3 speed problems

Doki said:

I've been out in the garden having a look at the old Puch 3 speed I picked
up a few weeks ago. I've noticed that the spokes in the rear wheel have naff
all tension in them, and that the steel wheels are going a tad rusty on the
surface. I've also had a look at the tyres, they're Michelins, marked "37 -
590 (26 x 1 3/8 ROADSTER)". I can find tyres, but is it still possible to
get spares for the wheels etc? Ideally, if I were to rebuild the wheels, I'd
get hold of some aluminium rims, as from what I've heard, steel rims don't
provide brilliant braking.

On the other hand, being as I don't know how to build wheels, it might be a
better idea to strip the bike and sell the Sturmey Archer Dynohub it's got.
Any ideas on what they're worth?

Sheldon Brown is the Dynohub expert.

Sun make CR18 rims in this size. St John Street Cyles have them (at a
price, as always!)

Zog The Undeniable said:

Doki said:

I've been out in the garden having a look at the old Puch 3 speed I
picked up a few weeks ago. I've noticed that the spokes in the rear
wheel have naff all tension in them, and that the steel wheels are
going a tad rusty on the surface. I've also had a look at the tyres,
they're Michelins, marked "37 - 590 (26 x 1 3/8 ROADSTER)". I can
find tyres, but is it still possible to get spares for the wheels
etc? Ideally, if I were to rebuild the wheels, I'd get hold of some
aluminium rims, as from what I've heard, steel rims don't provide
brilliant braking.

On the other hand, being as I don't know how to build wheels, it
might be a better idea to strip the bike and sell the Sturmey Archer
Dynohub it's got. Any ideas on what they're worth?

Sheldon Brown is the Dynohub expert.

Sun make CR18 rims in this size. St John Street Cyles have them (at a
price, as always!)

I found them. And I thought "I could bodge together a singlespeed MTB for
the price of two wheels, and have cash left over"...

"Doki" wrote...

Quoted message said:

I've been out in the garden having a look at the old Puch 3 speed I picked
up a few weeks ago. I've noticed that the spokes in the rear wheel have

naff

Quoted message said:

all tension in them, and that the steel wheels are going a tad rusty on

the

Quoted message said:

surface. I've also had a look at the tyres, they're Michelins, marked

"37 -

Quoted message said:

590 (26 x 1 3/8 ROADSTER)". I can find tyres, but is it still possible to
get spares for the wheels etc? Ideally, if I were to rebuild the wheels,

I'd

Quoted message said:

get hold of some aluminium rims, as from what I've heard, steel rims don't
provide brilliant braking.

On the other hand, being as I don't know how to build wheels, it might be

a

Quoted message said:

better idea to strip the bike and sell the Sturmey Archer Dynohub it's

got.

Quoted message said:

Any ideas on what they're worth?

If you don't know how to build wheels, this could be your chance to start.
Get a copy of Jobst Brandt's book "The Bicycle Wheel", read through it, and
decide whether you want to try to build your own wheels. Financially,
building your own wheels provides little or no behefit, but I take a fair
bit of satisfaction in building my own wheels.
--
mark

On Sun, 30 May 2004 11:46:59 +0100, "Doki" <[email hidden]>

may have said:

I've been out in the garden having a look at the old Puch 3 speed I picked
up a few weeks ago. I've noticed that the spokes in the rear wheel have naff
all tension in them, and that the steel wheels are going a tad rusty on the
surface.

Surface rust may be deceiving, and may not indicate a real problem.
Peel the tires off and look at the inner surface, particularly where
the beads seat and along the edges of the spoke tape. If you have
flaking, scaly or bubbly corrosion there, I'd recommend considering
replacement of the rim. While it's possible to clear the corrosion
and keep the rim in service for a while, it's been my experience that
once a steel rim starts to rot in this way, it just gets worse. If
the inside surfaces of the rims are sound and smooth, I'd keep on
using them.

Quoted message said:

I've also had a look at the tyres, they're Michelins, marked "37 -
590 (26 x 1 3/8 ROADSTER)". I can find tyres, but is it still possible to
get spares for the wheels etc?

That would be an EA-3 rim, which isn't as common as it once was, but
is still readily available.

Quoted message said:

Ideally, if I were to rebuild the wheels, I'd
get hold of some aluminium rims, as from what I've heard, steel rims don't
provide brilliant braking.

Aluminium EA-3 rims are available.

Quoted message said:

On the other hand, being as I don't know how to build wheels, it might be a
better idea to strip the bike and sell the Sturmey Archer Dynohub it's got.
Any ideas on what they're worth?

The hub by itself typically fetches in the area of $25 in the US
market in my experience, somewhat more in the UK market; no data on
anywhere else. Whether the rest of the components will fetch any
offers will be determined by the local demand.

Building a wheel isn't really too difficult; a bit tedious, yes, but
as long as you have a bit of patience and can follow the directions,
it is possible to build a good wheel with little experience.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Doki said:

I've been out in the garden having a look at the old Puch 3 speed I picked
up a few weeks ago. I've noticed that the spokes in the rear wheel have naff
all tension in them, and that the steel wheels are going a tad rusty on the
surface. I've also had a look at the tyres, they're Michelins, marked "37 -
590 (26 x 1 3/8 ROADSTER)". I can find tyres, but is it still possible to
get spares for the wheels etc? Ideally, if I were to rebuild the wheels, I'd
get hold of some aluminium rims, as from what I've heard, steel rims don't
provide brilliant braking.

Those tires are the same ones used by classic English 3-speeds:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/english-3.html

Replacement aluminum rims are fairly easy to buy:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/rims/590.html

Quoted message said:

On the other hand, being as I don't know how to build wheels, it might be a
better idea to strip the bike and sell the Sturmey Archer Dynohub it's got.
Any ideas on what they're worth?

Dynohubs are somewhat desireable, but not hugely so.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club