I started with a child's tricycle, but my enjoyment in cycling came with my first bicycle made by Tri-ang with solid rubber tires, a single rod brake that operated on the front tire and awful *stabilisers fitted that probably did not help at all, a 20" and a 24" bike with very rusty rims, chain, stirrup (rod) brakes that was as much as I could afford with my pocket money. My father promised me his Lenton Sports bike when I was big enough to ride the bike which is my first bike with gears. Very much lighter to pedal and flew when I touched the pedals.
Picture left; close ratio 4 speed, FM and AF hubs (which are medium and close spaced hubs) later the AF becomes the FC. They use a second epicyclic gear coupled to the main epicyclic gear to achieve the medium or close ratios. Similar to the AR close-ratio 3-speed hub introduced two years earlier [Pg 105/106]. The second epicyclic gear drives the sun-pinion.
The 1945 model FW 4-speed wide hub, that is fitted on this Lenton Sports bike is different. The epicyclic gear has a single ring gear but one of two sun pinions is selected using dog clutches to the stationary shaft to provide Low or super-low gear called Bottom. The FW hub was changed a little during 1950. This should be a more efficient gear hub, though speaking to an owner of an FM it feels efficient. The FW was made until 1969/70.
The picture left, from the Sturmey-Archer Story is the plaque awarded to Sturmey-Archer by the Cycling Touring Club for the greatest advance in cycling design or equipment for their 4-speed hubs in 1939. [pg 105/106].
- Bottom (1) You need a strong finger to select this speed, the cable and the indicator rod can both be broken. You need to keep the bike moving faster than you would on a short-wheelbase bike.
- Low (2) feels easier but you need to pedal fairly quickly.
- Normal (3) pedal slowly and easily you won't wobble which makes cycling harder work, it is restful or you can go very fast. The frame is now helping you more, You can't start in this gear or in H. Normal is the best gear feeling the lightest only on the Lenton other bikes don't have the frame quality to tell any differences. This is the direct drive speed and the most efficient speed because no power is carried through the cogs. You won't notice the subtle difference on any other bike.
- High (4) is a very fast gear. The bike because of the good frame seems to pull you along much more the faster you go above 25 MPH but 25 MPH is fast enough and you work hard at this speed. A faster ride and a lot easier to get further up some hills changing down a gear as required than any other bike I've ridden probably partly because the bike feels particularly secure on the road.
- Super-High. A modification with a second cable provides a 5th gear. This gives better gear selection operation. A larger rear sprocket could be fitted to reposition the speeds to give the rider both a lower bottom gear and a higher top gear but take care not to make the lowest speed impractically slow for the fast Lenton frame. Otherwise, the 4 speeds suit the bike's character particularly well. In this case, the Bottom Gear could be called Super-Low and the new top gear be called Super-High.
Gear selectors on the rising tube are hard to reach, easy to operate and allow you to sweep across speeds easily. |
- Although it is recommended to operate the derailleur to keep the chain fairly in line it is better to use the small chain wheel at a lower speed when you need to be ready to stop and go. But use the large chain wheel at the highest speeds on a clear run, or stay in the large chain wheel on a fairly flat ride. The leavers on the Peugeot allow you to sweep the rear cogs across many speeds and perhaps start from a high speed and quickly change to a low speed*. Even so, it is only the derailleur gear bikes that I have got stuck in a high gear or inadvertently gone through a red light on.
- Pedal lightly when changing speed on the front derailleur (left lever). It is good practice but not necessary to pedal with light force when changing speed with the rear derailleur (right lever).
1955 vintage Raleigh step-thru, four-speed (FG) dynohub bicycle. Steel wheel rims gives better braking in the rain, the bicycle is green with stainless steel rims. |
Austin 7 https://www.classicandsportscar.com |
- Bicycle dynamos by comparison such as a Sturmey-Archer dynohub really should be called a single phase permanent magnet AC Generator or an Alternator. But hub dynamos run at too low a speed to get to the constant current region of the output curve.
- Anecdote, It used to be said by Raleigh representatives that; A Raleigh bicycle will last 100 years.
- Anecdote, by comparison during the 1950s a 1930s Ford Anglia cost 200 guineas (nearly the same, adjusting prices, cost as when the car was new), which may have cost a little more than £100 new in 1935 (about £5,000 in 2021). At the same time, A Rolls Royce might be for sale for £190 and be difficult to sell because it was so expensive to run. Markets sold cars, it is said, with soapy water in the sump so they did not smoke, and some wooden pistons and the trader was gone when you went back to face him - not sure about that story other than Buyer Beware is the point.
- By comparison, people living in the lush forests and jungles of the world would work 4 hours a week if any work at all could be discerned. Missionaries liked this and many did not return to Europe but "Went native" (BBC Radio 4 From Eden to Ethiopia ~1988). By comparison, people living at high altitudes such as in South America would need to work hard to survive on the land using coca leaves to boost their effort but below a level that could be addictive.
- When I started work in 1975 the company was a new company and the car park was mostly cars and a few bicycles. When I changed jobs in 1977 to a 63-year-old company the car park was small not very full but the bike shed was full of bicycles. People discussed things like buying a new bike or replacing the ball bearings, chain, and spoke tensioning were the only things required after 25 years or more use, in addition to normal weekly oiling, tire pumping up, and brake adjustment.
Things changed - in the 1970's new cars were delivered with faults - poor management in British industry - designed in obsolescence and designed to wear out.
My 16th Birthday present. |
British Textiles were still made to high standards and my 1975 Burton's made-to-measure coat would be made to last a lifetime. After 20 years one of the buttons got loose but the coat always felt lovely to wear compared with anything off-the-peg. The material looked tired until washed and passed on to someone else a few years ago looking new again but for the loose button. British Leyland was still making very well-made Rover cars and Minis but many of the cars they made although very good were delivered with faults (Gremlins). The Leycare warranty was featured in advertising during the 1970's along with the admission that new cars might be delivered with gremlins. All makes of car were delivered with faults or defects became apparent years later both Audi and VW had defects in electrical areas but very few other faults so have well deserved excellent reputation.
Repair, Recycle and Reuse;
The 1970s marked a time when life had become easier, with full employment and virtually no homeless (in reality there were a lot of homeless but in bigger cities). Mortgages, pensions, and financial services were trusted by mutual and friendly societies who provided there own salaried advisers who could be trusted better than the newer independent commission based advisers and that was what most people used. The banks still had their founding Quaker or other philosophy of supporting and looking after their customers but these things changed. Significantly more things were designed to wear out or were badly made so they wore out before a useful time, the novelty wore off or they became obsolete quickly and were discarded. There was little place for repairing shoes and bikes and what was repaired was carried out by replacement of a module rather than of a worn or broken part, although a module such as an a motor might be overhauled and sold. Built-in wear-out had already been the case for example valve TVs designed with the valves over-stressed and microwave ovens that deteriorate in power more quickly than others or older models. More people chose things that only needed to last long enough to buy, open, be played with briefly and then be discarded, so many British manufacturers tried to follow the trend but cut costs instead, and failed because they started producing rubbish instead. Raleigh bikes went with the trend, changing enough but continued manufacturing good quality bikes in the UK until 2012, bike makers did not need to design in obsolescence or to wear out many bikes are and have always been bought but then ridden just once.
During the post-war (political) consensus until 1980 - if you could do the job you were given the job. There was a place for philanthropic, commercial and government services and investment called, The mixed economy, which regulated so that what worked was done. Significantly manufacturing and engineering were still supported. The British prejudice against engineers being people who work on dirty engines as opposed to ingenuity the correct meaning was always true. The Technician makes the dirty engine, clean, working and functioning, or the design proving or reporting design improvements or flaws using his dexterity and skill, often called in a derogatory way a grease monkey for a car mechanic (technician). Craftsman is the most prestigious type of technician. There was an expectation to be employed and anyone would feel or be made to feel very uncomfortable about being unemployed. Generally, periods of unemployment lasted just a day. For longer-term unemployment state national insurance paid unemployment pay and your mortgage interest was paid.
At the end of the 1970's the problems in British industry partly due to poor British management leading to bad industrial relations, were understood. Suppressed or fixed by the government and union initiatives such as ethics in BAE Scotland, The Lucas Plan, and Triumph motorbike Cooperative. To protect against monopolies from unfair pricing was addressed by the creation of the British Sugar Corporation, Giro-Bank (not that sugar prices should be regulated which surely conflicts with public health). Rolls Royce aero engine part of that business became state-owned (1971-1987) and the RB211 jet engine development was one of the most efficient in its time. High-value investment and return supported by the National Enterprise Board which significantly supported Ferranti and its Uncommitted Logic Array (ULA), also British Leyland (significantly the Mini Metro car) was resolved even though unionised workforce lost jobs to robot assembly. The National Coal Board and British Rail had already been successfully nationalised in 1946 and 1948 from failing private companies so British deep mine coal was the cheapest and safest in the world the National Union of Miners proudly boasted in the early 1980's. The small gang team working system of management introduced at nationalisation had been a model of best management was copied around the world. The working week had reduced from up to 48 hours prior to World War two to typically 40 hours a week but many worked 37.5 hours and the number of hours were reducing towards 35 hours in some cases with up to 30 days annual holiday.
The bike is now cleaner but not all four speeds work at this stage, the gear hub is clean and set up, the original front brake cable has not been repaired yet and the pedal cap replaced. |
My father was promised the bike if he matriculated (pass his school-leaving exams) his mother paid £19 and something (£19/14/- is the listed price) but just under £20 with the extras (would be £1,200 in 2022*). Evidently, my father had to wait until after leaving school in 1945 for the war to end and for his bike to be delivered. There are two numbers on the frame which confirm the date of early 1946. My father was conscripted for National Service that June and returned 18 months later so he had his bicycle briefly before being conscripted.
Frame number; 289193 P (below the saddle)
This Lenton Sports bike is an MK II [web], Model 25 [Facebook]. Picture right some cleaning shows the lovely steel chain wheel (front cog 2018), the picture above more cleaning also wiped down with linseed oil a few times (2020). The plastic bottle top used as a pedal cap has since been replaced with the correct cap given by a Facebook friend, thanks.
The FW, 4-speed wide hub have a reputation for being unreliable. The hub's date code is 50 1, (January 1950), which may be an upgrade or a warranted replacement. The selector and probably the rear wheel were changed as part of the hub replacement because the plating is a different quality more bobbly on the rear wheel. The rear wheel is 40, 2mm zinc plated but the rusted spokes seem to be all original. The front wheel has 32, 1.5mm bright steel spokes and all of the spokes have been replaced at least once. My father chose a more comfortable saddle instead of the standard sports bike saddle. The saddle has also been re-stitched a little more by a local shoe repairer since these pictures. I have also been replacing springs in the saddle (2021) but this is not working out so well.
A good steel frame bike is fantastic. Some people speculate that the art of making a good steel frame bicycle has been lost.
Picture right above; The LENTON sports decoration has a flat top with 45' corners and a gold outline transfer. The letters are italic capital 3D polychromic green as the bike and deep blue shadow outline, I think. On the tube section from the bottom bracket to the steering column, the words ALL STEEL are painted red with a black 3D shadow or outline.
Comparison with other bikes;
1985 Astra (imported from Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia by the then former Elswick Hopper bicycle maker). |
Bike stability changes by adding a front basket or rear rack with weight high up if it is not designed for those - but placing weight low down helps keep the bike stable. Also short wheel base stiffer frame bikes handle extra weight better.
The video created by velecopede who is very well informed and understand bicycle frames but the reason a good more modern 1930s to 1960 long wheelbase bike is stable but without the leading tubing on the handlebars is different.
Reg Harris promoting the Lenton sports bicycle, and it looks like smoking a pipe. |
Similarly, many manufacturers supplied different dealers with a broader or a narrow range of parts, accessories and bikes - it used to be necessary to visit another town to find out about and obtain things. By comparison since 1980, it has become normal to only find a limited range of the same things anywhere. It is now very unusual to find different things and the expectation of speaking to trained staff on the use and the type of product is now not expected or offered. This uniformity and narrowing of choice, but for the wide range of toilet roll colours in supermarkets, were promoted, in the 1980s, as "choice".
January 1950 stainless steel FW variable gear hub |
The bike's four-speed selector (picture below right); The selector is the same later 1950 type as the hub, the wheel (it is a Dunlop rim like the front wheel but the chrome is more bobbly). They could be a guarantee replacement. There were revisions but in the typically British way, many parts were common to different types of hub gears.
Green brake pads leave a dust coating on parts nearby |
Technical detail observed;
The mechanism selects easily. There is a feature since 1910-1912 to hold the gear even if the cable is not optimally adjusted but this feature is not on all hubs or speeds (if I have understood correctly). Sturmey-Archer patented very many modifications but most of them were not implemented. All gears are in constant mesh but are selected using dog clutches or selectively disengaging the free-wheel pawls. One of the dog clutches is chipped (the bike used to click in Normal [3 of 4] probably from new).
- The gear selection had been fine in 1970 but deteriorated and the cable broke in the 1970s over the pulley under the saddle which I replaced. The gear selection was then much poorer and I only had 2 and 4 or maybe three of the four speeds 1, 2 and 4 or 2, 3 and 4. The hub was cleaned and the compensator spring and the pawl springs were replaced but this did not resolve the problem. I then shorted the sheathed cable length to the maximum of 18" and ground the cut end of the sheath cable flat as pictured, with a carborundum stone. Lastly, I added the tape pictured to minimise the change in length in the cable when steering. I also do not carry any weight in the right-hand pannier because that weight will knock the hub out of gear in Normal speed.
I had been advised many times recently to replace the sheath with a less springy type. Bicycle shop did not know what a less springy type of sheathing was but I purchased what they offered has improved the issue. That was July 2024, I had felt pessimistic about making this change of sheathing a second time (the first time was in the 1970s when I replaced the cable).The cable radius's are tight but is
consistent in each speed. The cables
sag does not change much with speed
selected after the tape was placed.
- The selector is now improved by pressing the sides together with a vice and bottom works better and the operation of the gears feels more precise. It took a number of adjustments before the sheath properly bedded into the tight fitting cups each end of the sheath, but the fix has not worked out well enough and I still have just 3 of the 4 speeds working properly. And sometimes all four gears operate properly.
- I have also changed the rack which is too high but I can now use both panniers without one of them knocking the gear cable.
1912? - Fichtel & Sachs Universal-Torpedo (strewi-fahrradwerke.de) BSA also made the Sturmey-Archer earlier X series 3-speed hub under license.
Strewi Fahrradwerke – Ãœber historische Fahrräder (strewi-fahrradwerke.de) - more documents and history (I can't read it because it is in German).
The Lenton sports soon after I took it out
of the shed in early 2018, fixed the gear selector and started cleaning, but you can see redish rust on the frame. |
- The bike will need tires, brake blocks, tubes some adjustments including the spokes from time to time and after 100,000 miles will need new sets of ball bearings, which are cheap to buy. Apparently, the chain may be okay at 100,000 miles if is on an enclosed type of bike. It depends on the terrain the Lenton's chain is not worn but stretched there are long steep hills between Sevenoaks and the seaside where my father rode the bike a lot.
- I have seen pictures of sprockets warn down to spikes but it is said that an AW hub will still look good inside.
- A postman used his 1910 bike for 50 years 75 miles a day. He had his bike serviced and many parts including forks were replaced under guarantee and Raleigh and never charged for the parts.
- Another bike had done 500,000 miles when the AW (I think) hub was inspected it looked like it had been made that morning inside.
Okay for 25 years but then clogs the gear hub and stops the hub from working properly. |
- A very heavy person using a bike up steep hills and 7 miles a day may find a modern mountain bike the best but they wear out a bike every 5 years.
- Traditionally advice changes with time on lubrication;
- Is one teaspoon first use then 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of oil every 100 miles or fortnightly but of 20 SAE oil.
- A tin of Sturmey-Archer oil I purchased in the 1970s is a thicker oil and probably is 30 SAE - the tin does not state the viscosity of the oil?
- 3-in-One oil is a very bad oil for bicycles hub gears. On a chain it leaves a coating which okay and protects things but this coating clogs up a gear hub. This oil used to be sold as a general purpose oil with a picture of a bicycle on the can in the 1960s. I believe it is a vegetable oil perhaps it originates from only vegetable oils being available in the 19th century when the Raleigh bicycle company was formed.
- Bikes moving parts used to be coated in oil and dirt but ran well being fed with a lot of oil to flush the dirt out of the bearings. Oil in the hubs will run down the spokes and eventually onto the rims but I have not found it gets onto the braking surfaces.
- Since 1990 Sturmey-Archer gear hubs have had no oiler and are lubricated with a very runny grease. I put a little thin engine oil dripped into the toggle chain side, with the side cover of the hub removed once a year. The water resister, grove, can be greased at this time. The cover should then be put back with 1/4 to no more than 1/2 a turn of slack and the lock nut tightened.
- Modern oils are better and a few drops of thin oil such as barbers clipper oil a week is good advice I was given. I now use a thin engine oil which is thicker, is fine and a few drops can be done a little less often consequently.
The wheel rims are stamped Dunlop 26" x 1 1/4" the front tire is Dunlop war grade Tandem V, 26" x 1 1/4". The chrome is quite thick and bobbly in places on the wheel rims although the chrome on the bike is smooth. Raleigh used to claim in the 1930s that their chrome was the best and that claim does not seem to be exaggerated. I've seen poorer chrome finish on early 1960's cars.
Steel tubing is joined using brazed lugs. Lugs were made of single pieces of forged metal to form faultless joins with strength and lightness.
Unfortunately, the bike was stored in a shed in which the floor rotted and the front wheel dropped into the mud, this has caused a little corrosion to lift the chrome on the rim which caused one brake pad to keep wearing out for a while but the corrosion is not enough to have weakened the wheel. Otherwise, the bike's polychromic green paint has mostly fallen off. The little of the polychromic green paint that has survived was heavily coated in oil and dirt - evidently, cycle oil has protected the paint. The MK2 Lenton sports' gold decoration could be a shield or most likely a serrated javelin head pointed to the ground in a distinctly modern style rather than the pre-WW2 swirling designs in the decoration. The decoration is on the post-WW2 Lenton's up until the 1948 London Olympics after that other decorations were added and a range of bike colours with the introduction of the MK3 Lenton including the Reg Harris Olympic Torch decoration.
- The paint is called Polychromatic Green in the next model; MK III, Lenton Clubman. The 1946-47 MKII Lenton Sports. The technical differences between the bike models and the Lenton Sports, MK I and MK II became the Lenton Clubman MK III in 1949.
- The first Lenton was in 1940, MK1 lady's bike, it does not mention that Reynolds 531 steel was used, but this use of aircraft steel became a feature after WW2. I am advised that Reynolds 531 steel was used on sports bicycles from 1935 when it first became available but I have not found it mentioned on catalogue pages. The frame on its own is very light and can be lifted with two fingers. Lightweight Molybdenum and manganese steel frames were made and labelled on those bikes before that time but the brand does not seem to be mentioned.
- Sports bikes had a label certifying Manganese, Molybdenum or high tensile strength steel or later Reynolds 531 steel. This gold label can not be read now but probably such a label gold label at the top of the tube section between the bottom bracket and the saddle. It could be the dealer in Sevenoaks' label from where the bike was purchased?
- Other MK2 Lenton sports bikes do have the Reynolds 531 Steel label but there are other differences between each bike made. The differences are not in any way seem compromised by post-war shortages and the make-do policy of the time but everything is just perfect for the job required.
- The British molybdenum, manganese, medium carbon (contains iron is magnetic and will rust) steel frame is Reynolds 531 Steel. This type of frame makes the Lenton sports noticeably very light compared with some folding bikes and light compared to most ordinary town bikes. The bike would weigh originally with the standard saddle under 14 Kg and a conventional steel men's sports bike might weigh 1.2 Kg more. By comparison, modern good bikes such as 2019, step-through Pashley Cycles with brazed jointing (lugged and braised) not welded frame weigh 20 kg.
- The bikes made after the end of World War Two (September 1945) would have been made the best that was possible with available stock. Sturmey-Archer briefly stopped making hubs in 1943. These bikes were made to last and they do last. The four-speed (FW) hubs have a justified reputation for not working properly but they are very nice when they do.
I have also replaced the rubber seal/valve with a car brake cylinder rubber seal successfully. The connecting tube is also patched at one end using some cloth and cotton thread binding. The pump catches my hand and is uncomfortable, works with Dunlop valve tubes but it does not work with modern Presta valve tubes. The pump is therefore not usable on the bike now.
Tire Arithmetic - this seems to work properly for an old bike;
What does 597mm_32mm mean?
31.75mm = 1.25" x 25.4; Rounds up to; 32mm
660.5mm = 597 + (31.75 x 2)
26" = 660.5mm / 25.4; The tire diameter agrees.
597mm is the tire bead diameter so if you measure a rim's circumference where the bead of the tire sits and divide by pi (3.143) you will get this number.
So what does 650A, E? mean? It is a tire size code, not a dimension.
The tire's outside diameter is larger than 660mm (26") but that figure is roughly the wheel's outside diameter when fully inflated and the bike is carrying the rider's weight. If the measurement on the tube, tire and rim are all the same then they will all fit but a bike shop is unlikely to have those on the shelf for an old bike.
Warning I have looked at a newer bike tube and tires and this arithmetic does not work out for those. The tire diameter says 660mm is important for a mountain bike, but different widths of about 38-55mm are interchangeable. This is also true of the tubes. The problem though is the tolerance tends to be poor so they can almost fall off or be very tight as I have found with both bikes. It is, in any case, important to bed the tire in by partially inflating the tire and bouncing and turning the wheel on the ground (to bed the tire in). Check the tire pressure each time before you go out on the bike for the first few times the tire will keep needing more air until the tire is fully bedded. In conclusion, the number 26' for a mountain bike is just a number related to the bead diameter - wheel rim diameter and is what this code determines in this case.
Because the tire is a tight fit (bike shops are likely to get in and sell you the wrong size tubes and tires and may tell you what they have got in for you will be suitable but it probably won't be suitable) so fit the tire and remove it without the tube before you try with the tube. Also, move the cloth tube protector I added more cloth from a ripped-down cotton bed sheet. Also, check that the ends of the spokes are below the surface of the nuts they would have been adjusted over the life of the bike. The ends of the cloth held by a double galanised steel wire loop with the ends crossed over so they face into the rim not the tube.
Spokes - I had been putting off dealing with a wobble in the front wheel for the past 50 years but I have done it now (2019). The front spokes would have been Raleigh Bright Steel (which is brilliant and all have been replaced a few times undoubtedly). The rear spokes are original thicker galvanised steel spokes I fitted 45 years ago and set to the same tension as the neighbouring spokes;
1. Firstly even up the spoke tensions they all played different tunes when plucked but I am advised that squeezing adjacent spokes is a better way - I think either way is fine. Start from the valve so that one revolution can be determined. I felt the spoke tension by squeezing two spokes together on a few new bikes in a bike shop.
2. Tighten any loose spokes to just firm then slacken any spokes that are unduly tight.
3. Making a small adjustment of 1/4 turn a spoke per wheel revolution and start from the valve. The loosest spokes first. keep going around bring up the loosest spokes. That is making small adjustments at a time.
4. I was expecting the wheel to go eccentric at this stage and this had always worried me dealing with two parameters and I had considered a strategy before I started but the issue did not arise.
5. Watch the wheel rotate next to a brake shoe and stop it when the gap closes. You can use a piece of wood held pressed against the frame or brake part to help gauge the closest distance.
6. Loosen two spokes on one side and tighten one the other side a quarter of a turn.
7. Watch the gap on the other side do the same adjustment and keep doing the same swapping sides back and forth.
8. I found the wheel is not eccentric but the remaining wobble is smaller.
9. Keep going around the tensioning the spokes - but I am told this is not usually done.
10. Check the wobble but in any case, you will be close enough and when the bike is ridden I did not see any wobble in the wheel rim looking past the tire.
Lacing the spokes; The bike is laced so that the spoke comes out 90' from the hole therefore the spoke is slightly longer than the rim radius to the diameter hub makes little difference*. Therefore you may be able to replace the hub type to a gear or dynomo and re-use the spokes that you could not do if the wheel is laced at a lesser angle (45' say) to the hole. 90' is evidently chosen for its strength against the twisting force of pedalling on the wheel.
The arithmetic for calculating spoke length is simple Pythagoras right angle triangle, the longest side which is the spoke length is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. These calculators can do the sum for you but it will be very similar to the radius from the inside of the wheel rim;
The rear (which has the newer 1950 FW hub) wheel's spokes are all thicker grey galvanised steel some have a little surface rust and some needed a little tensioning. The wheel runs very true despite the extra weight the wheel carries but the back wheel is stronger and does not get the shocks and hits that the front wheel gets. A rider normally transfers their weight to the pedals thereby transferring the shock to their bent legs away from the rider's body and the bike.
Much of the serrated shield and gold outline decoration has been worn. But the stainless steel hubs and other parts are almost like new. |
- ACF-50 (which leaves the metal white) and Hammerite (which turns the rust black).
- Hammerite works but leaves the metal black.
- Autosol has been recommended to me by a motorbiker, for chrome but I have not tried it. The correct one for chrome is Autosol M1.
- Just leave it and let the oil comes out of the hubs and carry on protecting other parts. Has worked well but stains your fingers and clothes.
- For chrome, I've been recommended wire wool, T-cut or Brasso but also rub aluminium foil.
- These are drastic methods that may only work once because you rub through paint or chrome quickly.
- I have not used these methods.
- Soaked in CLR for a bit and scrubbed with a copper scrubber. Then used Turtle Wax Chrome cleaner and polish. Said to be safer than aluminium foil. The result looks very good on Facebook.
- Linseed oil [is flammable so be careful not to leave any soaked rags in the sun] - turns rust-brown and does not look so good but looks okay and is said to be good on the paint
- The colour does not change but is brought out by cleaning off the black oil and dirt. The Heron badge is a lovely deep tarnished brass.
- It has been suggested to me that using linseed oil on the transfer decoration particularly was risky and that I should use mineral oil.
- Citric acid a bit stronger than lemon juice is said to clean rust - I've seen this on you-tube it looks good but I don't know how well it compares with other methods?
- Vinegar (acetic acid) diluted is said to work better and I have found it works in all cases and works very well in some cases.
- Acetone (such as nail varnish remover) is environmentally bad and will strip paint if not used and cleaned quickly but is also the most effective way of removing the sticky oil that acculturates on lubricated metal surfaces such as spokes and hubs. But with more work White spirit also works and is less harmful to the paint if inadvertently gets on the paint.
- Cleaning inside the hub can successfully restore function, I am advised. Simply dismantling cleaning and reassembling. Soaking in white spirit or paraffin is unlikely to work. Ultrasonic cleaner probably is best in this case.
- Old oil paintings and probably a dirty painted bike decoration can be cleaned with acetone with a very quick wipe-over. I have used linseed oil as a safer option on the bike.
- Scrapping with wooden lolly sticks is very effective as well and is safer than using a metal screwdriver.
- The stitching of the saddle has deteriorated although the leather looks exceptionally good. By comparison, the tool pouch, saddlebag and pedal shoe grips which had leather straps had all deteriorated and had been discarded by 1970. I do have a comparable quality pair of shoes but things of this quality were available but not at an excessive price but you needed a recommendation.
- There are two particularly good shoe repairers in Tunbridge Wells; Guest's in Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells will take on more difficult work and work that might not turn out well. He has done a very nice job hand stitching the saddle which looked inaccessible to stitch and the repairer said was difficult.
- The comfortable Raleigh saddle fitted from the new probably weighs 1.2Kg. A cheap but good modern saddle with memory foam can be comfortable and lighter and I have used one of those whilst having the old saddle stitched and repaired.
The decoration on the bike is new modern angular to mark a new era, in keeping with the time, The Labour Government and the NHS. The pre-World War two Lenton Sports decoration has William Morris-style swirls and curves. Later many more decoration styles and frame colours were added for different variants. The bike was made at the beginning of the period 1945 to 1979, called "The post-war (political) consensus".
The price of the Lenton Sports £19/14- was more than double its 1939 price. In turn, a basic Raleigh single-speed bike cost £10 in 1947, was purchased for my mother to share with her sister in Brighton, England. This bike was taken back to Scotland because a bike could not be purchased where she lived. My mum says it was hard to pedal the 7 miles to where she worked fruit picking, which undoubtedly because the seat height was set as a compromise for her and her younger sister? In the later 1940s of the prices of the Lenton models came down a little.
At the time wealthy classes and the working classes had a bond of mutual support because a person from one class could be rescued from a bombed building by someone from another class. Men had been billeted together and talked about what they wanted after this war that they did not get after WW1. At the same time, the government did not want to make the mistake of the post WW1 where Germans and allies people suffered badly and Hitler rose out of that. Similar things were happening in Britain. The warnings King George V made after WW1 were ignored then but were heeded after WW2.
At the height of the war in 1943, greater restrictions were imposed. Gear hubs stopped being made and metals like chrome were reserved for military use. |
In reality, Winston Churchill may have wished to give the people the NHS just the same as the Labour Government did. There were a lot of Conservative Doctors opposed to the NHS though so it is unlikely that a Conservative government would have brought in the NHS. It was an easier job for the Labour Government with mass popular support it had to make those changes at that time.
https://www.military-history.org/articles/5-key-reasons-churchill-lost-the-1945-general-election.htm
The Lenton sports MK II was made for just two years 1946 and 1947 although the Lenton sports bikes were made for two decades. Briefly, the world was not at war, USSR were allies and British soldiers were seconded to Palestine police in 1948 until new friends and enemies were found. Wars are manufactured to sell weapons and the methods remained bad. Rationing ended in 1954, in 1956 bread price control and the subsidy was lifted and in 1960 military conscription in the UK ended. In the 1970s it was stated that the UK would change to a post-manufacturing exporter of financial services. Since 1998 Sturmey-Archer stopped being British-owned making gear hubs and since 2012 Raleigh stopped being British-owned and making bikes in the UK.
I will do more cleaning making the badge and pedals look better. |
Lenton the name of the bike might be connected to Lenton Priory, Nottingham which existed in the 12th-14th century. Raleigh and Sturmey-Archer were located at; Lenton Boulevard, Nottingham at the time of the bike's manufacture. Raleigh also manufactured using the brands Sturmey-Archer, Brooks plus a range of bicycle brands. Raleigh's 1930s Nottingham head office
Notice the knurled brake adjuster and lock nut. I have re-soldered of the brake cable end, but this repair has not lasted. Every nut and bolt including adjusting the saddle and handlebars moves as easily as a new bike although some of those parts have never been touched, greased or oiled in 40 to 70 years. As a teenager I had lost some ball bearings starting to service the stearing bearings and had decide to leave them alone.
The metal grip pedals are good at preventing your shoes from slipping on the pedal even when it is wet, unlike rubber block grip pedals. Move the pedal upwards to be ready to move off others wise it spins till it hits your shin but you soon learn how to overcome that. Pushing your ankle into the pedal and moving the pedal upward seems to work. The modern open frame plastic pedals are even better.
Many patents were registered by Sturmey-Archer but not implemented. Interchangeability of replacement parts was important and this aspect was common in British manufacturing. Raleigh was a conservative company but customers expected and imposed conservatism on the company, by not always taking up new technical leading products offered at times.
A perspective of a Raleigh shop steward whose career spanned the merger with Tube Investments in 1960 is that the company always had a "them and us" attitude. That view probably was held by the management as well. https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-raleigh-fred-mitchell-1980-online There was a lot of repetitive work for workers at Raleigh but this is also true of many companies. I heard an anecdote from the 1970s of two workers in the car factory visualising a chessboard and playing chess exchanging moves at break times. I have also been told that some companies move people about to avoid the repetitive work but some people like the continuity and can chose to not move.
- British Standard Cycle (bikes and motorbikes) - Apparently Raleigh did not use these sizes.
- Whitworth.
- British Standard Whitworth - which uses smaller spanners.
- British Association (BA) - Some 2BA and 8BA are used on the hub-dynamo.
- American Fine (AF)
- Unified fine (UNF)
- Metric (M) is the width including the thread in millimetres but there are a regular pitch and a fine pitch thread alternative.
Crank or bottom bracket;
- Then screw the cap and bottom bracket back together finger tight, check the bottom bracket turns and check the tightness again.
- Loosen the ball cap 1/4 to 1/8 turn and tighten the ring nut with the c-spanner. With a wheel bearing similarly turn the shaft with your fingers and loosen the nut until there are no tight spots - the ball bearings wear oval and will pit the bearing shells if there are tight spots hence the tolerance 1/4 to 1/8 turn of slack. If there are still tight spots you need to replace the ball bearings but if the shells are pitted that is another problem and I have no experience with either issue. This is less slack than recommend but will ensure that the chain wheel does not brush the frame otherwise set the slack should be set to 1/4 to 1/2 a turn.
- NOTE bearings on some bikes are tightened more than this, no doubt for aesthetic reasons, it seems the nuts can be loosened by only 1/8 turn without causing the brake pads to rub. The bearing does not feel so wobbly compared with a correctly adjusted car wheel bearing consequently.
- Gear Hub bearings are set with less slack 1/16th turn on the drive side and 1/8th turn on the other side. I have read more slack elsewhere it may depend on the hub?
- The sprocket will wobble a little but that was unchanged after I opened the bottom bracket for the first time ever. The chain is in good order.
- Otherwise, assemble dry then oil normally (the small amount of grease will wash out in time and the extra friction is trivial anyway) - this is different from the correct advice because the bearings are oversized compared to a car and it is more important that everything is kept free of grit than everything be lubricated as it is assembled as you would do with an engine or gearbox.
Sturmey-Archer maintenance 1957
Hub Gears adjustment;
- Put the selector into L on an FW hub.
- Adjust the cable so that the screw head of the indicator rod is level with the end of the shaft.
- Select N on an FW hub.
- Adjust the cable so that the indicator rod step (below the end of the rod) is level with the end of the shaft.
- The recommended method; Adjust the cable so that the shoulder of the toggle chain is level with the end of the shaft with N (2) gear selected.
- Put the gear lever into 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 detect a little slack in Low (1), then turn the barrel back half a turn.
- I think this method is the best method because you are factoring in any extra slack such as how far the toggle chain is screwed in. The toggle chain should not be screwed in tight but so that it does not cause a twist in the chain and the cable.
How Sturmey-Archer variable hub gears work;
From the Sturmey-Archer Story on the S5, five-speed hub - this S5 is very similar to the FW 4-speed hub. Notice that the Bottom gears name has changed to Super Low along with the new speed brought out Super High. (sturmey-archerheritage.com) |
- Normal gear - No power is not transferred through the gears.
- Low Gear & High Gear - use the same larger sun pinion.
- Bottom – The larger sun pinion is de-clutched from the shaft and the other smaller sun pinion is clutched to the shaft. The relative speeds are low as well as the gears being lubricated with cycle oil makes this extra pinion also efficient. Their clutch mechanism is based on ball bearings that are pushed out of holes in the fixed shaft by the movement of the operating cable.
Three-speed epicyclic gear operation explained
This video is the clearest I have seen although I do not understand
German. The ball-bearing sun pinion clutch mechanism is not shown.
The bike maintenance stand is necessary for derailleur geared bike maintenance so that the chain hangs normally and the adjustments can be reached. Otherwise, turning any other bike upside down to work on it works fine. The stand is still useful for any bike and particularly a bike with drop handlebars.
Another comparison on Facebook was that the 1930s bicycle the other recently acquired is lighter to peddle than his superbike. All around a nicer bike to ride.
Change;
I mentioned hubs and bottom brackets changed from thin oil or grease to lubricated with grease. The S7 - 7 gear hub was introduced in 1973 with the no-slip between gears feature. This hub incorporated three epicyclic gear assemblies and the drive path was through a number of meshing gears. The non-slip feature was considered not to have merit previously but bikes with hub gears were being marketed to regular cyclists as easy, strong and reliable compared to derailleur gears having become fashionable on sport bikes. The 7-speed gear hub of about 1997/2000 uses a third sun pinion and a third cog on each of the planet pinions to form super and ultra high and low speeds. The hubs lubricated with a thin grease with no lubrication port in the hubs. 1973, S7 cable rotated a shaft operating cams rather than pulling a rod but the later seven-speed has low and high, super-low and super-high, and ultra-low and ultra-high gears by the selection of one of three sun pinions.
The advantage of having no slip-between speeds seems obvious but the advantage of having a no-gear selected positions if the cable is not set properly is that it makes the adjustment clear and unambiguous.
The Sturmey-Archer hubs from about 1990 which don't have an oil port can be lubricated once a year by removing the drive side cog and bearing cover and putting a little engine oil in that side. They are said to not be well made but the 1997 AW on the Universal further above works very nicely as I said above. The gears change precisely and with a gentle forward touch when stationary as they should.
- Assuming 30 days holiday or illness, 5, 6 day weeks, gives working 46 week year.
- 20,700 = 6 x 46 x 75 miles a year.
- 1 million miles = x 50 years.
I have read in a Raleigh document that they would charge for re-magnetising a returned dynamo that had been let demagnetise. That is put a soft iron keeper with the magnet. That suggests that Raleigh might replace anything in exchange for the broken part that has not been broken by misuse.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer.html
kept clean). https://youtu.be/-9gQ1KRhesM
Ceramic speed - I can see that the gear teeth are slotting in on roller bearings rather than sliding up the tooth that a conventional straight gear does so there does not seem to be any velocity modulation that conventional tooth gears have. The velocity modulation in straight gears can make a machine wine. Presumably, the transmission is normally enclosed in order to keep it clean so thereby staying a low friction transmission in order to make the maker's claim meaningful? Lloyd's cross roller gear is as above but is single speed was patented in 1897, this was an expensive option offered by some bicycle makers including The Quadrant Cycle Co and some 1920s Rover bicycles.
The gear changing occurs by timing the slide of the pinion across the crown disk at an appropriate time. Hopefully, a cable-operated variant will be developed? Also I suppose if speed change operation can be carried out by lifting and dropped the shaft then the gears could be changed when the bike is stationery.
Other Sturmey-Archer bike components and assemblies;
- Hub brakes were reckoned to be very good smooth, progressive and powerful. Some variants were operated by back-pedal others by cable and they could also include a gear hub the KB hub.
- Hub dynamo was introduced in 1935 and is claimed not to add friction but a few people I've spoken to say that it does but I found is modestly. The power taken is very little and no more than the power output of 2W used in the lamps. If pedalling at a reasonable pace puts in the same effort as walking then 50W of effort then 4% would be used which is more losses than N gear and similar to B gear (guess?).
- 1982 XAG 3W, 6V meeting new lighting standards and 4 times more efficient 30 poles, alloy Dynohub sampled but not introduced. Then all Dynohubs were withdrawn in 1984.
- During the 1980's permanent magnet motors became much more efficient consequently motors and generators required less copper. They used more powerful magnets. Also, much smaller air gaps were possible due to better engineering tolerance and bearings with very little play. Greater power density and efficiency were achieved provided those motors or generators did not drive directly but had flexible couplings.
- Basic generator theory determines that the output is a constant current but the voltage (with no load) is proportional to the speed of the wheel. That is; 300mA = 2W / 6V, With an old-fashioned series lighting circuit open lamp, fails all lights will go out but with a modern parallel lamp connection one lamp fails the other lamp will receive too much current. The ratings vary depending on the age of the bike. Blog Bicycle hub-dynamo maintenance - Includes suggestions and making a magnet keeper and re-magnetising a dynamo.
- Motorbike gears briefly. https://cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/norton-1930/Norton-1930-16H-500cc-Motomania-5.htm
- An internal combustion engine was briefly badged Sturmey-Archer.
- Each batch of Lenton bicycles made is different the brake cables on my 1946 Lenton are more elegant with the knurled adjuster and knurled lock nut and easier to use than the later one also pictured above. I do not know the age of the last two but it has an oiler to oil the cable you turn the spring clip to expose the oil hole. The second picture is the barrel nipple that has been re-soldered a second time - I cut the wire and made sure all the strands were used the second time - the end of each strand was turned over like a wilted daisy pushed into the barrel nipple to trap it before soldering on a gas hob using long nose pliers electrical solder and active flux.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 1887 - 3 bikes a week made. The shop in Raleigh Street, Victoria was purchased and renamed the Raleigh Cycle Company.
- During the Victorian times, healthy living and exercise had become important, sanitation systems were built and excellence in bicycle making was surely part of that movement;
- https://www.bdonline.co.uk/nottingham-bike-hq-is-englands-400000th-listed-building/5095200.article
- 1889 - a wealthy lawyer called Frank Bowden bought a controlling interest in a small Nottingham bicycle company called Woodhead, Angois & Ellis, renaming it the Raleigh Cycling Company.
- There is a little variation in the history.
- https://leftlion.co.uk/features/2015/01/cycling-in-nottingham-history-of-raleigh-bikes/
- 1896 - 30,000 bikes were made this year.
- 1914 - Over 50-60,000 bikes were made that year. My Grandfather had a three-speed before WW1. Raleigh was the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world.
- 1939 - 400,000 bikes made a year.
- World War Two - 280,000 bikes were made a year.
- World War Two from 1943 - Bicycle hub manufacturing stopped until the end of the war and Sturmey-Archer published a leaflet advising people to keep their hubs maintained and have them repaired.
- 1951 - 1.1 million bikes made a year.
- 1960 - Raleigh merges with Tube Investments.
- The 1950s and 60s - After World War two, many people from all over the British Empire plus Polish and others who had fought in that war married and remained in the UK. Until WW2 most British people had not seen a black person but among the many US armed forces were blacks who also remained. Raleigh operated a policy of not employing black people at the instigation of the unions (I understand). The company reversed that policy and became a leading employer of black people;
- 1980 - 1.5 million bikes were made a year. Nearly as many as car sales.
1955 bikes were ridden 20 million KM/yr but during the 1970's the figure was only 4 million KM/yr and this amounted to only 20cm/year.
- 2000 - Sturmey-Archer - Government minister David Blunkett discusses rescue plan. Ultimately Sturmey-Archer is purchased by a private company and the machinery was sent to Taiwan.
- 2012 - Raleigh company leaves the UK.
- 2018 - Raleigh building is listed;
- N - gear is 1% and more efficient than derailleur gear.
- AW 92.5-96% but derailleur 92% 95%.S5, FW B 87%
- Losses 5-10% for both gear types. over a gear ratio range of +33 -25%
Tony Hadland blog supplement to the book.
The bike's transmission is all lubricated with 20 SAE oil but the 3-in-one brand turns out to be a very bad choice in the hub long term but okay everywhere else putting a protective coating on the paint and chrome. The drawing in the link further down this page below shows another type of oil port on the bottom bracket and hub. But there are different styles of oil ports such as the ones on this bike. It is a brass hole and the one in the bottom bracket also has a ball that needs to be pushed down with a special oil can. You can see further down the page that I have adapted an old oil can filler to form a funnel in order to make lubricating the hubs easier.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer/fw.html
Picture Right; the Polychromic green paint has mostly fallen off which is typical of the 1946 MK II Lenton Sports bike. The enamel undercoat is exposed with some light rust on most of the bike.
The original mudguards were cream in colour, made of cellulite and were brittle. These replacement Bluemels Lightweight mudguards have remained plastic and are much better. The mudguards look right but there was no reflector on these replacement mudguards. They were fitted in about 1970.
Gears have been used in church clocks and windmills as early as 500AD. Making gears involved too much work to be developed anything other than very well-financed work but may not have been developed further than ideas drawn on paper. Only a tiny number of those ideas have survived such as those drawn by Archimedes, and novelty such as Hero's (steam) engine no doubt would not have had practical use and were not developed. The Chinese South-Pointing Chariot is based on a differential gear built in the 3rd century but could have been developed in the 27th century B.C.E. Drawings that looked like epicyclic gears, although no physical machine was intended, were carved into stone as Mayan calendar with a cycle of a little over 5,000 years.
In Britain metal was used for tools and weapons but machines were made of wood usually. British Kings in the 12th century were finding quests abroad and bringing back strange wonders, maths and astronomy to the British Isles. Tempering the swords very rarely got it right they chipped and shattered.
1418 Giovanni Fontana, is credited with building the first human-powered four-wheel land vehicle
Some bicycles began to manufacture in the 18th century, these were wooden and had no pedals. The first sketch known is much earlier drawn by Gian Giacomo Caprotti – a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci.
The crossbar quadrant gear selector remained available for a long time. The gear selector pictured was replaced by a new modern gear selector that was numbered (1, 2, 3, 4) and the numbers rotated and placed so it is readable with the selector mounted as it is on my bike. That was instead of named gears using the letters (B, L, N, H). The earliest type of selector was the barrel type with a lever that rotates in a barrel with notches fitted to the handlebars.
The British Empire had been formed in the 16th century and Britain started ruling the seas and thereby ruled most of the world. It may be said that India received fair rule of law in exchange for profit returned to the UK but the rulers became corrupt. A large class of wealthy British men, clergymen and sometimes women with an income developed many ideas that had no use until long after their death. One of those was Erasmus Darwin's Hydrogen and oxygen pumped to an expansion chamber rocket motor, which had no application until the 20th century. The 17th and 18th Centuries gave Britain steam power. Steam power improved greatly and gave us the power to build machines that powered the industrial revolution. The Newcomen Engine was used to pump water out of mines despite its inefficiency (0.5% versus 35% or higher for a modern steam turbine). This was the change that turned many centuries-old ideas or toys to entertain emperors and kings turned to practical use. The most modern steam trains reached 20% efficiency but diesel is more efficient and electricity is much more efficient and can take and return power to the rail grid in some cases.
History of bicycling in pictures Much engineering was developed by amateurs with a lot of leisure time and money. This is in addition to commercial or more often military research. All funding was from the exploitation of the world by the Empire nations.
In the cold about 30 years ago a spring broke in the gear selector but I only recently 2018 thought of a better fix. This time the fix worked. The bike was stored in a shed and deteriorated in that period but the wheels move more freely than any new or any other bike I have looked at. The front brake cable broke 40 years ago and I re-soldered it but not that well so I have replaced the cable in 2019.
The 19th Century marked the start of the unification of measurement and parts with Whitworth thread sizes. Metrication was proposed and started throughout the sciences although the Russian Rouble (PDF) had already been decimalised in the 16th century.
Britain is credited with the first automobile in 1801 but there seem to be others in the USA and one in Paris using the first Internal Combustion Engine although steam or electricity was used generally. Many types of bicycles were developed. 1896 The flash-boiler was patented this meant steam cars could go from turn-on after 90 seconds and then move silently and in a gentle way but the very fast steam cars such as Stanley Streamer and Doble that were also silent had no gears but took 10 minutes before the steam pressure was enough to go.
The first practical epicyclic gear hub was made by Scott and Philpot in 1878. At this time there were very many bike inventions patented but an American machinist Johnson made the first commercially successful epicyclic gear hub in 1895. Depending on what you read between 500 and 1,000 patients in the last two decades of the 19th century but another significant factor was that the quality of metals was going to improve greatly over the next two decades. The ideas were re-invented for thousands of years capability and the wealthy all came together to implement them.
William Reilly invented much more robust and cost-effective epicyclic hub variable gears some years after leaving the Hub and Two-speed gear Co, which later became owned by BSA. Reilly asked his fellow engineer James Archer to patent it in his name instead. William Reilly had signed a condition that bound him even after leaving that company 2-3 years earlier that was resolved when patents and cross-licensing were negotiated between BSA and Sturmey-Archer years later. But in Reilly's opinion, his invention was never fully attributed to him. The 1902 patent three-speed hub proved to be the lightweight, efficient, robust hub that Raleigh Bicycle company were looking for. They returned to the original design after making changes and mostly kept to that design but with improvements [pg 78].
William Reilly was employed at Sturmey-Archer and significantly ensured the process of tempering the hub gear parts was of a high standard. The components should bend and spring back but not crack. Gears made by car manufacturers at that time generally cracked and pieces break off. He seems to have been passed over, perhaps because of his demanding standards but tolerated when necessary but that is not recorded. I observe that people who do a job efficiently and very well are often not liked.
- Reference; The Sturmey-Archer Story, Tony Hadland (dedicated to William Reilly the unaccredited inventor of the modern bike epicyclic gears hub).
The bicycle chain was invented in 1880. These earliest chains were less robust until the type with a shaft slid inside a tube was developed. At first, each link pivoted on the two thin metal link points on each side {references to follow}. Modern chains also include a roller, and chains for derailleur gears have more sideways movement.
Derailleur gears were developed in 1905 but there was some form of derailleur gear in 1899. This type of gear provides a close speed ratio but Sturmey-Archer did not provide it until the 1930s when there was an interest in close speed ratios. Derailleur gears become fashionable in the 1970s. The mechanism is not protected so gets damaged, dirty needs adjustment and requires skill to use which probably is an attraction and why derailleur gears became popular. Derailleur gears are the cheap high maintenance option and hub gears are expensive and now have become even lower maintenance options (because they now don't need frequent oiling).
Sturmey-Archer used to make parts for hybrid hubs and derailleur gears. The hub gear can be used to get you started from stationary so therefore a wide-ratio hub is most suitable? I have read elsewhere that close or medium-ratio hubs put back a little force in free-wheel onto the chain that may cause it to come off with derailleur gears.
- The advantages are; Derailleur close speed ratios, being able to start with the derailleur at a high speed by selecting a low speed with the hub gear when stationary. Disadvantages of the vulnerable and slower gear change of the derailleur and the dead weight of the hub gear.
- Lenton sports 1946/47 with hybrid hub and derailleur gears;https://www.flickr.com/photos/cv-6enterprises/sets/72157632528362251/with/8383798141/
- Modern hybrid - this one is operated by wireless and is self-powered with a rechargeable battery.
Bikes were really developing fast with the lightest weight hub gears, frame and the lightest pedal bikes succeeded. Raleigh and Sturmey-Archer made the best for a very long time. At the beginning of the 20th Century, there were a number of excellent bikes and gears being made. BSA made a Sturmey-Archer gear hub under license but with ball races in the planet gears that hardly reduced the now very low friction any more. Helical gears to reduce friction and gear wine did not seem to exist at all in British-made bikes and not in cars until after WW1? The Sturmey-Archer gear hubs use straight gears but the hub operates very quietly.
Picture right FW hub; By 1945 bikes had got to the ultimate with the FW gear hub. The oiling port on my bike is a simple brass hole but some bikes have an oil port with a spring cap. If you look through the hole the metal is bright silver and brass inside. The wheels moved easily after 25+ years unused in the shed and they moved back to their balanced position.
I am advised by Rob Lucky (Facebook) - "This is a 1950 and mostly original as I got it here in Canada it was likely sold by the Eaton's Department store that was a huge importer of Raleigh. Fenders still had Raleigh transfer and I switched to similar drop bars to what it would have had. It had an AW S/A but I got an FM as the upgrade was often. I attached the as found even had the front Raleigh hub knock-offs. Whatever you can do to promote these bikes is great."
The paint on this Canadian bike is in better condition than the paint on my bike. The paint on my bike has mostly fallen off.
Left the 1950 Lenton sports bike after restoration note Lenton Sports decoration 3D text on the saddle tube section is the same as my bike. The bottom bracket to the steering tubing is different my bike is ALL STEEL in red 3D. The main decoration on the tube from the bottom bracket to the saddle is very similar but different, I think, the lettering size has been corrected and the outline is not gold.
Although oiling the bike is quick and easy if you do not clean the grime it attracts then you will get dirty black stains on anything that touches it. The big drawback with modern bikes is how heavy they can be to pedal in order to make adult bikes easy to learn to ride. Using greased bearings instead of light oil transmission has added very little friction. This happened;
- The bottom bracket in 1961(USA Facebook) and the front hub after 1960 (this part of the Raleigh history and Tube Investments merger with Raleigh in 1960 is not well documented).
- At some point, the viscosity of the oil recommended increased to 30AE - I understand. It is better to use thinner oil than risk parts within the hub not operating correctly. Oil is often discussed in social media but bear in mind that oil for outdoor general use is what is recommended by bike makers but is not recommended by people who use and maintained a lot of old bikes.
- 3-in-one oil is a good oil but it should not be used in a gear hub. After 20 or 30 years it will have coated things like black paint and stop the hub gear selection from working properly. The tin used to have a picture of a bicycle on it in the 1960s and it is okay for anything else protecting chains, house and shed hinges coating what is used on black. The black residue from using 3-in-one oil up until 50 years ago was all over the bike and seems to need a chisel and a wire brush to remove it but it protected the steel and the paint underneath.
- By comparison, modern engine or gearbox oils have micro-beads that help the oils adhere to the surfaces and I guess you do not need to or probably should not oil the bike so often consequently. 10W40 engine oil is a thin oil but it is thicker than bicycle oil I am advised is okay. Hair clipper oil is probably the most suitable but I have not used this oil but any of the bicycle oils should be suitable.
- The Sturmey-Archer gear hubs stopped fitting with oil ports from 1991/2 (Facebook). Modern bikes with grease used in the transmission are consequently hard to pedal.
The modification of a 4-speed FW to a five-speed hub.
https://hadland.wordpress.com/2020/04/19/converting-the-sturmey-archer-fw-4-speed-hub-into-a-5-speed/?fbclid=IwAR1usc98KHQMs8g1R5Ael03qzrprN_3XTpxguSUkskwAmODOWlu1haC0wU0
A critical and found review of Sturmey-Archer's management. Interesting lightly oiled SA is more efficient than a derailleur as measured in 2000.
https://hadland.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/elegy-for-sturmey-archer/?fbclid=IwAR05tk_MQhQ8JHUmUQDUuqOMQpjH4Z2sfjHErcnfr0hZ4XDQ9ZTD0Mnc1OY
Lots of old bike-related pictures
http://www.oldbike.eu/
Bike discussion forum.
http://www.retrobike.co.uk
Catalogue pages of bikes around 1939 to 1950 including the Lenton Sports.
https://on-the-drops.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-clubmans-1946-1951.html
Supplier of old bike transfers.
https://h-lloyd-cycles.myshopify.com/collections/raleigh
https://h-lloyd-cycles.myshopify.com/
Archive of Sturmey-Archer catalogue pages and technical data.
http://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/index.php?page=history-detail&id=176
Reg Harris OBE Cyclist trains on a Lenton sports bicycle with an FM hub;
https://on-the-drops.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-raleigh-lentons-1948-1960.html
When were bicycle gears invented - Guardian Newspaper.
https://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/when-were-bicycle-gears-invented-35989/
Drive train history - Velo News.
https://www.velonews.com/the-drivetrain-wars
YMCA, Recycle - Bike project;
Lenton sports Ladies' sports bike was first introduced in 1940, Model 44. Then the MKII in 1946 bike but the first with Reynolds 531 Steel frame bikes were introduced in 1936 as aircraft steel frame I understand, but before that molybdenum steel was used on sports bikes weighing a little more at 15.5Kg. https://on-the-drops.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-clubmans-1946-1951.html
1943 We are making no more gear hubs until the end of the war
http://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/index.php?page=history-detail&id=744
http://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/index.php?page=history-detail&id=978
Three and four-speed hubs 1947.
http://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/index.php?page=history-detail&id=227
http://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/files/view-1369.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2vjBRMwkHM_DeDKr0U6_ZQoueXTPgFMcXrILVd_1yYxH1g1pUW7MMsMpY
About some of the comments I have made in the text;
- S-A Sprinter S7, 1997-2000 has a single ring gear, single epicyclic cage, each planet gear is a single 3 cog component, 3 sun gears. Give 3 speeds + 2 more super-wide speeds + 2 more ultra-wide speeds.
- 1966, S5 two cable hub launched. Note Tony Hadland's book draws attention to the point that the single cable version was not launched until the 1980s but I add that old patents such as the 1921 Henry Sturmey's patent on the single cable 5-speed hub may have still been active or recently expired. I have read that patents used to be granted with a life of 40 years before WW2.
- Selectors and hubs and some other parts are often made under license by different makers and are mostly interchangeable with British-made versions of Sturmey-Archer. The important point is that parts made since Sturmey-Archer closed in the UK and relocated to Taiwan are very unlikely to be interchangeable with parts made in the UK over the previous century. I say most but not all Sturmey-Archer gear selectors can be used with all Sturmey-Archer hubs.
The postwar period was exciting with the finest quality made for the people, up to a point just the white English. The deferred Olympics were to be held in London in 1948 and the Festival of Britain in 1951. The lovely 1946 Lenton Sports bike with its modern golden serrated shield.
- Up to 1945 --- Feature of the bike frame was a gold line stencilled on some of the tube sections. Decorations were more curls and swirls influenced by William Morris.
- Right; MK II, 1946-1947 --- Looks like a serrated shield with a gold stencil outline on mustard yellow with deep blue shadow and green text. This decoration is also on some Lenton MK III made prior to the 1948 London Olympics.
- The 1948 London Olympics had been postponed from 1939 due to war.
- There are a number of other decorations in around 1949 Lenton Clubman (the successor to the Lenton Sports) and the 1950's Reg Harris Lenton is an Olympic torch with a red flame. There is a very similar decoration to the one pictured right used on the later Lenton sports but without the gold outline.
LENTON SPORTS
- Above; MK III from 1950 --- Clean plain italic text. But there were many more different decorations.
- The Highway Code advises cyclists to stop at the left-hand side before turning left-right or going straight on. But you need to judge the traffic and the situation. A junction near me had the drain hole fitted the wrong way so that a narrow-width tire wheel could jam between the grating. What was particularly bad in this case was that cars were parked so the problem could not be seen in advance.
- Learn to get on and move off with your left or right sides and feet. A step-thru bike is easier to get on and off but they are a bit heavier which does not matter. A full-size bike will ride the potholes better but the vibration on a regular bike is harsher, and road holding is poorer than with a sport bike. So don't be shy if you are a bloke about riding one.
- High visibility is important. Wearing a silly hat is okay if it gets you noticed but helmets do encourage you to go faster because they give a false sense of safety. Helmets are not required for the cyclist but they do change the type of injury you might get in a fall or crash.
- The low-down kerb light on old bikes is very useful if you have to cycle in the dark.
- Wearing a cloth cap - offers no physical protection but the cyclist will have a slow careful gentle pace outlook in mind. Anyway, if he could not cycle fast the hat would not blow off.
It is notable that people seem much more tolerant and courteous of cyclists. Cycle lanes, cycling on the pavement and on-road is mostly done with a lot of care on all sides.
Having a liking for well-made things, keeping them reduces waste and used to look after a bigger spares and repair industry. More importantly, making well-made and maintaining things empowers people but buying new things with a short design and non-repairable life reinforces helplessness. But economies of large amounts of waste has made the costs of doing this low and profits high.
I have been rubbing the Lenton Sports down with linseed oil and doing that has improved all surfaces, enhanced the decoration and given the heron badge a lovely tarnished brass lustre. The Ever Ready lamp rattles it always did, so I put some rubber inner tube over the hook, and in the battery compartment that has helped. I do not have the original green tin lamp. I have adapted a modern head wearable lamp to light the curb edge and fitted a flashing red lamp to the rear rack.
The front tire is new but worryingly it has much less tread than the old war-grade tandem tire I was using last year (2018). It has been suggested to me that the tread on a bicycle is not important because the tire is round in section so naturally pushes water away compared with a motorbike or car tire is flat and reinforced by a steel band so tends to trap water if there were little tire tread.
angle so the polychromic green frame colour and gold outline stylised Olympic torch can be seen.
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