Pedal Revolution Used Bicycle Update: Motobecane Step-Through 3-Speed

Pedal Revolution Used Bicycle Update: Motobecane Step-Through 3-Speed

Another Pedal Revolution original here.  This bike was donated with long obsolete 27″ wheels, a conventional derailleur drivetrain, a low long deep drop handlebar (i.e. uncomfortable) and a bric a brac of low-endish 80s parts.

The bike was reconstituted with a more upright Velo Orange Milan bar and svelte Tektro neo-retro levers (they look like a lot of levers on older bikes but benefit from stiffer cold forge construction and return springs for smoothness and greater cable life).

New 700c wheels with a Sturmey Archer 3-Speed internal gear hub replace the clunky and complex original drivetrain.  Soma Xpress terra cotta tires make another appearance here.  These are essentially a slightly more beefed up version of the Panaracer Pasela tires that get are often spotlighted on this blog.

The gold housing just looks really great. It jives well with the painted on logo but neither enhances or undermines the brake function.

The cork grips were heavily layered with shellac for good looks but they also don’t feel too bad.

The demi-mixte frame construction is totally wild.  Just prior to Pedal Revolution being donated this bike, I (Joel), had seen another one of these frames in the shop for the first time and it blew my mind.  So strange to have another one given to us so soon after that.  The unconventional frame construction and 3-Speed rebuild make this a super unique bike.

Burgundy (in New Orleans, they would call the color “Ber-gun-day”) Motobecane Step-Through 3-Speed:

$500 – A Good Ride for someone about 5’4″?

SOLD

Robin Hood 3-Speed @ Pedal Revolution Refurbished Bike Update

1969 Robin Hood 3-Speed Step-Through – $350 SOLD!

1969 Robin Hood

In the year 2008, I (Joel) began my career as a bicycle mechanic.  7 years ago this month actually.  I worked at Broadway Bicycle School in Cambridge, MA. This shop serviced many old British 3-Speed bikes.  It was actually kind of a specialty of the shop.  I was tasked with tuning up many of these bikes and let me tell you, at the time, they were the bane of my existence.  Compared with contemporary bikes, these bikes are unconventional and quirky as can be (internal gear hubs that are influenced by by their position in the frame, front hubs that are adjusted in the fork, use of metric and non-metric/imperial fasteners, “Raleigh”/26 TPI threading, brakes that are centered with a hammer and punch!…).

A real fully equipped city bike!

At a certain indecipherable point (I suppose it has been a process, journey or evolution in my development as a mechanic and cyclist) I formed a real affection for these idiosyncratic machines best celebrated on the Sheldon Brown (fellow Broadway Bicycle School alumnus) website.  Please allow me to quote:

These Are Real Bikes!

on’t sneer at old 3-speeds. They are serious bikes, built for serious use. They are meant for utilitarian cyclists, and they are still extremely appropriate for riders who don’t usually go more than a few miles at a time. They are particularly at home in stop-and-go traffic, because they can be shifted even while stopped. Their English heritage: full fenders, oil lubrication, and totally enclosed gear system makes them relatively impervious to wet conditions. They may be heavy, but that is not because they were built to be cheap, but because they were built to endure extremely rough usage and neglect. Properly cared for, they will outlast us all.

Conventional Quill Stem Diameter with Unconventional/Raleigh Size Bar Clamp Size

As evidenced by the date stamped on this Robin Hood’s Sturmey Archer hub, this bicycle was manufactured in 1969.

1969 Sturmey Archer AW (“Always Works”) Hub

In 1969, the guts of the Sturmey Archer AW hub were much the same as  in 1902, having survived two world wars, the great depression, the baby boom and several high-profile assassinations fully intact. However, 1969 was a pivotal year of change in the history of Rock N Roll.  Anyone in the Bay Area today who happens to catch audio glimpses of traffic reports referencing Altamont must surely be reminded of the ugly events that occurred at the free concert there in December 1969, the edge of the 1970s.  As we now know, the Altamount Free Concert was the event that signaled the end of the day glow tie dye days of peace and love.  What followed was a decade of earth tones, religious cultism, political assassination, heavy narcotic use, domestic terrorism, disco, escalating imperial war atrocities, and the emergence of punk rock. Around the time I was birthed, The Clash succinctly penned the perfect counter point to the peace and love espoused by the flowerer children of the 60’s, Hate and War (“the only things we got today”).  A real theme song for the 1970s.

Robin Hood, a Raleigh sub-brand.  Same factory, same threading…

A more positive association one can make with this bike and The Clash is their invocation of Robin Hood in the excellent song White Man in Hammersmith Palais.  Perhaps the first of example of White musicians properly doing what Bob Marley would affectionately call the “punky reggae”.

Short (165mm) Sugino Cranks

As mentioned in the above quote from the Sheldon Brown website, although these are real bikes, they were geared for the flat streets of Nottingham or Manchester (see the below video) England rather than hilly San Francisco.  Thusly, the original cottered cranks were replaced with a Velo Orange threadless bottom bracket (mooting the Raleigh threaded bottom bracket shell) and a beautiful Sugino crank fitted with a 42 tooth chainring.  This crank is mated to a 23 tooth rear cog and provides excellent gearing for our vertiginous local terrain.

 

 

Schwinn Breeze @ Pedal Revolution Refurbished Bike Update

Gee whiz, there have been a lot of cool winds whipping down 21st street this week but none quite like this Schwinn Breeze step-through three-speed with kickstand (it’s built right into the frame)!

A ordinary cruiser for the common people.

The component highlight on this British inspired Yankee manufactured three-speed is the  Pedal Revolution staff Joel and Todd favorite Sturmey Archer AW hub (disambiguation: Always Works and not to be confused with the vastly inferior TCW model, aka The Crappy Won).

 Imagine riding this bike headstrong into the haze of another foggy San Francisco sunset.

The ideal owner of this bike will be of shorter stature and enjoy taking in the view more than speeding along, not be unnerved by some of the slight elevation changes that can occur on some of San Francisco’s flatter cycling routes, and be experiencing a pecuniary pinch.

$275 – Schwinn Breeze Step-Thru 3-Speed 

 

NPlusOne

Among us bike nerds/collectors/obsessives there is a funny formula that succinctly expresses our never sated pursuit of the optimal number of bikes to own: N + 1 (N = Number of Bikes Currently Owned)

I (Joel) was recently down to a scant 5 bikes after having sold my 1960 Atala track bike that I had built as a safe (see front brake) and dandy upright fixed gear city bike.  A really neat bike that I just wasn’t riding and was terrified to lock on the street; a wicked negative feedback loop!

Lots of Campy here

Nevertheless, I saw the need to have a lighter weight bike for East Bay Bart trips.  My main city bike (a Surly Cross Check retrofitted with a 1969 Sturmey Archer AW 3-Speed Hub and equipped with Velo Orange Porteur Rack fenders, and generator lights) can be a bit a bear to lug up and down stairs and maneuver on semi-crowded trains.

44 lbs with an average tool and lock load

Enter the All City Nature Boy single speed cross bike:

Over the years I had accumulated a lot of parts that I was able to utilize on this bike.  Mainly, I had to buy the frame/fork and build new wheels on a rear Surly hub given to me by my co-worker (thanks Todd) and a nice sealed bearing front hub made by Specialized about 20 years ago (not sure who to thank here).

The complete build is very lightweight compared to my Surly so it is easy to haul up and down stairs and it is nice to not have to worry about smashing a rear derailleur when Barting or parking on the street.

As pictured, the bike is a fun ride on off-road romps.  I’m in the process of sorting out optimal gearing and handlebar/cockpit position/set-up.  I may use it for some cross racing in the fall and will definitely use it for city riding with some 35mm slick tires and non-clipless (clip?) pedals.

Cool (too tall?) tall stack stem

All City bikes share the same parent company as Surly bikes but have some very interesting aesthetic flourishes like paneled paint jobs…

Wet Paint Job

and this awesome dual-plate lugged fork crown.

Now I have 3 bikes (N divided by 2) with this style fork

Although I can’t ultimately solve the problem of N+1 I do believe no serious city/utilitarian cyclist can have just 1 bike.  A serious rider needs to have a primary transport bike (city bike or touring bike???) plus a secondary/back-up/guest/rain/booze missile bike (single-speed/road racing/British 3-speed/touring bike???) for those times when one’s primary bike is is need of service or other call of duty. For now, just wait until I get my new mountain bike…

 

Spalding Blade 56cm 3-Speed @ Pedal Revolution Refurbished Bike Update

Spalding Blade 56 cm Three-Speed @ Pedal Revolution Refurbished Bike Update

Spalding Blade

Upon immediate viewing, some aesthetic purists may be put-off by the visually incongruous, new but narrow and deep wheels on this this otherwise low-profile urban conveyor.   If offended, these aesthetes should redirect their gaze to the practical amenities the bike is outfitted with:

Full Fenders (front and rear!).  You will be very happy to have these when it is raining but even when it is droughting, they look smart and let others know you practical and are ready for conditions to change.

Fenders are called  “Mud Guards” in the British English idiom

Art Deco Rear Rack!

Kickstand!

Greenfield Kickstand – Made in the USA

A Great Bike for a rider about 5’6″ – 5’10” tall.

Yuletide Red

SOLD 56cm (top tube) – $445