Vintage Rollfast: derailleur adder

[Jude Ephesus]

Ok: not to put the cart before the horse….. but…

Thinking about this bike as a summer build off bike. Debating build options

The red rider was a full re-cabling… I basically redid all the cables on the bike, which was new to me, and everything came out pretty good.

This bike definitely has older style and different rear drops.

Is it tough to put an old Schwinn or other brand derailleur on this thing? (I’ve got some Schwinn parts bikes)

Thinking about:
Single speed/ coaster (24” wheel fat tire)
3 speed internal hub (26” wheel)
5 speed rear cassette (26” or 27 x 1 1/4” wheel)

Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[Captain Awesome]

3 speed internal

 

[Wildcat]

26" x 2.125 tire with 2 speed kickback hub.

 

[Starnger]

Planetary hubs are the best! Can't go wrong with two or three speed hub

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Planetary hubs are the best! Can't go wrong with two or three speed hub

I’ve seen those on klunkers…. They look expensive. Can you buy them in wheel-sets? Ive never laced a wheel…. What is the brake mechanism?

 

[twojs.bike]

That’s an awesome frame! I have been playing around with vintage Sturmey archer hubs recently. Certainly still a novice. I was able to pick up a 1960 Sturmey Archer AW for $40 plus shipping on eBay. Lacing a wheel isn’t hard. I actually find truing the wheel to be very relaxing and satisfying. Dishing a little more difficult for me. But if you’re into building bikes why not learn to build wheels. The money does add up though. Spokes, rims, truing stand.

I have overhauled 2 vintage SA hubs. They were both clean a whistle inside. Probably no need to rebuild these things, but I couldn’t resist.

Cabling the vintage SA hubs is also costly. Not easy to find the cable pulleys and other cables by HW. It starts to add up. They are cool though.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

What is the brake mechanism?

There are different kinds. Sturmey Archer hubs come with brakes that can be pedal activated, cable activated by hand lever, or free spinning with no brakes for use with rim brakes. I occasionally drool over the stuff they're making nowadays, endless possibilities!

https://www.sturmey-archer.com/en/products/rear-hubs

 

[Wildcat]

Simplest is the 2 speed kickback with coaster brake. No cables.
This is the Sturmey Archer kickback hub with coaster I have. S2C. It was just under a hundred bucks a few years ago:

 

[ingola]

I’ve seen those on klunkers…. They look expensive. Can you buy them in wheel-sets? Ive never laced a wheel…. What is the brake mechanism?

Give laceing a wheel a try the have fantastic spoke calculators make things really simple and it will save you a fortune. Parks has an excellent video.

 

[Ulu]

I agree that wheel building is fun, and I did my first ones as a teenager.

When you do your first one it helps to have another one just like it to follow the pattern.

But photographs work too, if you don’t have a wheel as a pattern.

And if you are doing a custom job, then you’d likely will have nothing better than photographs to work from (if that.)

For the very first one I would just take a wheel apart completely clean it all up, maybe repaint the hoop, and put it back together.

I would do at least one like that before attempting a custom wheel that you will have to order spokes for. Not only is it the perfect experience, you know it has to fit, so it’s easy to know when you make an error and what it was. Also, it gives you some idea of how much leeway you have in the spoke lengths when you’re building wheels.

I’ve never had a kickback hub, but I’ve had various three speed Sturmey archers with & without brakes and they all worked well and all had the same issue. Cable stretch requires adjustments.

Also, Everything revolves around second gear, and if you build a shifter, you have to set it up around that idea.

 

[RustySprockets]

Just a suggestion, but find a spare scrap wheel and disassemble it. Practice making your measurements, using the spoke calc, re-lacing, and truing. You know the parts are correct because they came from an assembled wheel to begin with. Meanwhile, a dedicated truing stand is an unnecessary luxury if just doing one or two wheels. You can get acceptable results simply using an inverted frame and a zip-tie for a pointer.

 

[Cmdr Ronald]

Ok: not to put the cart before the horse….. but…

Thinking about this bike as a summer build off bike. Debating build options

The red rider was a full re-cabling… I basically redid all the cables on the bike, which was new to me, and everything came out pretty good.

This bike definitely has older style and different rear drops.

Is it tough to put an old Schwinn or other brand derailleur on this thing? (I’ve got some Schwinn parts bikes)

Thinking about:
Single speed/ coaster (24” wheel fat tire)
3 speed internal hub (26” wheel)
5 speed rear cassette (26” or 27 x 1 1/4” wheel)

Any input is greatly appreciated!
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Greetings! Go ahead... put it where ya want it. Front, back, on the roof... I've had VW Beetles & a Corvair, though my only attempt to ride bare back did not go well. ~ Internally geared hubs are the cat's meow. Only had 3-spd so far, but I thinks 7 or 8 or so with belt drive & big honkin' brakes & fat tires would be very cool. A journey with a thousand brakes is no good without traction, Glasshoppa.