Urban Assault 3-speed

What comes to your mind when you hear the words "Urban Assault," or an urban assault bike? A 3-speed? Surely not!

Falter Star Rider Full-Size Folding Bikes

In late April of 2016, when I was taking a break from the grind of finals week, I found a 1960s Falter "Star Rider" folding bike for a low price on eBay located in Macomb, MI. I was fairly interested, but had no way to get to Macomb. I also wasn't sure if I was interested enough to weigh myself down with yet another project.

Rosalynn Gets A Third Brake, Plus the Most Unfortunate Tri-Coaster Adventures

And by "unfortunate," I do not mean that anything actually went wrong while I was riding, as the early Sturmey-Archer tri-coasters are known for in the wrong hands.

Raleigh Cottered Crank/Bottom Bracket Service

When I got my first bike that had cottered cranks, a 1958 Raleigh Sports, I didn't know anything and thought "Oh, how convenient! I can probably just undo the nut, use some WD-40, and slide it out! And nope ...

Note: Sheldon Brown and John Allen have already written an excellent article on dealing with cotter pins and they do a better job explaining, so look at that first. As with the article on SW hub service, this one is meant to be a one-stop guide that hopefully supplies enough information to bring someone from start to finish on a compete rebuild of the bottom bracket, covering more than just pin removal.

Rod Brake Service

Rod brakes are an ancient, finicky system. Tuned well, they can provide decades of maintenance-free service in dry weather. However, there are many ways by which their operation can be compromised and the seemingly innocent adjustment of handlebars, stem, and chain tension are a few things that demand extra attention with rod brake roadsters. Also, if you are like me and happen to live in an area without a significant following for vintage or utility cycling, it is likely that no shops in your vicinity will service rod brakes. Rod brake roadsters may seem intimidating to work on at first but I will attempt to dispel any self-doubt that may exist due to the smattering of poorly-given advice on the internet. If you have patience, some basic tools, and can turn a wrench, you can give your own rod brakes a full service. 

This post will cover several different things you can do with rod brakes to make them perform better than new. The order in which these tasks are completed will vary with the condition of the mechanism. If your brakes need a full overhaul, don't hesitate to tear them apart and do all the steps at the same time. With rod brake roadsters, basic maintenance, even a simple wheel removal can take much longer than expected. Take this as motivation to get everything dialed in correctly the first time. First, let's go over the names of some parts just to clarify what I will be talking about:

More Bike Spotting in Ann Arbor

I've been meaning to put these up for a while. Here are some photos of all (?) of the Raleigh-made 3-speeds I have photographed in Ann Arbor during the last two summers. Being in a college town, I often spot bikes that were clearly dug out of the garages of parents and grandparents after years of hibernation, and put back on the road by the kids who don't necessarily know how to care for them because vintage bikes are "in" and can be had for free. After I finished compiling the photos, I thought it was strange that I had so few of them but I guess it's because I've seen some of the bikes multiple times. Or maybe because I'm unable to catch photos some of the time.

The Oldest To Date: 1948 Raleigh Sports Restoration

So I walked into the Re-Use center, picked up a beautiful blue 1975 Raleigh Sports, and bought it ...