1940 Schwinn New World

 

The second project completed over the winter is this 1940 Schwinn New World three speed bike. This bike has the typical early Schwinn three speed features: fillet brazed frame, Schwinn-built brake calipers and levers, AS&Co. cottered cranks, wire fender braces, red glass rear reflector.

 

The bike has an unusual, 23-inch frame on the usual 26-inch wheels. These early tall-frame men's bikes are difficult to find today. 

 

Saddle is a Brook B67 "antique" style - dark brown with lace-up sides. Tires are Kendas with Schwalbe Tubes. Saddle bag is an Acorn brand (very nice, made in USA).  

This kind of a "noodle frame". It flexes a fair bit when climbing or in tight turns. That is somewhat typical of early, tall frame New Worlds. These bikes have pencil-thin seat stays and relatively light-duty rear dropouts. 

These early bikes are also known for their glass rear reflectors. They are somewhat fragile, but they add some character to the bike. 

Overall, this bike gives a good picture of the earliest days of modern, American-made three speed "lightweight" touring bikes. The bike is relatively light in weight and the frame has a hand-built quality to it. It is a pleasant rider, but not as robust or easy to repair as later bikes. 

 Pedals are the venerable Torrington #10 types. They are simple and robust, though a bit on the large and heavy side for a light weight bike. They were typical of the pedals used on American bikes of the late 1930s and early 1940s. I like them quite a lot, and enjoy that they have a local connection - they were made only a few miles away from my home.

The same goes for the spokes. The wheels are a set I built: later Schwinn S6 chrome steel rims, Torrington spokes, and a good hub set: 1939 Sturmey Archer AW rear three speed and a Schwinn script front hub.

Without further delay, here are the basic specs:

• 23-inch fillet brazed steel frame
• 26-inch (597 mm) wheels and tires
• Sturmey Archer AW rear, dated 1939
• Schwinn script front hub
• Schwinn-built calipers and levers
• AS&Co cottered crank set
• Kenda tires, Schwalbe tubes
• Kiley LED headlight, Ascher bag-mount LED tail light
• Brooks B67 "antique finish" saddle
• Acorn saddle bag
• Spiral-dome bell

 

 

Spring Rides - 1964 Schwinn Traveler

 

Not much to report from the past couple rides. The 1964 Schwinn Traveler is always a good rider. People who are new to vintage bikes often gravitate to the oldest bike in a collection or to rarer bikes. But the oldest and rarest bike is not necessarily the most pleasant riding. 

This 1964 Traveler is not the oldest bike I have and it is certainly not the oldest 3-speed bike out there (not even close). But it is a very comfortable, reliable rider. It's also in nice shape and an attractive machine. I like the understated graphics and deep, black paint.

 

 

1948 Raleigh Sports Tourist - Model 23

Good weather to start this week, but that is supposed to last only a couple of days. The lawn mowers are back out and about. I love the smell of freshly cut grass... 

 

Here is one of the bikes I re-built over the winter - a 1948 Raleigh Sports Tourist. This bike combines the Sports frame, 26 inch wheels, and cable brakes with the "Tourist" elements of a chain case, front dynohub, and light set.  The bike appears as "Model 23" in the catalogue.

 

The Model 23 Sports Tourist is very much a "commuter" type bike. It is better-equipped than the basic Model 35 budget Sports, or even the moderately-equipped Sports Light Roadster (Model 22). 

 

This bike is on the heavy side to be a "road" or a "sporty" type bike. It offered the commuter a weather-resistant bicycle that could be ridden to work or class in regular clothing. This bike is aimed at the short or medium length trip to work, class, shop, or the post office.  

 

The bike was available with the old-style, long-arm "trigger"/"flick" shifter, or  the top tube "quadrant" style shifter. For now, I have a good, old quadrant on the bike. I may try converting it to a refurbished long-arm trigger shifter in the future, but for now the quadrant is there and gives good shifting.

 

One of the challenges of these bikes are the old, cloth-covered cable housings. These housings love to dry out and crack. If you're lucky, the are simple, small cracks where the cables take a turn. If you're unlucky, the housing will begin to fray, leaving a mess. If the covers are particularly bad, I replace the whole cable assembly with something newer. But if they can be saved, I use black-colored heat shrink (available online) to bandage the larger cracks. The sections on the bike where you see larger cable covers are the heat shrink "bandages" on the covers. They blend in reasonably well, though they do make the cover look a bit bigger in those areas.

Raleigh pattern cables are fixed-length and not meant to be disassembled. I lubricate them by hanging them up and dropping some Tri-Flow lubricant down the cable cores. Tri-Flow is a thin oil with a teflon component. It helps lubricate old brake cables that need to stay intact.  

This bike has the old-style Sports lamp bracket on the handle bar stem and the old-style, glass lens headlight. The tail light is a bit later type, the original being totally missing when I got the bike. 

 The lighting is still the old-style, incandescent type. I prefer LED lights because they give you the most lighting you can squeeze out of the low-output GH6 hub. But given the age of this bike and the very old-style, glass lens headlight, I stuck with original lighting. This bike will not be ridden at night. 

The headbadge is the original, old-style Raleigh type. It has some wear on it. I suspect the bike may have had a front basket for awhile, which may have rubbed a bit on the lower part of the badge.  

When I cleaned the mechanical areas and bearing surfaces, I found this bike probably did not have many miles on it... or else it was very well-maintained. The bearing surfaces were smooth, with very little wear. 

There are still a few things to consider on this bike. The 1947-48 catalogue shows this bike's standard shifter as the old-style, long-arm shifter, with a cloth-covered shifter cable. I may do that eventually. The top tube quadrant was an option for a more traditional set up. The quadrant is lower-maintenance and easier to fit. (See my article on refurbishing the finicky, early flick shifters). Going to the flick shifter will also mean finding a length of good, cloth-covered shifter cable (not easy). I probably have some of that in a bin somewhere around here... We will see if I make the return to catalogue "standard"...

 

I also need to play a bit with the saddle height. I have the bike set up as an upright commuter, with the bars a bit higher than the saddle. I think that works well for this bike, but I may need to raise the saddle just a bit. I can see why these bikes were such popular machines for the short or medium length trip to the office or college campus. It would make a very comfortable commuter. I find my more spartan Raleigh 35 better for longer trips over the road or in hilly country. 

Without further delays, here are the specs:

• 23-inch men's frame
• 26 x 1 3/8 wheels with Westrick Raleigh Pattern rims and stainless "R"-stamp Raleigh spokes
• Michelin World Tour tires, Schwalbe tubes 
• 1948 Sturmey Archer AW rear hub
• 1947 Sturmey Archer GH6 front hub ("black side", pre-1951 type)
• Original, cloth-covered cable housings
• Original chain case with all the various sliders, clips, etc. 
• Incandescent bulb lighting - I did not convert this bike to LED. 
• Brooks B66 saddle
• Raleigh industries pedals with "spurs"
• 48-tooth chainring, 22-tooth rear cog 
• Acorn saddle bag 
• Lucas bell 

 

Repairing Early Sturmey Archer Trigger Shifters

 

The 1940 Schwinn New World project continues, but I took a little time off that project to work on some early Sturmey Archer Trigger shifters. These are the "long arm" handlebar shifters used from the late 1930s to the late 1940s. They have some peculiar features and can be somewhat tricky to repair.

First, remove the external r-spring (if it's not already missing). Then the two binder pins are knocked out, from back to front, using a slender punch. The center pin that holds the lever and ratchet assembly goes first, then the rather/lever assembly slides out. Be careful - there are two small, grub pins holding this assembly together. Do not lose them. Second, the corner pin is knocked out, which will take the pawl with it.   

Dissaembled Shifter with Labels

Second, clean and straighten the inside of the shifter frame. Be careful - the metal is somewhat soft and thin. After cleaning, check to see if the shifter frame is loose on the handlebar clamp.

 

Tops of two rivets holding the shifter frame to the clamp

There are a couple versions of the rivets attaching to two. Early shifters have two, domed rivets that often work loose. Later versions have stronger rivets and don't loosen as easily. If your shifter frame is loose, you can tighten them using two punches or an arbor press. Place an appropriately sized punch in a vise and mount the shifter body so that the punch is against the rivet head. Next, use a second punch to strike the opposite side of the rivet. The rivet should be "sandwiched" between the two punches, tightening the fit. Be careful doing this, not to hit your hand or allow the punches to move.

The two-punch way of tightening rivets

 

Third, clean the ratchet and lever assembly. Make sure the grub pins are properly in place. Also, clean the pawl and make sure the pawl's arms are straight. Gently straighten the pawl if it is bent. Also, gently clean the faceplate. Gently straighten the face plate as needed. Be careful, the faceplate is fragile. I use a little WD40 on a soft cloth to clean the face plate. 

Disassembled Shifter

Now that everything is clean and straightened, you can re-assemble. Lubricate all the moving parts with medium oil or light/thin grease. Put the face plate back in place and insert the pawl into the shifter frame. Take the corner binder pin and slide it into position until it's aligned with the hole in the back of the frame. Tap it through with a hammer so that it protrudes from the back. Set the pin back on an anvil/vise face and flatten it by striking the pin head. The vise/anvil will spread the pin back so it stays in place and binds the pawl and face plate into place.

Partially reassembled - pawl, faceplate, and first binder pin in place

 

Re-insert the ratchet and lever into the shifter frame. Take the remaining binder pin and slide it through the holes until it reaches the hole in the back of the frame. Tap the pin through. Set the pin back on the vise/anvil and strike the head with the hammer (as you did for the other pin). 

 Take your r-spring, insert it and pop it into position on the pawl. 

If you need to make a new r-spring, you can make one from a 1/4-inch hitch pin clip. These are available at some of the big-box and hardware stores (in the USA at least). Gently open the clip a bit with a screwdriver. The legs will need to be shortened and flatted. A dremel tool works well for this cutting and flattening task. If you have a good spring, you can copy the dimensions of that. Or you re-assemble your shifter first and then hand-fit the shortened clip until it works correctly. 

 

 Above is a package for a 1/4" hitch pin clip. The package shows the original shape and the modified clip is on top of the package for comparison. Note the shape of the clip has been changed and the legs shortened. Don't bend too far - it will lose its springiness if you go too far.

 

Side view of the modified clip spring

Another option is to use a 1960s-70s era wire spring, as shown in the photo below. If you wanted to do this, you would attach the spring back in the step when you re-installed the corner binder pin and pawl. The photo shows how it would work. Make sure your wire spring is long enough to reach (some springs may not be long enough). 

Side view of the wire spring repair 

 

 

The final product is a nice, clean, functioning early trigger shifter. A few words of caution are needed. First, it is possible to lose the R-spring because it falls out of the shifter. This often happens when the lever is pulled too far, causing the pawl to twist out of position and the spring to lose tension. Without any tension on the spring, it is free to fall out and get lost. This is how so many of these shifters turn up without springs today. Second, abuse of the shifter will cause the rivets to loosen and the whole shifter to become wobbly on the clamp. Go easy on these old parts.

 

 

But the final product is a nice, old piece of technology from before Sturmey Archer had perfected the trigger concept. The 1949 and later triggers are much better parts, but these older shifters serve a place on three speeds dating to the late 1930s through the late 1940s. They served on many bikes during the same era as the quadrant top tube shifters.

 

 

 

 

 

Kickstarting Spring... For Now

 We had unseasonably warm weather here this week. Temperatures were in the 80's (26 to 33c) most of the week. We also had some summer-like thunderstorms at night. Next week is supposed to be much cooler. 

The warm weather gave an opportunity to dust off and ride a couple classic bikes: my black 1964 Schwinn Traveler and my green 1959 Schwinn Traveler. I love 1950s and 60s era Schwinn Traveler bikes, so much so that I more closely examined them in a guide on this website. 

Before the Warm Weather: Not Quite Spring

Much Greener - Both the Bike and the Grass

Matching Dice Valve Caps on the 1959 Schwinn Traveler

Up and Down on the 1959 Traveler

I Am Particularly Fond of these Schwinn Winged Badges

 

A Couple Nice Finds, and Gradually Migrating Back to the Outdoor Shop

Just a brief note as the weather slowly turns to spring. I always enjoy receiving old parts in their original packing. Sometimes they come with nice little boxes with the company logo or a part number label on the side. 

 

Helpful Parts, also Interesting Old Boxes

I recently received some unused, vintage wiring terminal hooks (Raleigh / Sturmey Archer Dynohub type) and vintage wiring clips for dynohub type lights (also Raleigh / Sturmey Archer). I don't have a huge number of bikes with dynohub lights, but I do have a few. These old-style hooks were standard equipment for many years on the older Raleigh bikes, and the clips are helpful getting the wire securely fastened to fork blades. 

 

Other than that, I'm still working on the 1940 Schwinn New World and I am gradually moving back to my three-season shop for work. Here in western New England, our weather is cold enough in the winter that an unheated shop is basically useless in the winter. This past winter was particularly cold in January and part of February. 

During the cold, winter months, I do light-duty repairs in an unused, indoor storage room. Some heavier work or fabrication of parts involving torches, benders, and heat has to wait until I can get back to the larger shop. I move over the course of a couple of weeks, putting my supplies in boxes and moving them down to the shop. I do not leave my good tools unattended in the three-season shop. I'm a stickler for keeping my tools safe and always pack them up at night, bringing them back into my house.

A Wonderful, Light-Up Shop Sign I Purchased

Looking forward to warmer weather ahead next week. This week was below-average in terms of temperature. But hopefully we are headed toward better weather next week for some ride time.

1940 Schwinn New World - Repairing Imperfections, Part 2

 I wrote previously about "repairing imperfections, old and new", where I discussed fixing different problems on a 1940 Schwinn New World bike, some of which were always there and some that resulted from years of hard use. 

A recurring problem on pre-World War 2 Schwinn New World bikes is the breakage of the fragile wire fender braces they used. The braces tend to crack around the rivet hole because not enough material is present there. 

Fixing old parts like this is a challenge. There are no direct replacement parts made today, so you have to get creative.  

Let's use the fragile Schwinn wire braces as an example.  There is no "kit" to repair these kinds of very old parts. I had a handful of them to repair. Some were cracked, and some were totally broken. In my book, a viable solution should fix both a broke and a cracked brace. Be creative and consider your options. I got some help from a couple of family members who know how to weld. I also did some soldering and brazing. 

• Arc/Stick Welding: an old school method, but not delicate enough for this job.

• Flux core: Small flux core welding machines are popular do-it-yourself options today. Initially the flux core machine burned through the spine of the brace. After adding donor material from the head of a nail and turning the machine way down, a successful weld was made. The weld then had to be bored out for a new screw/rivet hole. The boring out process is a challenge because the welded area is kind of hard. A carbine Dremel head worked best to bore a new hole.

  

  Flux core with donor material - notice the wider center.

  
  

• Brazing: A traditional solution. Works adequately on the braces, though does not add as much strength as welding with donor material. But if you have a decent propane or Mapp torch, brazing is an option to fix a broken wire brace. Boring out the hole is easier because brazing is softer than weld material. This will fix the braces adequately for their purpose. It's very much possible to re-break them if you're rough. The brazing rod material flows and sticks nicely on the steel (make sure the material is clean and you use flux). 

  

  A broken brace, brazed back together

  
  

• Oxy/Acetylene Welding: An old school form of welding. Similar to the brazing process but harder material and higher temperatures. Doable. My understanding is that this is kind of a by-gone process and most people who weld opt for MIG, TIG, or one of the portable flux core machines. (But gas welding is by no means obsolete - it was a go-to method for much of the 20th century). 

• TIG Welding: A modern form of welding preferred for delicate repairs. This would be a good solution as well. The material needs to be clean. I have a lot of respect for people who can TIG weld and get the "stack of dimes" look. If you know how to TIG weld, you probably don't need my advice.

• Silver Soldering: Too weak to be effective, even when washers were used to help provide rigidity. I tried this three times: once with just solder (don't bother), once with a single washer as a backer (weak), once with two washers as backers (a bit better but still too weak). Even basic testing allowed me to pull apart the repair. Avoid this for these kinds of braces.

  

  Silver solder with backers - an interesting idea that didn't work 

    

Suggestions: TIG Welding, brazing, or gas welding all would be options. Flux core is an option if you are  careful and have donor material (and you don't mind working to bore out a new hole). Don't bother trying to use an arc/stick or silver solder.

 

What about that cracked front fender? I previously wrote about how the bike was delivered upside down, with the bottom (now the top) opened. The front fender was cracked in the process of being slammed around in shipping.

When the arrow on the box is merely a suggestion...

 

The fender sheet metal is very thin, even by today's standards. So as with the limited material on the braces, processes like arc/stick are probably a no-go. It probably would just burn through the material. The flux core welder also was at the edge of its abilities with the braces. Here the metal is even thinner. I suppose with donor material it could be fixed, but I think that metal is too thin for the flux core. 

After some thought, and the experience with the braces, I decided to braze the cracks. The fender doesn't carry much weight, though something more than silver solder or epoxy is needed here. So out came the torch and I brazed a couple of lines along the cracks. One side got a little more braze than was strictly needed, but with smoothing it will look fine and stop any more cracking.

 The next jobs are to patch up the paint in the repair area and get things re-assembled.