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A lot of ingenuity going on here!
Sorry to hear of your health issues, @us56456712 . I hope you are on the road to recovery. Or in the case of this build, the 'off-road' to recovery.

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I really dig this build so far!😎😎I picked up this '55 Raleigh Sports that belonged to a life long mechanic a few years ago. The aluminum SA hib was set up with a Shimano 600 arabesque derailleur hooked up to a thumb shifter. It's a lot of fun to ride with a splitter for each gear!!🤓
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Just throwing that out there. Please continue.:forum:
 
Calculations for spoke length of the rear hub. Non drive side of the hub flange.View attachment 258563View attachment 258564View attachment 258565View attachment 258566
Drive side hub diameter measurement.View attachment 258567View attachment 258568
Trying to measure hub to hub distance with two very different hub flange diameters. There is probably a better way, like taking my small metal ruler and sliding it across. The measurement this way would still be off because of the angle. A right angle with two small rulers held at the right angle with tape might be the best way.
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I used a school compass and collapsed the pencil all the way down and used paper to draw 2 arches. I measured that distance.
 
I’m going to try to see if I can get a derailleur to work. It’s a Stumy Archer Three speed internally geared drum brake hub. I removed both cog spacers and put on a dished 23 tooth 3/32 cog, teeth inward, on first, then a 16 tooth 3/32 dished cog teeth outward. Since it’s not a coaster brake a derailleur might work. So, if it works it will be a 6 speed. There is 3/16 inch between cogs. More than 3/32 but less than 1/4 inch. I plan to try a 3/32 chain as that will work with a derailleur. It’s all experimental.
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I also did that with chain wheels, two dished away from each other provided enough space for a chain. That was with a standard one piece crank, with a pair of lucky 7 chain wheels, a 36 and a 42, leaving out the big washer on the drive side.
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I also did that on a cottered crankset but cut up an old one and bolted the second chainwheeel on.

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View attachment 258794
I also did that with chain wheels, two dished away from each other provided enough space for a chain. That was with a standard one piece crank, with a pair of lucky 7 chain wheels, a 36 and a 42, leaving out the big washer on the drive side.
View attachment 258796


I also did that on a cottered crankset but cut up an old one and bolted the second chainwheeel on.

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I can’t see how that would work, trying to back pedal to stop. Or do you stop and remove the chain from one cog, move the wheel in the drops and put the chain on the other cog? Here is the chainring I’m using.
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I’m going to grind off the sewage on a steel cottered exercise bike crank and weld on this cog. Like I did here. This chainring is from an old exercise bike.
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I can’t see how that would work, trying to back pedal to stop. Or do you stop and remove the chain from one cog, move the wheel in the drops and put the chain on the other cog? Here is the chainring I’m using. View attachment 258804I’m going to grind off the sewage on a steel cottered exercise bike crank and weld on this cog. Like I did here. This chainring is from an old exercise bike.View attachment 258806
With coaster brakes it won't work. I had one setup where I had two chainwheels with two cogs, each a size that would use the same chain for a low gear and for high. Front was 36/42 and rear 16/20 if I remember right. 42/16 was high, 36/20 was low. I used a tensioner to allow a manual gear change without loosening the rear wheel. But not with coaster brakes, they need a solid chain line.
 
With coaster brakes it won't work. I had one setup where I had two chainwheels with two cogs, each a size that would use the same chain for a low gear and for high. Front was 36/42 and rear 16/20 if I remember right. 42/16 was high, 36/20 was low. I used a tensioner to allow a manual gear change without loosening the rear wheel. But not with coaster brakes, they need a solid chain line.
That’s what I figured when I was thinking about doing this. I appreciate everyone’s input, ideas and photos. It’s inspiring. I’m not getting much done as we’re not currently living where my shop is. This place has almost no tools. I had a hard time finding a hammer here for another project. I have no tire irons or nipple wrenches so I used a screwdriver on the nipples and I can’t get them tight. I put a tire on, by hand, but I can’t get it to seat quite right. Three days of monkeying with it and it’s close. I have a tool for seating but it’s at my shop 130 miles round trip away. There are children here so I might buy a rolling tool chest with a lock for the basement here and start buying tools as I need them. I just bought a $740 Park professional tool stand for here. It’s assembled but not bolted to plywood yet. I have duplicates or quite a few tools so I’ll have to do an inventory and bring them here, but not until I can secure them. I remember loosing, or ruining my fathers tools as we kids would borrow our family tools and combine them with other family tools and they wold get lost in the grass our the electric ones would eat burned out from over use.
 
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as we kids would borrow our family tools and combine them with other family tools and they wold get lost in the grass our the electric ones would eat burned out from over use.
Haha I demolished so many of ThundrrrDad's tools through misuse... The jigsaw and drill by cutting bed rails to make skateboard grinders, countless stripped screwdrivers, rounded wrenches, that time I got bored and took apart the lawnmower...
 
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The spoke calculations were off. The hubs not centered in the rim. I tried shorter spokes on the drive side to try and pull the hub over but they wouldn’t cross, too short. I ordered longer spokes for the non drive side to see if I can push the hub over. What a pain.
When Raleigh used the drum breaks and dynamos they used the same length on both sides one was two cross and the other three
 
This spoke calculator is the one I always use, it's always been right on for me.

https://www.prowheelbuilder.com/spokelengthcalculator
The hub I’m using has very different R and L diameters and flange thicknesses right and left. I think that’s why I get different calculations. The hub may not fit modern calculators very well. The front hub spoke calculators with the same size flanges right and left didn’t give me much variance. Two came out close to 270 and one calculator gave me 258, which I threw out. 270 worked. I’ve always used at least three spoke length calculators, they all give you a different answer, but generally agree. Quite often one is off, so I don’t trust using just one. I like the Sapim calculator. I’m going to yous the one you recommend to see what spoke length it gives and compare it to the four I already used. None of the 4 agreed with a 4mm variance in length calculated. Maybe yours will agree with one of my 4. I just looked. How can you use it if your using hub and wheel brands that aren’t listed my stuff is vintage.
 
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