Sturmey Archer FG Four Speed Dynohub

I recently acquired a couple of uncommon pieces here in the US: a Sturmey Archer FG four speed dynohub, and a 1948-49 silverface Sturmey shifter.

The four speed dynohub was a deluxe gear hub offered by Sturmey Archer from the 1940s to the 1960s. This one dates to 1956.

The shifter is slightly older. This silverface shifter was only made for two years: 1948 and 49. It is in outstanding shape.

Raleigh Sprite 5 Speed Revisited

I've owned a late 1960s-era Raleigh Sprite for several years now, but I have never been totally happy with the work I did on it originally. I recently decided to take the Sprite back out of storage and re-do some things to improve the mechanical condition of this bike.


















I ended up putting on fresh brake cables and replacing the left shifter cable. The unique Sprite shifter on the top tube uses a unique cable. The disc head of the cable is larger than a derailleur cable head but smaller than a brake cable head. 






To make a cable, I took a standard disc headed brake cable and ground the disc down to size.

I used standard brake cables from the Bell Pitcrew kit you buy in Wal-Mart or Target for the brakes. They work fine. I was able to re-use all the existing cable housings.








I also re-greased and reset the bearings on the S-5 hub. The result is a better functioning Sprite.










If you've ever wondered what a "high performance" Raleigh Sports would be, the Sprite with S5 hub is basically what you would have. It's a fun bike with a little more range and gearing flexibility than a Sports, but it still rides and handles like a Sports.





This is an enjoyable bike, even if the shifting is a bit more complicated than a 3-speed.

The simple "Sprite" logo on the down tube is very plain compared to some of the other types that have a number "5" printed over them.

I also added fresh handgrips (Kenda brand Dare knock-offs) and cleaned up the Duro white walls. This bike originally came with Dunlop "White Sprite" white walls tires. I added the Duro tires a couple of years ago, but they have few miles on them. It's a fun, lively bike.

1958 Raleigh Sports 4 Speed (FW)

For some time, I have wanted to straighten the original thimble fork for my 1958 Raleigh Sports. I had previously replaced it with heavy duty replacement fork made by Raleigh Industries. The heavy duty fork was a "Rudge type", but I always wanted to get that original fork straight and put it back on.

Over the summer, I bought a Bessey pipe vice from Home Depot.The vise has a "pipe" cradle on one side and a standard, flat set of jaws on the other. You can pad the flat side with standard vise pads, and use an old inner tube to pad the pipe side. I stuck the fork steerer tube in the pipe cradle and straightened the errant fork blade a short distance with the Park FFS-1 frame arm.










With that done, I replaced the HD fork with the original. This bike has a great FW four speed hub and a four speed shifter. It's a lot of fun, and set up with low gearing. I have three climber gears and one cruising gear.

Someone removed the original Raleigh badge and replaced it with a Schwinn badge. I filled the Schwinn badge holes and put an old Raleigh badge on the head tube with some U-type drive screws. This badge is probably older than the rest of the bike, but it goes well with it.