Newbie question 3speed upgrade

[Modelcarjedi]

I want to upgrade my 66 schwinn Panther beater to a 3speed. Is the Shimano Nexus 3 Speed Wheel Set with Shifter worth the money? The S-7 rims on my bike have seen better days

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[horsefarmer]

A plus would be ditching Schwinn middleweight rims - use any cool tires you want!

 

[Wildcat]

I give it a thumbs up!
As horsefarmer said, your choice of tires is large with those rims. Decimal sizes like 1.75 are very close to the original tires, but you could go a little wider and still have room for the fenders. No fenders? Then you could go as wide as 2.125, like I did on my Typhoon. With better tires, maybe high pressure, your bike will be much faster than the original set up. You could also put skinnier tires, like 26 x 1.50 to make it faster. With lighter rims and good tires, I could ride my old 53 Schwinn at 20+ mph, just for a short period though. I caught up with a road bike on a smooth bike trail and surprised the rider, he said he was going 22 mph.
For that price, that's a good deal for a complete 3 speed with coaster brake setup. If you go that route, I'd like to see how your bike looks.

 

[Big Ape]

You might check with @ind-chuckz
He usually has or can build a nice 3 speed wheel set. Possibly for less money, and his hd wheels are stronger than this set would be. Shoot him a personal message, it couldn't hurt.

Big Ape

 

[Modelcarjedi]

I'd like to get away from the S-7 rims on this bike. More tire options would be great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Modelcarjedi]

Here is what I'm working on

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Modelcarjedi]

I give it a thumbs up!
As horsefarmer said, your choice of tires is large with those rims. Decimal sizes like 1.75 are very close to the original tires, but you could go a little wider and still have room for the fenders. No fenders? Then you could go as wide as 2.125, like I did on my Typhoon. With better tires, maybe high pressure, your bike will be much faster than the original set up. You could also put skinnier tires, like 26 x 1.50 to make it faster. With lighter rims and good tires, I could ride my old 53 Schwinn at 20+ mph, just for a short period though. I caught up with a road bike on a smooth bike trail and surprised the rider, he said he was going 22 mph.
For that price, that's a good deal for a complete 3 speed with coaster brake setup. If you go that route, I'd like to see how your bike looks.
View attachment 21279
View attachment 21280

Great looking bikes!

 

[Modelcarjedi]

You might check with @ind-chuckz
He usually has or can build a nice 3 speed wheel set. Possibly for less money, and his hd wheels are stronger than this set would be. Shoot him a personal message, it couldn't hurt.

Big Ape

Thanks for the info!

 

[Wildcat]

I have cleaned up some old Schwinns and found that their chrome and paint were very good quality. On a black 1964 American, same frame style as yours, it looked faded like yours. But the paint came back shiny, almost like new with just a cleaning with soap and water, then a couple coats of paste car wax. The chrome also cleaned up, with 0000 steel wool and some wd-40. They were rusted, but the chrome looked perfect afterward.

 

[deorman]

It may take a little more effort than just sticking it on there, depending on drop-out spacing of the wheel and the bike, and the rigidity of the rear triangle. I have 2 bikes that started as one speed coasters. In one instance, the drop-outs were actually a little wider than the original hub,and I was able to use an older Shimano 3-spd with no effort, however I have gone to a 10 spd derailleur set up, which requires me to pry the dropouts apart to install the wheel. In the other instance, the dropout spacing was a precise fit to the old hub, so that using the same type of 3-spd requires the same prying apart to accept the hub. Some people permanently spread the rear triangle to accept the wider spacing of multi-geared hubs, but it needs to be done with some caution, as you need to maintain wheel centering to go straight, and if you go too far, bending it back and forth may weaken the stays, or the joints that connect them to the front triangle.

 

[Modelcarjedi]

You might check with @ind-chuckz
He usually has or can build a nice 3 speed wheel set. Possibly for less money, and his hd wheels are stronger than this set would be. Shoot him a personal message, it couldn't hurt.

Big Ape

His rims look great, I messaged him about getting a set

 

[CrazyDave]

you could sell the racks and pay for the rim set....

 

[horsefarmer]

I had to spread the frame on my Heavy Duti Rocket to fit a derailleur, used a car scissors jack and it worked great - just take your time.

 

[deorman]

By the way, http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/in...pe-w-nexus-8-speed-shifter.97202/#post-975029

 

[Modelcarjedi]

I ordered a set from @ind-chuckz
Can't wait to use them on my project

 

[Modelcarjedi]

I saw that and I hope someone snatches them up

By the way, http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/in...pe-w-nexus-8-speed-shifter.97202/#post-975029

t mm

 

[RustySprockets]

RJ strikes again! His example is on a derailleur equipped roadie, but the concept and tools apply to any style of bike, really.

 

[gpotter43]

Speaking of Nexus 3-speed does anybody know the length of spokes I need to convert an S2 to a Nexus 3 speed

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk

 

[CrazyDave]

Speaking of Nexus 3-speed does anybody know the length of spokes I need to convert an S2 to a Nexus 3 speed

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk

ya might wanna ask member "yeshoney" he has a set for sale here http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/in...-igh-complete-package-including-spokes.95537/

 

[squirreldh]

A quick tip for those spreading their frames, if you dont have a Park ...-1 to check alignment, you can run a string from rear dropout around headtube and back to other rear dropout. Measure the distance from the string to your seat tube, it should be even on both sides, if the distance is greater on one side than the other your frame is out of alignment and will creep sideways down the road.

Sent from my SPH-M830 using Tapatalk