Cycling UK Forum

re the hub;

SA three speed is the simplest one out there. Almost certainly repairable, may just need a lot of oil in it, so try that first. Sheldon Brown has some instructions, as do hubstripping and Sturmey archer websites. If in doubt, get an old scrap wheel to practice your hub stripping on.

Re chrome; don't sand it first! Use a brass wire brush/wire wool/metal polish. You may find that there is superficial corrosion and that the chrome plate is OK underneath. Anything more abrasive will remove the chrome plate too and this will leave bare steel that will need painting. If the chrome is bad enough then the rims will need painting anyway, in which case use wet and dry paper to rub them down, and a rust killing treatment etc before painting.

Re wheels; Kingpins use a funny size of tyre. Rims and tyres that size are not very widely available. There are other sizes of rim/tyre which will also fit into the frame and are worth considering if the original wheels are junk (they don't look quite that bad TBH).

hth

cheers

Hello all, first post here so hopefully you might be able to help.

I am getting into servicing and tinkering with peoples bikes for a bit of extra cash and a friend of a friend has dropped off her old, 70s Dawes Kingpin which has certainly seen better days for a full service.

I am going to need some help as I really much more used to working on newer bikes than something of this vintage!

I don't think she wants a full gutting and cleaning/sanding and is happy to put up with some of the rust.
In which case, the rims are OK and fairly true, will need some sanding (any tips on what kind of paper to use?) to get them shining. The front hub is acceptable. The crankset, pedals and BB is also acceptable with a surprising absence of play and wear on the teeth. The same goes for the headset and stem, perfectly acceptable if you like some cosmetic rust.

I will of course replace tyres, cables, pads etc. and give everything else a damn good fettling...

What however is worrying is the rear wheel and hub (Sturmey Archer 3sp). There is next to no lubrication in it, has probably never been serviced and the freewheel is a joke, it just about coasts but wants to re-engage and turn the pedals all the time, plus shifting is unsurprisingly a pig.

So, my questions are:

-What are my options for rebuilding a new rear wheel? Ideally, I would like to be able to buy a decent condition replacement used one from somewhere but where?
-What size replacement chain do I need/can I get away with using?
-What size seat post are these? I don't have calipers but using ruler estimates a 27.8mm tube would work.
-Tips for sanding down chrome bits
-Tips for re-threading cables through frame eyelets...

Your expertise would be much appreciated!

Harry

Brucey wrote:

rjb wrote:1 fixed, 2 X 3speed, 1 6-speed, 1 7-speed, 1 8-speed, 1 10-speed, All i need to complete my collection is a 9 speed and an 11 speed

tsk tsk, no four speed, no five speed.....

Fancy a nice FG hub by any chance?

I might do - could fit it to my Kingpin

I have now worked out my route:
ok so the route plan so far:
17th May: Train to inverness
18th May: Train from inverness to Thurso, then cycle to john O Groats and down to Watten
19th May: Watten to Rogart
20th May: Rogart to Drumnadrochit
21st May: Drumnadrochit to Glencoe
22nd May: Glencoe to Lochranza on the Isle of Arran
23rd May: Lochranza to Brodick then ferry to Ardrossan and south to Newton Stewart
24th May: Newton Stewart to Carlisle
25th May: Carlisle to Arnside
26th May: Arnside to Liverpool
27th May: Liverpool to Ironbridge
28th May: Ironbridge to Stratford upon Avon, with a stop for a pint at the Royal Enfield pub in Redditch.
29th May: Stratford to Bristol

The last bit I will sort out after a rest at home in Bristol.
My bike choice keeps changing but now I have made all my accommodation bookings with this route in mind with a detour to go through Redditch, it seems I will be riding my Royal Enfield Revelation. I will have to do a few small modifications such as lowering the gear ratios, adding ergonomic grips, swapping the saddle to the broken in Brooks flyer from my Kingpin, alterring the handlebar position etc.

3 weeks before my JOGLE too. Still not decided on which bike. Have a route planned as far as Carlisle with accomodation booked. I have my train booked to get there.
I need to get more cycling clothing, a more comfortable helmet, a map or sat nav (or both).


Its a tough one, the Dawes Kingpin (right) is tried and tested and easier to get on the train. The Royal Enfield Revelation has far better weight distribution, is lighter and has drum brakes so I won't have to change brake pads every 2-3 days.

Jenna wrote:Here's a link to my Kingpin mods.

lovely. there's something very cool about riding a modded 70s shopper in fine fettle. did you dismantle and clean the hub's internals?

Jenna wrote:Here's a link to my Kingpin mods... more pics to follow of my 2 folding variants.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifercl ... 54/detail/

Jenna

Did I mention my first bike, given to me for my seventh birthday, was a Dawes Junior Kingpin (in gold, then my sister had a bright red one, something like the colour of that one). The build quality must have been incredible, I treated it like a BMX before they had even been invented, and it took everything I threw at it, or threw it at, for several years My sister eventually broke hers with the aid of a mate she was giving a lift on the handlebars to, going down a particularly bumpy track when the combined weight of two well built thirteen year old girls finally proved too much and it gave way at the joint between the seat tube and main cross tube.

nice work there Jenna!

IIRC someone posted some pics a while back of a heavily modified Kingpin which had been fitted with Cantis. Bit OTT for utility riding, I reckon a front hub brake would be the thing myself.

If neither appeals, there are now some long reach dual pivot calipers available which will make a good fist of it on aluminium rims. However these will probably require new brake levers which pull a bit more cable.

Keeping the original chainguard is a nice touch!

look forward to seeing the folders!

cheers

Here's a link to my Kingpin mods... more pics to follow of my 2 folding variants.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifercl ... 54/detail/

Jenna

caer urfa wrote:Hi Russcoles

Interesting bike - take it that the "exploded" diagram is the same bike as the photo (ie bike not modified post manufacture?)

What is the age, make and model?

Took a look at your other pics - are there some 20 - 20's there?

Cheers

CU

It is a 1966 Royal Enfield Revelation. They're a bit rare and are exceptional bikes. The problem is that I don't have the original rear rack and theres no brake bridge to support the mudguard. Also the long rear of the bike means most racks will not fit without some bodging and a 20" rack is going to need a lot more to make it fit. So if I lower a larger rack and put a bolt through the mudguard up to the rack that should add all the support I need. I want it lowered mainly for appearance, the lines of the bike would be ruined by a rack too high up.
The Twenties aren't mine, just the Kingpin. I'm an admin on raleightwenty.webs.com and sometimes have to resize other ppls pics.

I try to make my bikes as low maintenance as possible and fit the design to my needs. Rather than spend a lot of money on new bikes I use ebay to find old bikes that I can adapt. What I end up with is generally rather different to the standard bike most people would ride.

I wanted a bike suited to touring which I could take on a train without a bike reservation and which would be easy to get around an awkward doorway to get into my flat: Solution was to get an old folding shopper bike as they were designed to carry a lot of shopping and alter it to have more gears.

1975 Dawes Kingpin Folder modified for touring. 20" wheels and folding=no need for bike reservations on trains

My next bike I just wanted something a bit sportier but with a bit of character with very low maintenance. Suited to faster club rides or occasional tweed rides etc.

1966 Royal Enfield Revelation with drum brakes and 5 speed wide range hub gears.
Hub gears and brakes means no need to change brake pads and very low chain wear, small wheels with 36 spokes means the wheels are pretty much bombproof.

If you buy an off the shelf bike you cannot expect it to be ideally suited to your every need. Buying a bike off ebay and rebuilding it how you want it isn't cheap but the results can be amazing. Each of these bike probably cost in the region of £400 to build and because I did it myself, I know how to fix them and they have all the parts and accessories I want on them.

Hi fellow cyclists

Just bought a merc folder, posters online say its a brompton clone, does anyone know if then all parts for brompton fit?

It is a heavy folded package, similar to my old dawes kingpin, although more compact.

Anyone got ideas to lighten it, ie replace with lighter: seatpost, pedals,bars, remove: kickstand, bag attachment block ?

Overall Im not very impressed with it, although if I can find ways to reduce its weight and make the riding position less compressed, I may feel better about it.

I am definitely replacing the chainset to a much smaller set and shorter cranks, I put a 40t childs set on my kingpin I that worked well, this will also lighten the load a bit.

I travel in hope.

I make my own, its very cheap and easy.
You need a mold which is basically a wooden curve similar to the outer curve of your wheel with tyre. You then take 2 strips of balsa about 1.5mm thick and glue them together with epoxy glue and clamp them to the mold to set. At this point you cut to size (you may want to use woodstain at this point to match the colour of the veneer). Then you glue veneer to the outside of the mudguard using the epoxy again and clamp back to the mold to set. Trim the veneer with a craft knife and varnish the mudguard blade with yacht varnish.
Brackets can be made out of brass strip from a model shop. Stays can be made out of 4mm galvanised fencing wire and you will need eyelet bolts which are readily available from ebay.



The Royal Enfield Revelation has mudguards made by the above method with walnut veneer and the balsa is stained with walnut wood stain. The Kingpin has an earlier version using 3 layers of balsa and outdoor wood glue instead of epoxy (much more of a PITA to do) and has Walnut, cherry and maple veneer strips.

These mudguards work extremely well, there is no reason for wooden mudguards to have a compound curve shape. The compound curve shape of most mudguards is because metal and plastic don't have grain to stop them twisting. Flat mudguards are actually better as water and mud don't get squirted out the sides and when you get clogged up with mud its a lot easier to scrape it out.

Oh and that earlier post of mine was my 1st attempt using cherry veneer, I learned 2 things from that:
-Use veneer that doesn't split to easily (avoid cherry)
-position brackets at the bottom of the mudguard so you can't catch it on things and split the veneer.

You could try making your own like other forum members,

search.php?keywords=kingpin&t=3832&sf=msgonly

Brucey wrote:

tiffers wrote:Ooh no. No, I don't think so at all.

-well that was my reaction too... I guess he's built himself a folding touring bike (of a kind) but it wouldn't be what I'd do with a Kingpin, I'd be going for the 'less is more' approach too....

cheers

Of course, that's just made me realise I can't use ThePlug on the kingpin.. Oh well.. for the next project..