Sturmey Archer Quadrant Shifters - Making a Replacement Flat Spring

Sturmey Archer quadrant shifters are a defining characteristic of many of the older three speed bikes dating back to the 1910s-40s. The quadrant is one of the signature parts of these vintage bikes, often sitting prominently alongside the top tube of the frame.

 

Sometimes you get a quadrant shifter with a limp lever - one that won't "click into" the pegholes on the shifter body. This is often due to a weak or corroded flat spring inside the shifter. 

So why not make a new one? They are not hard to make with a little attention to detail...

(1) Start with with a large hose clamp from the hardware store. These clamps are made of a reasonably thick, springy metal. In this case, I have a stainless steel clamp. The width on many of these clamps is also fairly close to what you need for the spring. The first step is to clip the clamp so you have just a solid section of metal. Place the old spring atop the section of metal and trace the outline of the eyelet. The location of the eyelet will determine how you shape everything thereafter. Take the metal to the drillpress or use a hand drill to drill the eyelet in your metal.

(2) Now that you have the eyelet drilled, you can layout the shape of the spring on the hose clamp metal. I place the old spring over the metal and trace the outline of the spring using a fine Sharpie. You can also etch the line using a file tip. Either way, you want something durable so you can work the metal without having the outline rub off. If it begins to rub off, refresh your lines and continue working. When you trace the outline, make sure you make your outline extra long. The reason is that the spring will need a little bent tooth at the end to engage the shifter lever notch. Leaving a little extra length will ensure you have enough material when you go to make that tooth.

(3) Now that you have your outline, take some aviation shears and snip the metal down to a workable size. Don't go too close to the lines. Just get it roughed out so you can reasonably file or sand the metal down to the lines.

(4) Use a sander, grinding wheel, file, Dremel, or other tool to work the piece down to the correct size. It should still be somewhat long. Take the extra length and place it in a vise or pair of pliers. Bend the end on a 90-degree angle to make the tooth that will engage the shifter lever notch. Then sand/grind/file down the tooth until it is a size that will fit in the shifter notch. Periodically check your work against the original spring you are using as a model.

(5) During the course of work, the clamp metal may have flattened a little bit. Take a mandrel or the handle of a screw driver and carefully re-bend the metal. The old spring likely has also become somewhat flat with age. Your new part should have a bit more bend to it than the old one.

(6) De-burr and polish your new spring. You want the edges and the surfaces to be smooth and not sharp, that way it will move smoothly along the surface of the shifter when you install it.

Starting 2023

 

The year 2023 has arrived, hard to believe as that may be. Time to think about what I'd like to accomplish in the coming year...

There has been a somewhat unusual "mini riding" season here in southern New England for the past 10 days or so, with temperatures running a substantial 15-20 degrees (or even more) above normal. I have not been out riding because there is still some residual road salt around from when it was cold back in mid-December (the stuff lasts a long time on the roads here). But I have seen some people out riding because it is so unusually warm. Wish we had more daylight and less residual road salt...

The time has come to think about what I'd like to accomplish in 2023. These are not so much "resolutions" as they are some basic goals.

• First, the biggest goal is to complete another riding season safely and in one piece. This is the goal that goes unspoken usually, but is also the most important. I'd also like to average a solid 3 rides per week in once the season starts, weather permitting.
  

• Second, I would like to catch up on any leftover maintenance tasks from 2022. For example, I have a 1958 Raleigh Sports in need of brake adjustment, drive train cleaning, and overall clean up. I've gotten this work partially done but need to finish up cleaning the drive train and getting the brakes cleaned and adjusted. I've also got a rod brake roadster that could use a little help on the paint, and some basic cleaning to keep the surface rust away.

• Third, I aim to have one or two project bikes completed. I haven't decided whether these will be "builds" (an unrestored bike that needs a total going over), "rebuilds" (a partially done bike from another collector I finish), or just basic "set ups" (bike has been gone over by another enthusiast but needs finishing touches to make it fit me and my riding habits). But in any event, I'd like to focus on quality in 2022, looking mainly at only really nice condition or high-end three speed type bikes. I'm somewhat hurting for free space over the past year or so (accumulating bikes that I've rebuilt but never got around to selling), so quality over quantity is a "must". 

• Bonus item: I'd like to improve my paint mixing and matching skills even more. Matching vintage paint closely and getting it to fill-in with the rest of the finish is part science and part art form. I've gotten better over the years, but there is always room for improvement. A project from last fall where I had to match some subtly aged/faded white paint was a reminder that it can be very challenging, even after being in this hobby for 27 years...
   

Winding Down 2022, Into 2023

It's surprising how quickly time moved this year. The riding season here ended a few weeks ago and now we are into the winter. For the time being there is no riding here, just indoor repairs and cleaning on some of the bikes. So I may as well leave a few year-end remarks.

 

Old Bike Market

I think 2022 was generally a "buyer's market" kind of year, assuming one had the spare money to actually buy anything. Inflation and a somewhat weak economy in the US and UK pushed some sellers to sell bikes for less real value that might have otherwise been had for the items. Parts from the UK were among the cheapest ever because, even as weak as the dollar was, the pound was even weaker.  If you had the money (and certainly not everyone did), there were some good bargains if you looked for them. 

This year also confirmed that despite all the talk in 2020 and 21 about COVID leading to a boom in outdoor activities like bicycling, hiking, etc., there was no lasting "boom" for vintage bikes. Whatever bump prices had in 2020 certainly was erased by inflation and a weaker market in 2022. 

The outlook for 2023 is also iffy. Inflation is still relatively high and the economy is relatively weak. There are quite a few experts predicting a recession in 2023. Such a combination of factors might allow for those who do have the money to make some relatively good deals in 2023. But don't buy vintage bikes in 2023 expecting it to be your retirement fund...

 

Safety and Riding

I do not think that road safety has substantially improved since 2020. Perhaps it has degraded a bit, but certainly not improved. Much has been said about COVID causing increased car traffic, faster drivers, more aggressive driving, etc. The number of pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and deaths in my state have remained stubbornly high, despite us now being over two years since COVID. Ride carefully and use an LED safety light when in doubt.

Interactions between bicyclists and cars here also are not much better. This year, at one point, a lunatic driving a beat up sedan yelled at me about using the road, and how bicyclists were causing the roads to close. I don't know what he was talking about, but he slowed down and yelled at me about some political business about road closures due to bicycles. None of it made sense. I also observed a bicyclist who "took the lane" and was tailgated, given the horn, and berated by a car full of college-aged students. They were pissed off that he was in the lane and they turned into real jerks.

Unfortunately, I do not foresee an immediate improvement for 2023. Traffic will probably remain relatively heavy, drivers will still be driving large SUVs, vans, trucks, and the like, and infrastructure is improved only slowly. If bike trails are expanding in your area, it's always a good time to try them to get away from the cars and trucks.

My Plans

I will be back at it as usual in 2023. I have a couple bikes to sell so my garage will not be so cluttered, and who knows if I get sucked into buying bikes because I happen to see something I think I have to own. But for now, the plan is to slightly downsize once I figure out which bikes are not being ridden enough to justify keeping them.

I am hopeful that the riding season will begin in March, which usually means we have a somewhat longer season than usual. But there's always the chance we get late snow and don't start until later in April. We shall see...