Skidstar Therapy

[hartleymartin]

Great looking bikes, guys!!

Abbotsford Cycles in Melbourne stock new 27" whitewalls (AT) $25 each. I took a couple of pairs home after the last work trip down there... they look unreal!

OooOoo! Stylish - I must get some! Traditional block tread?

[Wild Turkey]

My mate just scored one for a 10er at the local junk sale.

I hate him.

[hartleymartin]

Just to add further comment. I found evidence of a trigger shifter being original equipment on my skidstar. I found the marks on the top tube which correspond to an SA cable block and where the pulley would have been mounted near the top of the seat-post. Just luckily I have found a number of both items as spare parts!

[im_no_pro]

My mate just scored one for a 10er at the local junk sale.

I hate him.

So do I

[cludence]

Not quite a skidstar but a bit big for a standard dragster...

This one I bought of a scrap metal hunter a few weeks ago. I spotted two bikes in his trailer so hailed him down and bought this and another bike from him. The other bike was also a Schwinn but it has gone to another home (in return I got a cotter pin press )

This is a Schwinn 5 speed cruiser...

[hartleymartin]

My mate just scored one for a 10er at the local junk sale.

I hate him.

So do I

I'm moving we form a hate society! </irony>

Good for him, I hope that he does it up nicely, appreciates it and rides it around.

[im_no_pro]

Good for him, I hope that he does it up nicely, appreciates it and rides it around.

Really?? I was hoping he decided it was too much work to fix up and decided to give it to me in a moment of frustration...

[hartleymartin]

in return I got a cotter pin press

I REALLY ought to get myself one of those considering that there are more cotter-pins in my garage than in some museums...

(I exaggerate a little)

[stackyard59]

The older Schwinn looks like it would scrub up nice karen. Amazing and still worrying what is still being sent off to the metal recyclers.The tandem was pulled? And talkin skidstars,the five speed Gts project is coming along. Now fitted is five speed sports shifter, Cyclo Twin cluster,with early Huret derailleur and long Huret shifter. This now makes it a 10 speed. As mentioned earlier, i did this on my ist straight top bar skidstar in the early seventies, so a bit of a time warp trip for me really Power brake calipers have been rechromed and reassembled, lines from teddy bear have to be shortened, then they can be fitted up. Once i have all the bits on and i'm happy with the ride then i'll give it the original paint job and stickers.

[Torana68]

.... that set up is probbaly going to confuse a few

[hartleymartin]

3 shifters to get 10 gears. Wow. I thought I was going nuts on my tourer when I decided to fit 5 levers to operate 3 brakes.

[vanbree]

i'm confused!!!!!

[il padrone]

Yeah! Two levers for one 5 speed hub gearset ??

Confused.

[stackyard59]

Yep,the Sturmey Archer S5 was ist introduced in 66,incorperating two planetory sun gears,instead of the standard one. Drive side incorperated the common three speed,chain toggle operation.Other side was the bell crank high/low range.This gives 5 speeds, 1:a low ist gear , 2:a standard ist gear. 3: 2nd gear (Unaffected by Low/High range selection) 4: standard 3rd gear 5:High range 3rd gear.The much earlier 4 speeds(avalable in 3 ranges) had a low ist gear.An S5 coupled up with a Cyclo twin cluster, then gives a high low range in all 5 gears.
Below is some more info on Sturmey Archer/Cyclo conversions.
Trevor

Hybrid Hub/Derailleur Gears
Gillott Spear RB4Author Bob Damper

For my twelfth birthday way back in 1960, my parents presented me with my dad's old Raleigh Lenton Sports, refurbished with many new parts, including a Sturmey Archer AW 3-speed hub. As my interest in cycling (and especially touring and roughstuff) quickly grew, I began to question the received wisdom that "no one needs more than three gears". Fierce local climbs like Yorkshill and Carter's Hill near Sevenoaks, Hucking Hill near Maidstone and, slightly further afield, Ditchling Beacon and Steyning Round Hill in Sussex certainly suggested otherwise, particularly when carrying a saddlebag full of food for a self-catering hostel weekend. Being short of cash, and having to rely on a small amount of money earned on a paper round, I looked for a way of increasing my range of gears at minimal expense. The solution I hit on was to fit a Cyclo 2-speed converter based on the Cyclo Benelux Mark 7 derailleur to the Sturmey. In this way, I doubled my number of gears without incurring the cost of a new hub and rebuilt wheel. I also avoided ending up with a redundant yet almost new 3-speed hub gear, which would have annoyed my parents no end, and rightly so! With a 19-25T Cyclo block, I gained a range of gears from 33 to 84 inches. This arrangement served me well, being used on my first ever solo week-long tour of mid-Wales in 1962 right through to a three-week tour of Denmark and Sweden in 1978.

For the classic lightweight enthusiast wishing to recreate a period touring machine, the hybrid arrangement of hub gear and derailleur is an attractive option. To some, it might appear to be the worst of both worlds, incurring the disadvantages of hub gearing as well as those of derailleurs, but there are significant advantages. You get a good range of gears without any necessity to dish the rear wheel significantly, it's possible to change at least some of the gears when stationary, and all gears are usable which, because of substantial chain misalignment, is not generally the case with multiple sprockets and chainwheels. And, of course, you are keeping alive the spirit of cycle touring in a bygone age!

By far the best known and easiest to replicate hybrid system is that based on Cyclo products. This well-known company produced 2- and 3-speed converter blocks from the 1940's into the 1980's, so you can have period-correct hybrid gearing on a wide range of classic lightweights. The blocks simply slotted on or screwed on to the SA driver, depending on whether the driver was splined or threaded, respectively. The earliest example I am aware of is that on page 167, Figure 8.89, of Frank Berto's The Dancing Chain, which shows a hybrid system dated 1949. Cyclo were still in the business as late as 1981 according to the Sturmey Archer Heritage site . Their converters were all made for a 1/8-inch chain. Although it is possible in principle to use a variety of derailleur mechanisms, these have to be capable of accommodating the 1/8-inch chain without fouling the chain cage and need to be adjustable down to the narrow range of travel necessary for just 2- or 3-speeds. Unsurprisingly, Cyclo pushed their own mechanisms and as late as 1981 were still marketing a conversion kit featuring the Cyclo Benelux Mark 7 changer dating from 1957, which I used in the early 60's!

Assuming you start with a built-up hub gear wheel, fitting a Cyclo conversion should be straightforward. The above link to the Sturmey-Archer Heritage Site provides basic instructions. Cyclo 2- and 3-speed conversion blocks turn up regularly on Ebay, or can usually be purchased from V-CC members dealing in vintage components as listed in the Directory of Services in the centre pages of the current (2007-08) Yearbook. The same goes for a suitable gear mechanism. Because Cyclo marketed the Mark 7 derailleur as part of their conversion kit for so long, this mechanism is an appropriate choice for any post-1957 cycle. Fitting the block can be as simple as removing the circlip on the splined SA driver, taking off the single sprocket, sliding on the 2- or 3-speed replacment, and replacing the circlip. Note that the dust cap should be left in position. For the 3-speed conversion, it is recommended to fit a 1/8-inch axle washer to each side to give extra width and stop the smallest sprocket fouling the frame. This will increase the over-locknut distance by just over 6 mm, and may require you to fit a longer axle, replacing the standard 5�-inch axle with a 6�-inch one. For everything to work, since the SA hub is some 110 or 112 mm across the lock nuts, your rear dropout width should be in the range 115 to 120 mm. If you are lucky, no dishing or re-dishing will be necessary. In the worst case, you may need a very small amount of re-dishing. Needless to say, things are likely to be easier with the 2-speed conversion, reducing the likelihood that you will need to fit a longer axle and/or re-dish the wheel.

Please take a look at my 1949 Gillott Spearpoint fitted with a 12-speed hybrid system ranging from 32 to 86 inches. I am indebted to my friend Geoff Cook for his assistance in putting this hybrid gearing system together. The hub is a very nice 1948 FW 4-speed obtained from Rob Burton in Bognor Regis. The block is a Cyclo 3-speed, 16-19-23T, obtained from Nick Tithecott of H Lloyd Cycles, Penrith, who also supplied the 1952 Cyclo Benelux Sport gear mechanism. The latter is not quite period-correct, but my plans to use a 1948 Cyclo Super Olympic Professional were scuppered by its very limited capacity (just four teeth, by virtue of its single-roller design). Geoff Cook supplied the long SA axle from his stock made in the 60's and 70's for Moultons and Raleigh RSW16 shoppers, which had wider dropouts. With Geoff's considerable help, we replaced the screw-threaded SA driver with a splined one to match Nick Tithecott's block, replaced the axle with the longer one, added the axle washers for extra spacing, and had a happy time adjusting the Cyclo gear. This was not entirely a simple matter (see Peter Brueggeman's Adjusting Benelux Gears) although it was a breakthrough when I realised that old Cyclo derailleurs have no high-gear adjustment! The actuating rod is simply machined to what ought to be the right length to give the correct travel for the block in use. This means it's very important to look at the stamping on the gear cage. If it says 3 sp 1/8" ONLY, that's what you get (unless you change the actuating rod).

I have encountered one minor problem in that the dropout axle slots on the Gillott are ever so slightly too wide for the SA axle, which has flats on it. This is no doubt because the frame was built for a gear/fixed hub without axle flats. It means that the SA axle has a tendency to rotate in the frame. I minimise this by using SA washers that locate on the axle flats and have `protuberations' designed to mate into the axle slots. This is not such a problem with bikes that were made to take an SA hub gear, and have narrower dropout slots to suit.

If you wish to read more on this topic, there's a small amount of additional information in Appendix C, "Hybrid Gearing", of Tony Hadland's 1988 book The Sturmey Archer Story. Tony includes mention of products from manufacturers other than Cyclo, such as Dacon. My own experience, however, is limited to Cyclo.

Bob adds the following:
I had a very frustrating attempt to fit a Cyclo conversion to Penny's FW hub on her Claud Butler. The problem was that the hub did not freewheel easily. The derailleur conversion block kept rotating when you attempted to freewheel, the chain went slack, the crank end hit the sloppy chain, chaos! We had a look in the SA Service manual and found that this is normal for certain SA hubs. In view of this sad story, it would be a good idea to add the following:

Page 15 of Sturmey Archer's Service Manual says:

"The gear internals are rotated during freewheeling in FM, FC and AC hubs, therefore, providing cones are properly adjusted, a slight pull on the pedals and possible rotation during freewheeling is in order."

For this reason, these hubs are not suitable for conversion to hybrid gearing, as any rotation during freewheeling leads to loss of chain tension and possible disastrous chain derailment. There should be no such problems, however, with the widely-used FW and AW hubs.

For more information on Dacon see the Dacon hub-derailleur converter by Bill Ives.

[brasstinman]

I reckon it looks it great. Very unique looking.
Great work.

[bicycledeluxe]

Hi guys ive just joined this forum. Its great to see other people who are passionate about skidstars. I have two which I am about to start restoring and your info is really helpful. Do you guys knnow anywhere I can get a set of decals please? Thanks in advance for your help.
Simon, Marrickville

[stackyard59]

Welcome Bicycledeluxe,always great to hear from a fellow Skidstar enthusiast.This guy does Malvern Star GT,and Speedwell GTS. http://www.decals4motorcycles.com.au/
Trevor

[Wild Turkey]

I saw them on E bay this week too.

Are these people mad?

Its over $60 now for an incomplete set of REPRODUCTION stickers. Take a look at the dudes other items....
This guy makes stickers! He printed off 20 sets. Once you are set up to print, why would you only make one? He is smart enough to only relese 1 set at a time.
This makes people fight over them and the price goes up. Not only that, when he releses the next set, the frenzy is ready for feeding. Holding the price up.

[stackyard59]

Heres some photo's of my Malvern Star Standard Skidstar. Build date was approx 1963. Iv'e been after another one for ages, and found this as a bare frame on ebay a few months ago in Melbourne. Kindly stored for me for a while and delivered by Froggy of Locolowriders- http://www.myspace.com/locolowriders It's home now, and iv'e finally had some time to piece it together with some aged bits. The earlier ones like this one had the blotched paintwork at the lug and chainstay areas, and didn't have the top tube sports shifters fitted till a bit later. Being bare, it gives me some custom options away from standard, so i fitted cantilever Skidstar bars,instead of standard skidbars, and a 24 tooth rear cog so she can climb trees. Still some work to go, lighting should be National /Sanyo, speedo should be Huret. Tyres are original Japanese, Silver Star brand (Standard fit on MS Cantilever GT ), but maybe swapped over for Dunlop Atlantics.
Trevor

[hartleymartin]

What size wheels/tyres does it have? I have a similar skidstar, but it has an ugly house-paint job over the forks and rear triangle.

[Johnj]

This one finished with no bids at a starting price of $650. Certainly it was amazingly original, I particularly liked the fact that the protective plastic had not been removed from the guards. This bike will sell, the seller just has to "meet the market".

[stackyard59]

Have to agree that this one looks smick. He states that there is paint damage from a rear luggage rack,wonder if it was the "Koba" style one,(the ones with the round reflector lense set into checkered metal) Damm hard to find now. The guards pictured sure are original,but all were stainless that i know of, maybe these too? Also to be really nitpicky ,i would change the white gear cable to black.
Trevor

[Reda]

I have seen both handle bar mounted and top tube mounted shifters on them. A very nice example sold at the museum here fitted standard with a wooden ball sports shifter.

Hello all.... i am new to this site - just thought i would let you know, i believe i may be the owner of the above ex. museum example. I shall post some pics when i achieve the day/post quoter's