastly, for example, if the track and trace app does not work on an older tablet the Hungry Horse group alternatively offer a text number for track and trace which fails to send. Staff checked that you tried and failed to send the text then showed you to a table.
Momentum Labour at the last
General Election, in December 2019, offered a path of social responsibility. That government would have promoted peace in the world, the environment and toward each other. Different from both New Labour and Old Labour, in not promoting self-interest. I was very surprised that Momentum Labour captured so much support. Momentum Labour's modernised 1945 Manifesto was very inspiring and I expect that Coronavirus would have been handled differently.
The Iconic CND symbol - Designed for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament can
be used freely and is made up of the semaphore for "N" and "D" (Nuclear, Disarm).
be used freely and is made up of the semaphore for "N" and "D" (Nuclear, Disarm).
The Victorians built a sanitation system in order to protect the rich from catching a disease from the poor. Cricket and sport encouraged the health of all. But I doubt that the vastly rich will impose health, better food, air, and cycling on us, this time but in order to save the planet from the adverse consequences of human activity.
Scientists' point of view
https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/potential-rapid-transition-aviation-industry-after-covid-19
https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/learning-covid-19-crisis
https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/covid-19-time-paradigm-shift
https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/envisioning-post-covid-19-transport-landscape-surface-travel
https://www.sgr.org.uk/index.php/resources/how-aviation-sector-should-be-reformed-following-covid-19-crisis
https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/learning-covid-19-crisis
https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/covid-19-time-paradigm-shift
https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/envisioning-post-covid-19-transport-landscape-surface-travel
https://www.sgr.org.uk/index.php/resources/how-aviation-sector-should-be-reformed-following-covid-19-crisis
Government promotes cleaner air, better health and bicycling
The new draft of highway code 2020 - is now published.
There are others who promote zero movements and zero international
transport and forced isolation in China style, I believe?
And people are sceptical of business interests, the Gates foundation's motives in the 3rd world.
Time will tell but I hope people do not become reliant on big pharma and disinfectant for a sort of living instead I wish we all learn to like good health and much less waste as a way of life. There is less reliance on factory-farmed meat and more plant-based food. A high correlation between poor air quality (such as in cities) and Covid-19 fatalities but vehicle emissions and crashes is the major cost to the National Health Service. I hope people change their minds about cars.
During this Covid-19 pandemic, people have been cycling more and enjoying better health due to the better air quality whilst road traffic has been greatly reduced. Poor air quality in cities has been strongly linked to poor respiratory health long before the clean air act of 1956 and poorer survival to Covid-19.
The Costs of transport such as poor air quality
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/2018-year-multimodality-external-costs-ce-delft-preliminary-results.pdf
------------------------------------------------------------
Maintenance and repairs;
- Where most modern bikes score is that they require less week-to-week maintenance but the cost is that they don't last long. But modern bikes have much more major maintenance. They cost more to purchase or are so cheap and poorly made that they disappoint the cyclist. Many new bicycles get very little use in any case.
- Although vintage bikes are easier to work on bikes made before 1970 are generally said to be a delight to work on. The quality of the parts was so high for example stainless steel rather than chrome-plated gear hub casing was used.
- The recommended oil for bike variable gear hub used to be a thin 20 SAE but probably changed in the 1960s to a not-so-thin 30 SAE oil. Other bearings are greased unless they have oil ports then it is optional, which you use but if you do oil then oil will flow through those bearings keeping them clean and at least as efficient as any bike or super bike with ceramic bearings. Oil the bike every 100 miles or two weeks.
- Any engine oil although thicker is suitable such as 5W30 is a good oil to use in a bike variable gear hub. Don't use 3-in-one oil in a gear hub it is okay on other things, but the black residue it leaves on everything stops the hub from operating properly. Grease is not used in vintage gear hubs except to repel water in the labyrinth, a grove filled with grease outside the outer bearings and in the steering bearings. A very thin grease used on modern gear hubs such as Sturmey-Archer made since 1988.
- Engine oil is rated at high temperatures and is a thicker oil at room temperature and the SAE number is confusing. https://gomechanic.in/blog/car-engine-oil-grades-explained/ Alternatively thin oil such as barber's clippers oil is a suitable oil. But you need to oil the bike often if you use that oil and a veteran bike you won't notice a difference.
Tire levers right - The plastic levers on the left are best for modern tires. Be careful that old metal bicycle levers and tools with levers damage modern tires. The adjustable spanner is better than many adjustable spanners because, although it is lose it does not flex because it has a long firm slide but does not use its tire lever on a bicycle. An adjustable spanner can be to hold the brake pad level whilst tightening it.
Lenton-sports-bicycle - blog page has advice and tips
- 26" x 1 1/4" tires are difficult to find and fit there is a note on tires and adjusting spokes.
- Oiling your Bike.
- More rust treatment and cleaning tips. Oily rag is a very good way to protect a bike I use linseed oil.
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Pedal crank maintenance;
After removing the pedal arm loosen the lock ring on the non-chain side, this should allow you to unscrew the bearing cap with your fingers, inspect and clean. Old bikes are oiled but can be greased and have no bearing cages so you need a little grease to hold the ball bearings in place whilst you reassemble the crank. Modern bikes are called the bottom bracket is designed to wear out and the bearing is a replaceable assembly.
Picture; C-spanner and a bent cotter pin caused by using a hammer to remove it and thread stripped over-tightening it. They also deform and the pedal will develop play in it if you press the cotter pin in too hard.
You do not need to remove the right bearing cup, pedal arm and sprocket called the chain wheel. But if you do need to remove the right bearing cap it is screwed and wedged in tight, use the special c-spanner or a good adjustable spanner with long fingers. The left-hand ball cup is finger tight then loosen 1/4 to 1/2 a turn and the locking ring is put back and tightened up with a c-spanner.
In the video above; A press tool like the one shown is also the best way to remove and put back the cotter pin. It is not just needed for a bike in poor condition. I've used a vice and a socket or ring spanner successfully. Don't hammer a cotter pin or tighten the nut too much but use the press because the metal is soft.
---------------------------------------------
Wheels and chain tension;
Hub gear or fixed speed but there are differences for derailleur.
The derailleur mechanism must not clash with the sprockets or the chain become too slack with both extremes of using the smallest sprockets and using the largest sprockets.
Hercules Balmoral
- Set the chain tension and lock the drive-side nut. Then ensure the wheel is central aligned in the frame and tighten the other nut. Finish off by tightening both nuts. Finally, screw the toggle chain guide nut back and screw them in-gear toggle chain leaving it slightly loose so that that chain is not twisted. The slack in the chain should be 12mm but 25mm is fine, that is the amount you can move the chain up and down mid-way.
- Front-wheel does not have a locknut on the bearing cone-nut on this and many bikes. Ensure that the cone nut is finger tight then slacken the nut by 1/2 a turn. To make a modern magnetic coupled rev-counter work I guess you need to set much less slack perhaps 1/8th turn but do not expect the bike to do the very high mileages that vintage bikes do.
- Tighten the no-adjustment side nut then use a thin spanner to hold the bearing nut still whilst tightening the wheel nut with a ring spanner. The rear variable-gear hub, pictured to show the same thinner cone nut spanner is also used if the variable-gear hub were to be serviced.
- The front-wheel clips in on modern bikes, so you need to slightly pull the forks apart to take them out and put the wheel back.
Turn the bike over and put it back on its wheels then check the function of the hub gears. The pedal should not turn freely in a forward direction in any gear. The procedure for adjusting the gears depends on the type of gear hub.
See below for adjusting some vintage Sturmey-Archer hubs.
Taking the tyre off and putting it on - In both cases take care to avoid pinching and puncturing the tube. If the tube was punctured feel inside the tyre for anything sharp stuck into it. Partly inflate the tube before refitting it.
- Put the tube protector in and straighten it out and make sure it is tight if it is the cloth type. I use the edge of and old linen bed sheet and a folded around twice piece of galvanised wire with both ends facing into the wheel rim. Straighten out and tighten the protect again after you fit one side of the tyre if necessary.
- Put the tyre on one side then the tube then the other side of the tyre but if you put the tube into the tube and put the tyre onto the wheel the risk of pinching the tube is reduced. With modern tyres, it is best to use plastic levers.
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Variable gear hubs and Dynohubs;
If
you were to return a Dynohub under guarantee but with the magnet
demagnetised you were warned that you could be charged by Sturmey-Archer for re-magnetising the magnet. I doubt that those old forever
guarantees are honoured any more now though?
Bicycle variable-gear hub, Dynohub and variable-gear Dynohub maintenance including magnet keeper and theory on how to re-magnetise the magnet.
https://hadland.wordpress.com/ Tony Hadland has written a number of books on the technical detail and history of Raleigh and Sturmey-Archer.
Hub Gears adjustment;
The cables, leavers and selectors should be oiled or greased, and the toggle chain (linkage entering the hub) should be greased periodically.
Old
hubs with an indicator rod - This should be checked for tightness
occasionally but the rod should not be tightened much it has a fine
pinch thin threaded section that does not need much force. Even though I have only
ever tightened with a fine pitch screw-drive one broke on my bike I had
also broken a gear cable over-tightening it decades ago. I
have not experienced the indicator rod come loose except before the rod
stretched and broke but I am told they do and then they spring out and
are lost.
Picture right - broken indicator rod and toggle chain. Observe the step below the end of the indicator rod to mark 3rd gear to the left of the picture.
- If the toggle chain is not aligned, such as when you put the wheel back on, loosen the indicator rod whilst you align the chain and gear cable.
- The
end of the rod level with the end of the hub shaft in speed 2 of 4 was viewed through the inspection hole in the wheel nut. Alternatively, the
newer hub-type method using the shoulder of the toggle chain works.
- Align
the notch in the rod level with the end of the hub shaft in speed 3 of 4
viewed through the inspection hole in the wheel nut. I prefer the
first method.
- With a four-speed FW hub, most people fiddle with the adjuster until it works. This is similar to what I do.
Adjustment - As you screw up the adjuster you will tend
to wind up the cable. Don't worry too much about this until after you
have set and locked the adjustment. Then select top gear so that the
cable is slack and the spinner assembly can then be helped to unwind the
wound-up cable or else the adjuster is likely to come loose when you
are cycling.
An alternative method for setting a hub gear;
- Put the gear lever into the second gear.
- Undo the barrel adjuster on the toggle chain until the hub goes into the no-gear position. Now turn the opposite way until the hub engages second gear again.
- At this point, turn the barrel another full circle and a half. Lock off the barrel.
- Put the hub into first gear. Ensure the gear lever will select first without the cable being very tight. You should be able to pull a tiny amount of the toggle chain out of the axle by hand.
- If you can't, turn the barrel back half a turn.
The simplest method is;
Move the selector to high gear and adjust the cable to leave it just slack.
Do check elsewhere for the correct way to set up your hub. - if it is not a Sturmey-Archer AG, FG, AW or FW hub gear.
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Brakes
Chrome rims are poor but aluminium rims are recommended and drum brakes or disk brakes are good. Chrome rims have no braking in the rain unless suitable brake blocks are fitted. Fibrax and Raincheater blocks give some braking in the rain. The leather within the block
needs to get wet before the braking is effective, so they are
particularly poor when it starts to rain. I am told that Kool-Stop and
Cane Creek Grey Matters are also good with Chrome wheel rims, these have
to be purchased from the USA. These East German rims (Astra above)
have a pattern of punched indentions perhaps to trap moisture under the
brake block and therefore quickly cause the leather in the Raincheater
blocks to become wet sooner.
Very
powerful braking is also dangerous and some motor bicycles have always had a reputation for killing some riders soon after the bike has been purchased. Similarly, race cyclists have gone over the handlebars using cork on carbon rims. My father would say motorbikes are silly, he was a biker for a while and did silly things on his motorbikes.
I discuss cable and calliper-operated brakes, but not stirrup (rod) brakes as far as I can recall of the bike I had when I was a boy with stirrup brakes, are more fiddly to adjust and the wheel rims can form a puddle of rainwater making the braking poorer. When setting the brake blocks ensure that the blocks do not jam into the spokes because that can be dangerous.
I recommend the amateur videos made by Velocipedium on YouTube. They take care to show you how to maintain and enjoy a
bicycle. Even if you are not a starter do watch the videos anyway. I
had a bike with Stirrup brakes when I was a boy and I replaced the brake blocks on the bike in the 1960s, I don't think you could still buy just the rubber part? I have also bent the calliper slightly as shown on my Lenton Sports cable and calliper-type brakes to align the brake block that had always been slightly out of alignment tending to wear one block on one end more than the other.
Cable and calliper brakes
- You only need to replace one brake block at a time when required with much older bikes. If one rim wears blocks quickly, because of corrosion on the rim, move or fit an old hard block to that rim side. Swapping brake blocks to use all the pad is fine they work as well doing that.
- Set the brakes to apply fully before the leaver touches the handlebars then you will have enough play in the braking to cope with the required slack in the bearings, some wobble in the wheel and the difference in brake block wear, as any corrosion on the rims, may not be even.
- If necessary, use an adjustable spanner to hold the brake pad in alignment whilst tightening the nut.
- I had one brake block wear unevenly front-to-back until I slightly bent the calliper where the block mounts using an adjustable spanner. So that issue that the bike has had for over 70 years is now resolved.
- To set the callipers - fit identically new or worn brake blocks, Loosen the nut and bolt, apply the brakes fully and hold the pressure, which will centre the spring, whilst re-tighten the nut and bolt. This should not arise unless the bolt has been loosened for some reason, such as to replace the mudguards.
The
front rims have had an even polished rust surface for more than the 50
years I have used the bike. This might be the best combination you can have on a bike, rubber and steel or rust. But I believe stainless steel rims are good and aluminium rims are good but wear out.
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Vintage brake cable -
The brake cable pictured above - has a little oiler port at the barrel nipple end that attaches to the lever. It looks like Sturmey-Archer but the inner cable is longer and is not suitable for a 1940s-type calliper. The cable oiler terminated with the pear nipple but the adjuster is a plainer type. I do not know how old this cable assembly is but it has had very little use?
The pear nipple end is different on the 1946 Lenton sports bike brake cable and the adjuster part of the assembly can not be removed. Picture right - The brake cable adjuster on the bike after repair and cleaning (2021) still has residue from oiling. The Knurled adjuster and the locking nut are much more elegant and practical than the one fitted on the cable above; - To remove the broken end of the wires from the nipple, if necessary apply flux or fluxed solder to the iron when the soldering iron is hot, to tin the bit. Use long-nose pliers to remove the strands of wire from the nipple, the nipple needs to have flux or fluxed solder applied before and whilst holding the nipple with a second pair of long-nose pliers. Keep applying flux and heat until all the wires are removed and the hole passes light through, tap the pliers on a hard surface to shake the solder out of the hole.
Soldering needs to be carried out fairly quickly but not so quickly that the metals are not thoroughly wetted. The soldered joint will be bright silver, not dull oxidised grey. The solder forms a ball if it has not been properly wetted but may form a meniscus if it is properly wetted. It takes an electronics technician or a plumber years to become proficient in soldering.
- The outer sheath shortened one end where the insulator had cracked. When the assembly was complete the length of the cable was corrected, after soldering, by shortening the other end of the outer sheath where the insulator had also cracked.
- That gave me more cable to push through the de-soldered and scrapped-out hole barrel nipple.
- The cable was cut back so that all strands are used and those strands had gone through the hole in the barrel nipple.
- The straightened and cleaned the wire strands but some of the carbon from past oiling remained and it bubbled black when I soldered the assembly.
- The ends of each strand were then turned over left or right.
- Finally, the cable was pulled back into the end as it was re-soldered using electrical solder (60/40 Tin-lead) and more flux as necessary. The correct solder to use is silver solder because it is less poisonous.
- I used a soldering iron to start but it was not satisfactorily heating and I used a gas hob flame. The wire wetted well to the solder, which I was not sure would happen, leaving a bright silver finish with a nice meniscus on the brass and steel wire.
The pear nipple on the 75-year-old bike is different, After re-soldering the barrel nipple has some residual flux and black from the oil residual that was left on the cable, The rear cable has not been repaired and you can see the brass cap at the end of the cable as well as the cup washer that guides the cable into the lever but I have lost the cup washer on repaired cable, unfortunately. I had the now missing cup washer (I do not know what it should be called) in the pictures further up this blog where I had a red cable cut to fit.
The assembly pictured has a lot of parts and materials that if it had been replaced at the time it was made up until the 1960s at least would have been recycled. Recycling and reusing was the normal way of life and the rag and bone man who would come down your street every fortnight may give children a small token such as a goldfish or real cash for a reasonable amount of recyclables. By 1980 it could be recycled but most likely would be put in the bin to go to the landfill, in the UK.
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Rust remover
Nice little Harrods of Knightsbridge Bell. Screwed the bell part back on and tapped the bell with a mallet to straighten it and it rings nicely.
Rust remover or metal restorers;
From a bike group discussion on Facebook - I have not tried these recommendations.Get rid of rust: Coca-Cola will eat away at the rust for you if you have any rust stains or tools covered in rust. Leave the rusty object submerged in Coke for an hour or overnight and then scrub off the rust.
Vinegar also works you find rust sediment in the bottom of a dish you put the item in. Apparently, there is a stronger gardening vinegar at 30% acetic acid rather than the 10% strength food type. I have not tried the latter type!
Dilute Citric acid works better than all of them. I’m a recent convert to Citric Acid after using Oxalic for a while. Still can’t believe how the rust just seems to wash away after some time in this solution. Maybe an image of text that says "Wilko ORIGINAL CITRIC ACID a natural but powerful limescale remover for many appliances around your home great for descaling your kettle clean as a whistle!
As does oxalic acid aka wood bleach. I have used it on a few frames that needed a bath. Put it in a kiddie pool. I think that is one of the traditional rust removers.
Just about any weak acid will work as a rust converter.
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A rose, The De-La-Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex. Built by the Socialist Town Mayor, Earl De-La-Warr in 1935
This building is one of the most beautiful architectures anywhere. I can not be captured on film and I have not seen a picture
that captures the impression that the building has now or had before its renovation.
The pictures above were taken on a Canon AE1, using Fuji Slide film which is a good fine-grain slide film in which the colours are not saturated. The best amateur camera of its time, 1976. The film is characteristic of richer colours when underexposed by half a stop. The rose was photographed on a damp day. The pictures were taken in the winter of 2015 - 2016.
The pleasure of owning an old bicycle;This building is one of the most beautiful architectures anywhere. I can not be captured on film and I have not seen a picture
that captures the impression that the building has now or had before its renovation.
The pictures above were taken on a Canon AE1, using Fuji Slide film which is a good fine-grain slide film in which the colours are not saturated. The best amateur camera of its time, 1976. The film is characteristic of richer colours when underexposed by half a stop. The rose was photographed on a damp day. The pictures were taken in the winter of 2015 - 2016.
Many people run an old bicycles those bikes were made to work hard for a very long time and must be maintained regularly. This bike has been nicely kept and has a secret conversion to E-bike. A lot of bikes run and look lovely just as they are but for being maintained and the frame cleaned with an oily rag or linseed oil. Other bikes are brought back to almost new with detail restored and artisan touches put back.
Raleigh bicycle maker of Britain was once the biggest manufacturer of bicycles in the world, representing the best in engineering. British engineering, textiles and the film industry were for a long time second to none. Statutes to war leaders and heroes, slave traders, bankers and the city of London are good representations of the country. Perhaps the most prominently placed statue should be a heron to mark 125 years (1887-2012) that Raleigh manufactured in Britain and looking forward to cycling, walking, cleaner air, better health and kindness towards each other and harmony with nature.
Like so many things The Mallard, Pacific A4 class locomotive is distinctively beautiful because of its typically British understated design style by the British engineer Sir Nigel Gresley. Along with the Flying Scotsman, the A3 class were the fastest surface public transport in the world. Although by the 1920s and '30s trains could now be made to be very reliable, they were not efficient or clean. At this time bicycles were nearly as good as they were ever going to get.
Old lessons have to be relearned by a subsequent generation of engineers;
There are many subtle design features in machines that are not apparent until the designers have left. A change to a design makes it apparent that there were important design features. Each telephone made until about 1985 had a low pitch bell and each bell had a different pitch. The low-pitched telephone bell in an office made it easy to tell where the phone is and the different pitch if it was your phone.
Electric trains started to be introduced on a substantial scale in the 1920s in South East England. This region has the highest-density rail network in the UK. After World War two faster cleaner diesel and electric trains started to be introduced all over the country. Electrification of the rail network is still ongoing.
The same mistake was made when the two-tone ambulance klaxon was replaced in the 1980s. I suppose it is possible that the shortening of bicycle's wheelbase and reducing the springiness in the front fork that occurred in the 1970s, making bikes more work to pedal happened by accident but more likely happened with arguments where the arts farts and making a market for much more expensive super bikes won? Primarily the majority of the buying and voting public embraced discarding lots of good things. Fortunately, another directional low-pitch klaxon was developed and restored to emergency vehicles and new strategies were adapted for using them on busier roads.
Newer hub gear designs;
The Rohloff hub weighs 1.7Kg, British-made Sturmey-Archer Hub gears weigh 1 to 1.4Kg but most hub gears weigh 1 to 2Kg. But despite the long power train, good efficiency has been measured, other studies don't rate this hub's efficiency highly. It has 14 speeds but as with bicycle epicyclic gears, only a percentage of the power is carried through the meshing cogs, which is why bicycle epicyclic gears are efficient. The spacing between speeds (13.6%) is similar to a medium ratio Sturmey-Archer hub. None of the speeds is high efficiency although the high ratios are surprisingly good - on paper. By comparison, the vintage Sturmey-Archer FW is highly efficient in Normal (3 of 4), when it's most appreciated and Bottom is the least efficient highest ratio is not heavy when hill climbing when the efficiency is not noticeable but feels surprisingly optimal.
Very typically German engineering design. The design is an assembly of simpler function blocks built up. The first part of the video shows a Sturmey-Archer hub its design is much more like a complex single-function block where parts slide and move changing many things as they move. The Sturmey-Archer design is typical of British design being elegant robust and cost-effective. The design is simpler also because of the limitations of the time 1902 but in 1973 the s7, 7-speed hub used a rotating operating rod in which cams operate a different section of the hub was introduced.
Newer hub gear designs;
The Rohloff hub weighs 1.7Kg, British-made Sturmey-Archer Hub gears weigh 1 to 1.4Kg but most hub gears weigh 1 to 2Kg. But despite the long power train, good efficiency has been measured, other studies don't rate this hub's efficiency highly. It has 14 speeds but as with bicycle epicyclic gears, only a percentage of the power is carried through the meshing cogs, which is why bicycle epicyclic gears are efficient. The spacing between speeds (13.6%) is similar to a medium ratio Sturmey-Archer hub. None of the speeds is high efficiency although the high ratios are surprisingly good - on paper. By comparison, the vintage Sturmey-Archer FW is highly efficient in Normal (3 of 4), when it's most appreciated and Bottom is the least efficient highest ratio is not heavy when hill climbing when the efficiency is not noticeable but feels surprisingly optimal.
Very typically German engineering design. The design is an assembly of simpler function blocks built up. The first part of the video shows a Sturmey-Archer hub its design is much more like a complex single-function block where parts slide and move changing many things as they move. The Sturmey-Archer design is typical of British design being elegant robust and cost-effective. The design is simpler also because of the limitations of the time 1902 but in 1973 the s7, 7-speed hub used a rotating operating rod in which cams operate a different section of the hub was introduced.
The advantage of fewer speeds is that the cable operator is more reliable if higher or lower speeds were required with the old bikes you can unscrew the large sprocket or usually the small sprocket and change them and change the chain length (see picture left). The small sprocket could be replaced with a three-sprocket cassette and the chain move by loosening the rear wheel so that the hub gear operates over a different speed range. A complaint about modern bikes is that not all gears work and some bikes are difficult to set up. The Rohloff Speed hub above resolves this indexing issue by placing the indexing mechanism within the hub.
Pictures - The Riley 9 car in the 1930s was fitted with a Wilson pre-selector gearbox. This is an epicyclic gear gearbox with friction clutches that operate selectively on the ring gears. Otherwise, this type of gearbox is different from a bicycle gear hub having just one speed for each epicyclic gear. The gear oil should be changed every 3,000 miles but the oil-bathed friction bands need re-lining after at least 160,000 miles. The power train includes an automatic clutch.
The Wilson gearbox is very heavy to operate due to the effort of operating the clutches but more modern power-assisted pre selector gearboxes are lighter to operate. One of the differences with the Sturmey-Archer gear hub is that all the power goes through the gears therefore the losses are greater.
Wilson pre-selector gearbox gear change can be operated stationary, moving or powered and the selector pedal can function like a clutch pedal. I have seen a video of bicycle gearing that does that based on epicyclic gears Constantly variable planetary but the power direction is reversed and it is unlikely to be efficient. Daff/Volvo Varomatic and Moblette moped V-belt drive automatic gearing is fairly efficient and this variation called Inception Drive probably is efficient. With an additional no-slip between speeds feature added using a freewheel mechanism on the lowest speed, perhaps another bicycle crank gear could be developed based on a Wilson pre-selector with friction bands. This solution is likely to be big and heavy to operate. The variable speed epicyclic gear hub bought by Raleigh bicycle maker in 1902 is very good and the variants developed by 1960 covered all things required by cyclists at the time.
---------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion;
During the Coronavirus lockdown in 2020, there was a big reduction in vehicle movements I first noticed that my breathing improved between mid-March to the end of May when the traffic came back on the roads. Also that my Tinnitus diminished greatly and quickly when I stopped drinking coffee; https://www.tinnitus.org.uk
I hope for more kindness in the world. Some statues of men who profited from the slave trade have been removed from positions honoured to them. But the UN Secretary-General's Appeal for a Global Ceasefire during this pandemic unsuccessfully;
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2020-03-23/secretary-generals-appeal-for-global-ceasefire
Cycling is a good exercise in that you can work hard and then rest on the flat, particularly so on a 4-speed hub gear bike made until the mid-1960s. You are not pounding sore feet and ankles on the ground. In this respect, a bike that is at least before 1980, is one of the newer long-wheelbase bikes or is a Dutch bike is probably better. You can still get off and push and also lift the bike onto a train. The doctor tells me you tend to have higher peaks of effort than walking or e-biking which is good for reducing high blood pressure.
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Links;
Envisioning a post-Covid-19 transport landscape: surface travel
Prof John Whitelegg, Liverpool John Moores University, looks at how The UK can transition to a sustainable transport system by building on some of the changes pursued during the Covid-19 ‘lockdown’. In the first of two blogs, he focuses on surface travel.
https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/envisioning-post-covid-19-transport-landscape-surface-travel?fbclid=IwAR0nGALHiyVPgNsPQG3xlMSHKrIe7TY97ZTw8l1tzkGSa9e1GnlbDguf4Ho
The carbon footprint of British military spending is a level similar to the emissions produced by over six million average UK cars;
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-05-19-exclusive-uk-military-and-arms-companies-produce-more-carbon-emissions-than-60-individual-countries/?fbclid=IwAR2FZmHGLB4SDESIWjcxniAMO0xibYdN7bLtXccejRyFApBfAsTQpNEYQb4
The military-industrial complex becomes a useless liability in the pandemic;
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/what-use-military-industrial-complex-covid-19-crisis/?fbclid=IwAR3THYIl6ghz7tf5UoIeMPCf0A0No74S8m8-xf6pNWFazwejqANT3s9kEP0
If we don't look after the natural environment we will get unwell
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/07/promiscuous-treatment-of-nature-will-lead-to-more-pandemics-scientists
Sweden, light touch Coronavirus measures - May 2020
https://youtu.be/PI7nrqH_YnE
- The 1973 Fuel Crisis, wave power and warning of an ice age to come,
- The 1980's rise in asthma in school children, the effect of nuclear war but and made pollution TAPPS 1985? and dia warnings of what could happen before the 21st century,
- Inconvenient Truth 2000's, warning that climate change is understated 2019, IPCC 2021 does not pull so many punches;
- 1950's to present nuclear electromagnetic pulse, and sunspot activity, causing 19th-century telegraph to operate without the battery connected.
- Probably between 2 and 3 billion years ago life that had started by chance became able to intelligently manage the Earth's climate for the good of life and the system known as Gaia had established. Much more recently multi-celled life eventually developed successfully and this might be unique (Professor Brian Cox) in our galaxy the Milky-way. There is evidence of earlier forms of multicell life 2 billion years ago but the accepted figure is 600 million years ago.
https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ (the raw data which newspapers have used to create good graphs)
In recent years informed sources have stopped pulling their punches, compromising with populist politics so the New Labour style Green-wash is named and ridiculed. Here are some recent examples of autumn 2021:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58130705, (graph above)
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/09/humans-have-caused-unprecedented-and-irreversible-change-to-climate-scientists-warn (graph right above 1AD to 2020AD)
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/09/humans-have-caused-unprecedented-and-irreversible-change-to-climate-scientists-warn (graph right above 1AD to 2020AD)
https://sgr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2ba737ea514042a38c97407cd&id=d5e3162eb9&e=8f9f6c79de The terrifying truth: Britain’s a hothouse, but one day 40C will seem cool
In recent years informed sources have stopped pulling their punches, compromising with populist politics so the New Labour style Green-wash is named and ridiculed. Here are some recent examples of autumn 2021:
We only have 3.3 years if everyone consumed at first world rates if consumptions: https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/uk-s-share-global-carbon-budget-will-be-used-just-over-3-years
Presentation hosted by Ethical Consumer. To achieve less than a 1.5'C temperature rise each one of us must limit to; No car ownership, Less than 5,000 miles of long-distance train travel a year and Less than 5,000 miles of short-distance train travel a year. The poorer part of the world consumes at this level See; https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-10/SGR_1.5C_lifestyles_Oct21_%28web%29.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0lcYZmMoecI6QoijJ_18DN-mb5rIKMO6tX275TS5-v5qwrJ5l_OrIJ0Rc
Ecotricity carbon-footprint-calculator
Kent County Council - Learn to ride, Cycle training for children or adults;
https://www.kent.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/road-safety/road-safety-training/cycle-training
Department of Transport - Bikeabilty
https://bikeability.org.uk/
Cyclecraft by John Franklin (ISBN: 978-0-11-708243-4) - has been recommended.
http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/index.html
Active Travel - package of funding announced by the Government during the Covid-19 pandemic;
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2-billion-package-to-create-new-era-for-cycling-and-walking
Transport and environment after the COVID lockdown
To Tunbridge Wells Borough Council - requires login
https://democracy.tunbridgewells.gov.uk/meetings/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=50000024The Highway Code;
https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/motoring/cars/enjoying/the-rights-you-didnt-know-cyclists-have
https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/changes-and-answers/highway-code-for-cyclists#
The bicycling museums all over the world here are;
 |
Brokes Wood - Informal BMX bike track now closed to the public by the present landowner. |
Facebook - Disraeli Gears
https://www.facebook.com/groups/disraeligearsgroup/
Facebook - Vintage bicycles in the UK
https://www.facebook.com/groups/vintagebicyclesuk
Facebook - Raleigh Lenton and all the derivatives
https://www.facebook.com/groups/257921141694994
https://www.facebook.com/groups/disraeligearsgroup/
Facebook - Vintage bicycles in the UK
https://www.facebook.com/groups/vintagebicyclesuk
Facebook - Raleigh Lenton and all the derivatives
https://www.facebook.com/groups/257921141694994
Facebook - Vintage Raleigh Bikes
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1257223330991838
Facebook - The Raleigh Roadster Club. (Incorporating the Raleigh Superbe Owners Club)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/441689006265328
There are many other cycling groups on Facebook, but many bicycle brands were owned by Raleigh, which merged with Tube Investments. Many of the bicycle groups on Facebook have document sections with good descriptions of how to do things.
Reference given to me for wide the widest derailleur you will find are modern
1x systems. E.g. SRAM 10-50 12-speed cassette. This has a range of 500% with a spacing of about 15% between speeds.
https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/cs-xg-1275-a1?fbclid=IwAR3E0nIlhp3KgGoXShuNkZMrndrXmepSiX3l50IaYXBUYEB1AGChwZNCkbM
TOOLS;
Sometimes it is necessary to buy a specialist tool in that case here is a US company with some useful tools (I have not used this company);
http://bikesmithdesign.com/
More Bike Advice;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1257223330991838
Facebook - The Raleigh Roadster Club. (Incorporating the Raleigh Superbe Owners Club)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/441689006265328
There are many other cycling groups on Facebook, but many bicycle brands were owned by Raleigh, which merged with Tube Investments. Many of the bicycle groups on Facebook have document sections with good descriptions of how to do things.
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1x systems. E.g. SRAM 10-50 12-speed cassette. This has a range of 500% with a spacing of about 15% between speeds.
https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/cs-xg-1275-a1?fbclid=IwAR3E0nIlhp3KgGoXShuNkZMrndrXmepSiX3l50IaYXBUYEB1AGChwZNCkbM
Sometimes it is necessary to buy a specialist tool in that case here is a US company with some useful tools (I have not used this company);
http://bikesmithdesign.com/
More Bike Advice;
Jobst Brandt
https://yarchive.net/bike/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0qgTpTfu0OUe7vEannu7FXohHhgwlou8qkJPxOb7ZnWyZCG0DAG5cOtys
Bike parts; Some bike shops can advise and supply but if you know what you want then
SJS cycles supply parts efficiently.
Many people can be found on many of the Facebook bike groups who paint, restore, sells head badges and hub-gear parts. One of those members for example also dates bikes made by Raleigh.
- Rema Tip Top Round Tyre Inner Tube Puncture Repair Patches Agri, Truck, Car Bike
https://www.rematiptop.com/products/automotive/tube-repair-vulcanizing-patches.html
- “Scabs” or park tool self-adhesive patches
- Weldtite Don't go hard with age.
If you have not got any glue left for your patches Evo-stick works, and should be the correct glue, but not so well.
- I have had no success with cutting up old tubes for patches and using Evo-stick but I am advised that superglue works. I thought superglue would be too brittle?
Repairing Sturmey Archer Hubs that are at least 90 years old;
Gear Hubs history and pictures of the internals of many vintage types, wheel rebuilding (fitting new spokes) and bicycles; http://www.bicyclehub.co.uk/
Modern bike manual; Raleigh-Owners-Guide.pdf
Vintage and veteran Raleigh bike steering lock keys;
David West says - As many of you may be aware, I used to cut all the original Wilmot Breedon NGN keys for Raleigh, at our local bike shop.
These are still available if you have lost yours or need another. Please PM me for any details and see attached pictures for your information. These are original genuine Wilmot Breedon blanks.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/441689006265328/permalink/1066549750445914/?m_entstream_source=group
Other links;
Story of my Lenton sports bicycle + General maintenance advice, technical and history;
https://blog.andrew-lohmann.me.uk/2018/10/lenton-sports-bicycle.html
Dynamo maintenance and operation in theory
Story of my Lenton sports bicycle + General maintenance advice, technical and history;
https://blog.andrew-lohmann.me.uk/2018/10/lenton-sports-bicycle.html
Dynamo maintenance and operation in theory
Not a home construction project although some of the suggestions can be made at home. This is a design exercise that a business could take on and develop into a commercial product.
1955 Step-thru Raleigh bicycle. This bikes seems to be fairly new condition with a properly work 4 speed Dynohub;
Andrew, I just met you in the breakout group of the SGR meeting. I am not a scientist but a keen diy'er of limited means. I have an electric bike as I have had ME for years and have very little strength. It worked fine for years but now quickly cuts out when maximum assist level is chosen. The battery is good and no other factors affect this cut out problem. Electric bike dealers are no help, they just attach replacement components wiythout proper diagnosis. I'm guessing that a thermal cut-out has become over sensitive. Is this likely to be in the bikes control box and if I was to show it to an electronics person at our next local 'repair cafe' when they restart (in Machynlleth, mid WAles) should it be relatively easy to identify the component and replace it?
ReplyDeleteAndrew Currie
I am sure that the dealer has done his best and substitution or better still return to the manufacturer should be done. Often electronics and engineering fails due to short cuts in worse case design. Whatever age the bike is a good manufacturer should put right a design defect but of cause many don't but some do.
DeleteIt is unlikely to be a cut-out component but a cut-out function within a unit. I have noticed that battery status and charge management becomes very poor in laptops and tablets long before the battery is worn out. This is not difficult to characterise and correct for continually. Philips have been doing this in there electric shavers for 35 years using a coulomb counting integrated circuit.
DeleteLithium batteries have protection incorporated to prevent them discharging below about 3V per cell. All battery types resistance increases as they age and remaining capacity after use to correct for this the controller should reduce the maximum power progressively as the battery runs down so that you can use your bike with sensitivity to its battery state of charge.
This would need a firmware update in the controller. My guess is that the correction has not been carried out. So you will need to reduce your speed as the battery runs down to compensate for the missing software.
Andrew
contact@andrew-lohmann.me.uk
The case for nuclear power is that it might be cheaper one day if the costs which a large part are safety cost were reduced. Many far eastern countries have developed such nuclear power.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/15/uk-poised-to-confirm-funding-for-mini-nuclear-reactors-for-green-energy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2021/oct/19/nuclear-power-too-costly-too-slow-so-its-zero-use-to-australias-emissions-plan?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
People do change there mind and support nuclear power but that means that a workforce is trained to maintain nuclear weapons which are illegal although UK have them. Britain is particularly well endowed with wind, wave and solar power;
https://youtu.be/ciStnd9Y2ak
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/solitude-was-a-welcome-change-for-most-in-early-days-of-the-covid-crisis-qgzk23vlf?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=newsletter_102&utm_medium=email&utm_content=102_15995723&CMP=TNLEmail_120896_15995723_102
ReplyDeletehttps://www.sgr.org.uk/events/sgr-conference-2021-science-activism-how-should-action-follow-climate-research
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ted.com/talks/lana_mazahreh_3_thoughtful_ways_to_conserve_water?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
ReplyDeleteSGR 2024 confrence
ReplyDeletehttps://www.sgr.org.uk/events/defusing-carbon-bombs-how-do-we-stop-remaining-dangerous-fossil-fuels-being-burned
Clean Air India - https://www.ted.com/talks/arunabha_ghosh_5_steps_for_clean_air_in_india?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
ReplyDelete