Vintage bike conversion

[Spinnanz]

Recently I lost my license for 3 months, so no driving for me. Luckily, months a go I picked up a stolen and recovered ebike, an eZee Sprint. Its 500w hub drive, with a 36v/10ah battery. A $35 controller and a few hours sorting wiring sorted it. Much to my surprise I quite like using it for work so plan on doing that, even when I get my license back. In 3 weeks Ive done just over 600km.

Now I do like the current bike but I love re-purposing old things, so want to convert a Raleigh Sport. Ive spent a while looking for one and finally found a 1973, 3 speed. I really wanted black, but I cant tick all the boxes! Id pref rear drive but I want to retain the original 3 speed rear and Ive heard the 3 speed hub isnt the strongest so am going for front hub drive.

Plan is to put the battery (36v, 20ah) and electrics in an old school pannier bag, also from the 70s. Ive got some LED lights that I will retrofit into the original headlight and tail light. For brakes Id really like to retain the originals, which I suspect will be very average so I may have to bite the bullet and convert the front brakes to disk.

Below is the pics of the bike and pannier Ive gotten, and a similar conversion on another bike, although thats mid drive.

 

[vfr400]

Do you know which controller you fixed your Ezee with? I tried 5 different replacement ones, and none of them worked. It worked perfectly with the Ezee controller.

 

[Spinnanz]

Do you know which controller you fixed your Ezee with? I tried 5 different replacement ones, and none of them worked. It worked perfectly with the Ezee controller.

I replaced the controller and the display with this set. I used the original throttle and PAS on the eZee. Im not sure if this is the seller I bought from, Ill check tomorrow.

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

 

[Spinnanz]

I assume from your user name you have a vfr, I have an NC24

 

[KirstinS]

That bike looks to be a great condition. Well from looks alone at any rate. Bit of work here and there to lose the rust(if you care, the "rat" look from vw campers says not needed)

Those front forks might be the biggest issue. They look very close togbter from the photos which might reduce your options motor-wise quite a bit ie to small and low powered options

Can you get a xf07 in there?

 

[vfr400]

I have to admit that I cringe whenever anybody does such a project. I'm thinking, why would you want to, when you can make a much better electric bike out of any £50 catalogue bike? Side-pull brakes aren't going to hack it. Three-speed gears - yuk!. If it were my bike, and I was so nostalgic about it, I'd strip all the paint off the frame, nickel plate it and hang it on the wall in my living room.

Anyway, good luck. At least it gives us something to laugh at read.

BTW, did you manage to wheelie that girls bike yet?

 

[Spinnanz]

Im keen to keep the old used look, I'll brush any surface rust off and oil it up. We dont get our roads salted roads here so we dont really get rotted out frames.

The forks will be the sticking point, but they should be easily fixed. The top of the forks is a straight bar, I'll either replace (weld in) this with a slightly longer bar.

Alternately I may get away with removing the forks off the bar and then welding them back it a slight angle to give the clearance at the fork tip I need. Assuming I need 100mm clerance, I need to gain about 5mm on each side

 

[Spinnanz]

I have to admit that I cringe whenever anybody does such a project. I'm thinking, why would you want to, when you can make a much better electric bike out of any £50 catalogue bike? Side-pull brakes aren't going to hack it. Three-speed gears - yuk!. If it were my bike, and I was so nostalgic about it, I'd strip all the paint off the frame, nickel plate it and hang it on the wall in my living room.

Anyway, good luck. At least it gives us something to laugh at read.

BTW, did you manage to wheelie that girls bike yet?

I guess I cringe the same way when I see sheep all doing everything the same way as each other or replicas of old bikes rather than actual old bikes. And a £50 catalogue bike? Why would I want a bike made in China from recycled Toyota? I'll pass. Funny that you'd refer to my motorbike as a "girls bike" when you are part of an electric bike community. A cyclist calling a motorbike girlie? Ironic much...

Brakes are def a "should" do, but in any case its not a downhill mountain bike that's being used hard on the brakes, or a roadbike trying to break the NZ land speed record. Its a commuter bike. I dont know what its like to ride in your part of the word but to get to my work approx 10km away I have 5 sets of stop lights that i might need to stop at.

 

[chris667]

I know nothing about electric bikes, but I know quite a lot about old bikes including Raleighs. Here are some thoughts in no particular order.

1. Raleighs have proprietary threads for headset and bottom bracket. The front forks are designed for a narrower axle as Raleigh front hubs only have a cone on one side. Therefore any hub you buy will need at least a nonstandard axle. Don't try and cold set a fork to make it a different width. People get away with it, but this is a safety critical part and you don't want a fork failure.
2. Side pull brakes are OK if you fit Kool Stop "Continental" brake pads. However, modern alloy rims and brake systems are better. Alloy box-section rims are much stronger.
3. This bike was designed for 26 x 1 3/8" (650a) rims. These are not easy to get hold of anymore, but you can still find Sun CR18 rims which are modern, strong and good quality. Alternatively, you can fit 700c rims, but that means you'll be stuck with a thinner tyre if you still want to have mudguards (32mm).
4. I don't know why there's no love for the Sturmey AW 3 speed hub. It is a far better design than any modern IGH. They're cheap and simple, routinely covering 30,000 miles without maintenance. If you add a bit of gear oil once a month a Sturmey AW will last for much longer. And if you do strip it (a electric motor is well outside of the design specifications of this hub, although they were popular on tandems), you can replace the internals in a couple of minutes.

My advice would be to replace the front forks and headset for a modern 1" fork with v-brake mounts or even a disc mount. This would mean an ISO headset or an aheadset (the only kind available now). You could colour match it all and it would still be an old bike.

With regard to the idea that this is on the same league as a catalogue bike, that's just misinformed. Raleighs are not lightweights, but if you knew the first thing about them you'd realise they are not poor quality. I took a 1920s one apart once. It had been in regular use for decades. I stripped it down, and every link in the chain still had "Made in England" stamped on it. Mechanically, it was fine. They are brilliant for the job they were designed for and will still work when all the "superior" lightweights have been replaced by the next must-have. These bikes aren't made anymore because they're not economical. The bike shops have to keep selling!

 

[vfr400]

Don't try and cold set a fork to make it a different width. People get away with it, but this is a safety critical part and you don't want a fork failure.

There isn't really any type of failure that can occur by cold-setting (adjusting) the fork width. They're steel, which is maleable. They were bent to that shape in the first place. That's how they're made. Bending them to another shape makes no difference.

 

[Woosh]

One of my customers converted one of those Raleighs, the tyres were 599, so neither 26" nor 700C rims will fit. At then end, he had to use 700C rim (622) and tyre.

 

[chris667]

There isn't really any type of failure that can occur by cold-setting (adjusting) the fork width.

Raleigh forks are brazed on the outside of a tube, not into a lug like most steel forks are. Fine in common use, but spreading them is outside of that intended use, and you may pick the one that missed quality control and isn't properly brazed. Also bear in mind that after you've spread them out, you have to file away bits from the dropout, to realign them. Bear in mind that internally they might be corroded.

Alternatively, you could buy a fork which is the right size for your application and has mounts for better brakes and fit it with no issues at all.

Still, do what you like. They're your teeth that will come out if you faceplant.

 

[vfr400]

and you may pick the one that missed quality control and isn't properly brazed.

If the forks aren't brazed properly, isn't there are a chance that the brazes are going to break anyway? You could just as easily say that the Chinese worker who made the battery might not have routed the cables properly, which could cause the battery to catch fire and burn your house down and give you and your family an early cremation.

Actually, I bet you wouldn't have an accident if there were no braze at all at the top of one of the fork legs. The tube sits inside the crown piece. With the other side brazed and the drop-outs held by the axle clamping, nothing can fall apart. It might compromise the braking a bit, but I'd bet you wouldn't notice. I was riding around on a similar bike, when I discovered that the top weld on one of the seat stays was completely detatched. It didn't stop me from riding the bike, and I never got it fixed. I gave the converted bike to a friend. He never bothered repairing it either.

Also bear in mind that after you've spread them out, you have to file away bits from the dropout, to realign them.

I've stretched about 4 sets of those forks, and I never had to file anything to realign the forks. I've never heard of anybody else doing it either. I'm not sure what you mean by that.

 

[chris667]

If the forks aren't brazed properly, isn't there are a chance that the brazes are going to break anyway? You could just as easily say that the Chinese worker who made the battery might not have routed the cables properly, which could cause the battery to catch fire and burn your house down and give you and your family an early cremation.

Yes. You could have a fork that may break, or you could start with one that would be better for its intended purpose and has mounts for better brakes. It's all about the risk you're willing to take and convenience.

I've stretched about 4 sets of those forks, and I never had to file anything to realign the forks. I've never heard of anybody else doing it either. I'm not sure what you mean by that.

Ideally, the fork ends ought to be parallel, as otherwise you're more likely to suffer from bent axles and premature bearing wear. Bending the forks out stops the fork ends from being parallel to one another. And that's before you file bits out of the fork ends to make a modern axle fit in the holes.

I've not said in the thread that you or the OP should avoid doing either of these things. But the OP asked for an opinion, and I gave one. You say it's safe, for me I wouldn't take the risk. OP, make up your own mind.

 

[Spinnanz]

getting there.....

 

[gw8izr]

Nice old bike that, takes me back to the one I had in 1960 something or other.

Mine was a racing bike because I took the chain guard off I do remember my father going mad at me when I did that!

 

[Spinnanz]

Now for a matching child seat so I can bring the kid along....

 

[KirstinS]

Now for a matching child seat so I can bring the kid along....

Love a vintage conversion and like this one muchly as said before. Yes you can buy better and safer and cheaper but thats true of camper vans too. Yet there is a thriving vintage market of air cooled, drum brake vw

Still, I'm not sure I'd put one of the kids in a vintage car seat tbh

 

[Spinnanz]

Love a vintage conversion and like this one muchly as said before. Yes you can buy better and safer and cheaper but thats true of camper vans too. Yet there is a thriving vintage market of air cooled, drum brake vw

Still, I'm not sure I'd put one of the kids in a vintage car seat tbh

funny, my partner saw the seat and she was "nope, the kids not going in there" so I showed her vintage car seats, they look WAY more dangerous! So, now the kid is allowed in the bike seat

 

[Spinnanz]

So as much as I wanted to keep the 3 speed rear hub, a set of unused, 2 year old wheels from an electric bike came up, so I bought them for $80nz (£40). Both were a near bolt on fit, with VERY minimal widening of the frame/fork (2-3mm each side, total 4-6mm).

The motor is a rear drive, with single speed, 16T sprocket, the wheels are 700c. Paired with the original Raleigh front sprocket, it should do around 25kph @60 rpm of the crank, exactly what I wanted. The rear fender wire braces will be moved slightly as the 700c tire rubs it at the very rear

To further the bike, an electronic throttle doesn't look the part so I'm adapting a 1980s Shimano grip shift. It originally only had 1/8th of a turn and had an index click for the gears, so I've modded it. Now it has a 1/2 turn and no clicks. The cable that the grip pulls will be routed to pull an electronic throttle that's hidden in a small box in the pannier.

Total weight of the bike, with new wheels, motor, battery, pannier and electronics is 24kg. 3kg lighter than an eZee Sprint.