3 Speed Rescue

After providing some parts for the Sachs Torpedo hub, Thomas invited me to show my recent build of a German 3-speed.



Here she is as rescued from Craigslist. Rusty but straight and mostly complete.



Original rack and mounting plate. Mounting plate stamped with (my paraphrase of the German) "Made in Germany under license to Pletcher." Chrome on the rack was pretty bad.

Nice, virtually indestructible Sachs Torpedo 415. Made from the early sixties to the mid seventies.

Missing indicator chain, shift cable and trigger. Hmmmm.

Nice block pedals. Cottered cranks and chainring were a little pitted, but salvageable.

Taiwanese front rim not original, but good enough.

Altenburger calipers front and rear - further confirmation of German lineage.

Rust and corrosion and grime, oh my!

Alloy brake levers to match the calipers.

Nice lugged steel frame. The decals were too far gone to read.

Nice welds on the seat stays. It's a quality machine.

Typical "North Road" style bars - not worth re-plating. Getting that stem out was the hardest part of the strip-down.

Open bottom bracket. Single leg kickstand was too short, probably a later addition.

All stripped down.

Ready for blasting and powder-coating.

Ta-da! Finished product after assembly.

Velo Orange "Left Bank" bars for a clean city-bike look. New Nitto 50mm stem.

Leather grips to go with the new Brooks B72 saddle. NOS period trigger shifter for the hub gears. Fresh white cables look great with the red powder coat.

Breaks cleaned up nice. I'll probably switch to Kool-stop salmon brake pads - I'm not happy with the performance of the black ones on the steel rims.

One of the clip-on cable guides was missing, so I used two new ones.

Cleaned up cranks and bottom bracket. Also, new Pletscher double-legged stand.

The Sachs gear-hub with chain and cable attached. Thanks again, Thomas!

Period Pletscher mousetrap rack from ebay. Bolted right on to the Pletscher mounting plate/brake bridge.



The chainguard was chromed, but too badly pitted. I went ahead and powder coated it to match the frame and forks. Looks pretty good, I think.

These tires are pretty good, but I think it needs whitewalls. May add fenders, too. All together a pretty satisfying rescue, and fun to ride.

Frankenstein's Monster & Another Stamp

I've been inspired to name my commuter bike: Frank. Short for Frankenstein's monster. It really is a hodgepodge of bicycle wonder.

Rockhopper frame.
Rear U-brake under the chainstays.
Biopace double chainrings. (I ground off the teeth on the large ring for a chainguard.)
Suntour stem shifter (left side only, for front derailleur).
Sachs torpedo 3-speed hub & shifter from the 1960s.
Rear Shimano 600 derailleur with green anodized jockey wheels.
Sram i-light front hub.
Wheelsmith double-butted spokes with blue nipples.
Deore XT pedals.
Velo Orange Model 8 sprung saddle.
Spanninga front and rear dynamo lights.
Blackburn flea front and rear usb rechargeable lights.
Topeak rack/bag system.
Planet Bike fenders.
Tektro brake levers and front cantilever brake.
RhynoLite Sun Rims (heavy duty downhill rims).
Panaracer RiBMo tires.
B.O.B. Nutz for the trailer.

I consider Frank a cosmopolitan.

And see what else I have my fancy on:

I guess these stamps are actually "poster stamps." Still pretty cool in my book.

Philately Lately

Doing some "shiny-gazing" on eBay last night and came across a pretty awesome bicycle postage stamp. I'm huge fan of old Fichtel and Sachs hubs, so this piece knocked off my proverbial wool socks!

I find something so innovative and beautiful in Sachs' super-machined parts. The hubs are super utilitarian and absolutely stunning on the inside. In my opinion, they really are the finest example of vintage bicycle planetary gearing. Some of the cooler ones, such as the Duomatic two-speed kickback coaster-brake hub, go for a pretty penny on eBay. It really is a great marketplace for hard to find small bicycle parts.I'm currently selling new-old-stock original Fichtel & Sachs Torpedo hub indicator/toggle chains and shifting cables. Both items are super difficult to find in the U.S.