Hello, new here :)

Hi, my name is Kai and i am from Germany, so english is not my mother tongue .. :?

I already had some bicycles and also british cars in my life, and am currently restoring a Swiss military bicycle from 1928 for daily use (they are very sturdy, however some parts are now hard to come by, single speed of course..).

Then i recently saw an advertisement on eBay, a Raleigh bicycle, a bit newish from the 1980ies, a "Tourist S" 3-speed but very "vintage"-looking, with rod brakes, chain case etc., and in very good condition, too.
To make things short i was able to get it, and it was not too expensive, either.

Unfortunately there are a few nuts and bolts missing, especially the fender 'stays' (?) screws, where they are screwed to the rear frame. They seem to have a special thread, and i do not want to ruin it by screwing in german screws.. Also the forward axle (Sturmey Archer brake hub, (SBF? SBC?) 90mm diameter) is in bad condition, the thread on both sides is completely worn out. The "rest" is very good though, can post some photos if you like.

Is there any chance to get the original screws or at least some with the same thread, and a fore axle for said bicycle?

Thank you very much in advance,
Kai

Re:

Hi Kai,
If you can do some close up pictures, fork ends, head lugs, etc. we can see if it is a Raleigh or foreign. The date you quote is just after Raleigh finished.

The front hub was probably 3/8 inch by 26 thread per inch, which was standard for rear wheels. The flats on the axle allow the wheel to go into 5/16 inch fork ends, the old standard. Probably someone could not get the right nuts. The problem with the brake and dyno front hubs is the thread is very long on the brake side, and you have a long bearing cone on the brake side.

The original Raleigh mudguard screws were hexagon head bigger than 5mm with a coarse thread. You may have to use something different.

Keith

Re:

Hello Keith, thanks! Will Post photos tomorrow, not at home now. Greetings, Kai

Hello again,
have posted some photos. The fender screw that can be seen mounted on the bicycle is not the original one but has a smaller diameter and is only plugged in - falls out when you touch it
(see extra photo 'rear fender screw' which is the original one, overall length 13,5 mm, thread length 10,3 mm, thread diametre 6 mm)

screw:




wrong screw mounted:




Brake lever assembly, riveted Raleigh badge visible:




rod assembly




fork end:




So i would need the rear fender/mudguard(?) screw (or better 2-3, for future use), and the 130 mm front axle. I think i have an axle i can use, so this is not that urgent..

Thanks very much,
Kai

The bike is a Raleigh, the handlebars need to go down at least 2 inches.
Odd that it mis the old type bolt up roadster frame with brazed front fork ends. Apparently these were made for export up till 1979 in UK but possibly later in other factories.

Mudguard stays for these 1920s types usually fitted over the hub axles. In the UK these bikes were outdated in 1938 by the fully brazed up frames with 26 inch wheels and lower bottom bracket, so that by the early 1950s they had no UK market.

Keith

Re:

Hello Keith, have not yet found a solution for the 'big hexagon' mudguard screws, maybe the thread is of the British standard fine (Bsf) kind? Then it should be possible to get something like that from Triumph, or Mg. It is M6 anyway, and the thread is more narrow than the usual German bicycle threads. The axle is ok now, I found another rear axle (usually wider) with the same thread and longer, so I sawed it off and flattened the ends accordingto the original axle - fits perfectly. The hubs are both of the brake drum type b.t.w., no dynohub but three speed at the rear. So the whole bicycle was made for export, with some unusual parts (?) and of a pre-50 type not sold in the UK after that, hmm. Will lower the handlebars a bit.. Thank you very much! Greetings, Kai

Re:

Hello again,
well i have had no luck in finding the right screws. I know that Raleigh used its own machinery and tools, and never really adapted to ISO or whatever. A friend has an old MG with similar problems (MG taking over this arms factory back then and using its french metric thread cutters, which does not fit the international metric a.s.o...)
Knowing of those problems he has a lot of gauges to measure threads of all kinds, icluding Whitworth, BSF, BSC (br. standard cyle), UNC and the lot. It's not metric or french old metric either. To make things short, not one fitted.

It seems(!) to be a tiny bit more than 6mm diameter, the thread could be 28 tpi, but the screw is short and the thread very worn. Also the flanks/angles of the thread may not fit. We tried a lot of different screws at the frame, but the best fitting would block after 4-5 turns, and as said before i would not like to ruin the frame, or cut new metric threads. There must be a way to get some of those, or find out the thread and produce those screws on a lathe.

Unfortunately with the ends of the tubes running downn from the saddle, there is no way to use this bicycle without those screws, without bending it. They take all the weight of the rider, on the rear ends.

Re:

The screws you refer to at the rear are intended to hold the frame together. This type of old roaster frame would have had mudguard stays on the rear axle.

You may be able to hold the frame by using a bolt with a lock nut.

Unusual to see brazed front fork ends on these bikes, but the front mudguard stays are fitted on the hub axle.

Keith

Hi,
it is all there on the second photo i posted here, which is unfortunately rotated by some 90 degrees.

The fork has indeed brazed dropouts, and the mudguard stays at the front are being held by the axle nuts.
The rear is different, the two horizontal frame tubes coming from the bottom bracket, are indeed screwed to the axle by those "big" axle nuts.

But both rear tubes coming down diagonally from the saddle, the stays from the rack, and the mudguards, are screwed on by those screws above the axle. So the mudguards at the rear were not fixed with the axle nuts, but with those extra screws above it (from which one is worn out, and the other missing).

Like here (second to last picure):
http://bikecult.com/works/archive/03bic ... ghDL1.html
(The hexagonal screw(s) of my bike do not have any marking, they are chromed and plain flat)

So i should follow your advice (there is enough room at the inner side, for a nut between frame and hub), and use bolts with less diamater, and lock nuts.

If someone ever comes across the exact description of the screws used ..

Hello,
update:
Have found the right screws, turned out to be some strange UNF thread (and they are black, not chromed). Will post the exact specs when i know it. They had the screws, but no idea what they are

So thanks again, and some photos:




And the new black screw(s), on a silver washer..




The rods ..




And at an angle .. the lamp is not original, but i had to replace the square plastic one. I still have a chromed Miller headlamp somewhere, a bit smaller than this one butwould fit better i think ..




Greetings,
Kai