# Ca. 1937 Adler Dreigang / 3-Gang German bottom bracket 3 speed



## Andrew Gorman

I recently ended up with the bike from this thread:
http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1931-32-german-adler.97504/
I've been intrigued by these bikes for a long time, but they seldom show up in the US.  High protective tariffs at the time undoubtedly had something to do with that, because even in Germany these were expensive bikes, listing for around 125 to 150 Reichsmarks when equivalent bikes were less than 100 RM (excahnge rate was something like .75 USD to the RM). Add in the fact there was almost no market for adult bikes in the US at that time.   The bike arrived dis-assembled and very well packed and I started right in tearing it apart even more.  This is a quality machine and a real treat to work on.  Paint is in pretty good shape and will be kept.  It gave off the same nicotine stain ook that Raleighs of the same vintage do when rubbed down.  That paint is awesome and bulletproof, and this is the same, confirmed by some text in the Adler manual I got off of eBay- dipped, baked asphalt based paint.  Some ghosts of decals and pinstripes remain:




Evapo-rust was on sale at a nearby Harbor Freight, so I gave it a try.  Boy howdy, did it work well:


 
My usual coating of shoe polish should keep the chrome bits presentable.  When the original owner brought the bike back to the US they had to make a few changes.  I think the rack is a US model, and at some time the original rims were swapped out for  26" metal clad wood rims and 1X1.75 singletubes, and the front hub for a (presumably) pre-built wheel with a New Departure hub.  Why?  Due to various Nazi austerity measures, by 1936 the only bike tires made in Germany were 26X1.75 clinchers, and these were not available in the US until the dawn of the middleweights.  To keep the hybrid look I'm swapping the rims out for a pair of 26" Velocity Blunts.  I've found a couple of really good German bike sites.  For general information and reprint catalogs, manuals etc,
http://fahrradsammler.de/
and a big general old bike board at:
http://www.altesrad.net
Lots of information on both sites, but putting it kindly German grammar can be complicated so machine translation at best will get you an "all your base are belong to us" quality, and at worst, Monty Pythons Hungarian-English phrase book-




I'm having fun with this.  More news as it happens.


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Here is some of the original paint and pinstriping that was protected by the fork crown cap (gabelhaube) for 79 or so years:


----------



## Andrew Gorman

This bike received an enthusiastic  "Lets paint the spokes and chain too" touch up job in the distant past, but that paint will soften up with my favorite cleaner/degreaser, "LA's Totally Awesome" from the dollar store once it's soft it can be brushed off with a stiff plastic or brass brush.  There is still a lot of polishing to do on the reflector, but it looks like the manufacturer is still in business!  I think that is cool and on the way I found out about a picturesque ruined castle I had never heard of before, the Hohentweil- check it out if you like castles perched on top of extinct volcanoes! The glass raspberry reflector is marked "BULLDOG", which I've seen before but I don't know where the factory was.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohentwiel


----------



## Andrew Gorman

The front fender (Schmutzfanger- I just like to say the word) is going to need some body work.  It fits in my suitcase so I'll take it home with me for an upcoming week off.  It is thin enough that I think brazing the rip around the mounting tab would cause more trouble than it would solve.  I'll probably sandwich it between two new plates and rivet them all together.  Any other thoughts or suggestions are welcome!


----------



## Andrew Gorman

A little exploratory surgery revealed no  problems inside the bottom bracket.  Hooray. The shifter rod was stuck in low (Berg gang, or mountain gear) but that was just because of some burrs and solidified grease in the guide bushing.  No funny wear patterns, missing teeth or broken parts.  I can sleep now.


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Back home, so I have a chance to use tools and pick up parts.  I am NOT going to bring a truing stand back with me to the motel.  I'll get the rims close enough, and if necessary the local bike shop can fine tune them.  Once I had everything apart, I noticed that left crankarm was slightly bent.  Fixing that would be a nightmare by the side of the road,  but back home I have a hydraulic press I built for making headbadges (an ongoing project- I'm getting better at it!).  Literally 5 minutes of work and the  axle and the pedal were back in the same plane.  Here is the press:


----------



## Andrew Gorman

I'm still looking up lubrication and overhaul instructions for the Torpedo coaster brake, but I do like the bracket to positively locate the torque arm.  Removing the hub is not a problem  because the bike has horizontal dropouts.  1930's, diamond frame, horizontal dropouts it has to be a racing bike!  Not really, although there were some dreigang racers built:
https://der-stellmacher.jimdo.com/historische-fahrräder/adler-3-gang-straßenrennrad-1937/
Here is my hub- this could be an easy mod for a Klunker:


----------



## rustjunkie

Absolutely jealous here  

 Torpedo service instructions are in the Schwinn service manual volume one 

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/schwinn-service-manual-volume-1-2.96855/


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Thanks for the link!  This is an interesting machine to work on.  From what I can find on the web they are not common in Europe, but there are a lot of survivors just because it's unusual.  Very few have made it to North America. A ladies bike sold pretty cheaply at Copake a number of years ago, and I think I saw one in a museum on line.   That's why I was so happy that nothing seems broken in the gearbox.  Next project here at home is to straighten the front fender and fabricate a new mounting tab.  And root around in the scrap box for some aluminum to fabricate a new tail for the "Schutzblechfigur" or fender mascot.  Right now it's a Manx Adler.  Here is a source in Germany for other fender mascots- most are brand specific, but there are some good looking generic ones.
http://velo-classic.de/oxid2/index.php?cl=search&searchparam=schutzblechfigur


----------



## fordmike65

Saw this posted on FB. Similar set up?


----------



## Bikermaniac

Dang!


----------



## rustjunkie

It's been many a year since I had one apart, but the housing and guts sure look similar to Colson Hi-Lo... you have any pics handy @catfish ?


----------



## Dale Alan

Cool bike,looks like a fun project . Must have been a relief when everything was OK inside that gear box.


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Relief is an understatement... Moving the shifter rotates shifter hooks in angled slots to slide the intermediate gears right or left.  If you scroll down, there is an exploded view of the gearbox at:
http://www.ddrmoped.de/forum/index.php?showtopic=6710#
Other manufacturers made  bottom bracket gears around the same time.  Here is an interesting thread on a Wanderer two speed, which simplified the shifting by just kicking the end of the axle, like a modern Schlumpf unicycle hub:
http://www.altesrad.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18766
The Facebook bike is definitely an Adler- It's good to see another one on the road!


----------



## sam

A friend has a Victoria(german ) BB3 speed. These bikes can be built into a true 3 speed fixed gear.


----------



## Dale Alan

That drawing is interesting,I thought working in that gear box would be a nightmare. Does not look all that complicated,I guess it all depends on if things are froze up or not.


----------



## rustjunkie




----------



## Andrew Gorman

Some work in the garage has the front fender looking a lot more like a fender, although with the loss of a lot of paint:


 
Goof-Off removed enough of the top layer of Rustoleum to show how the pinstripes ended- no fancy box lining on the fender, at least:


 
The black paint is just not sticking very well, and I don't think a lot of it can be saved.  The gearbox is really pretty simple, and once you understand how it works, simpler than a Sturmey Archer AW. If larger and heavier.   To see it in action, scroll all the way down on this page:
http://www.scheunenfun.de/datenbank_adler.htm
They made a cut-away gearbox that shows exactly how things work.


----------



## Dale Alan

Funny you mention the SA AW,when I saw the drawing I said to myself it sure looks easier then tearing down an AW. This pic seems to prove it,does not look bad at all.


----------



## tripple3

You guys are awesome!
I'm not doing it; but I want to ride it...


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Spent some more time cleaning off the Rustoleum.  The original paint is sadly NOT in good shape.  It's tough where it still is sticking, but there are a lot of bare areas.  When the repaint was done, someone slathered on some yellowish primer which definitely helped the new paint stick, but fortunately it also comes off with Goof Off graffiti remover (an urban household staple) and steel wool.  The pinstriping was relatively unharmed by this harsh treatment, but again there is not much left. Here is the mostly cleaned up front fender:




I was able to confirm again that there is no box striping on the fender- the blue and silver pinstripes shoot straight off the rear end of the fender as well. I have my Beugler striper packed. so once the black is tipped back in I can add and distress the stripes so the bike looks presentable, but 79 years old.  I haven't been real happy with aerosol paints, even the Eastwood "chassis black" was pretty tender and chippy.   This time I will try black tractor paint with the hardener added.  Applied with a brush and color sanded.  Anyone out there tried this?  Missed Macro Monday, but here is the rear end of the front fender:


----------



## Andrew Gorman

I'm finally  able to do something towards getting this bike back on the road.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was pulled off of the Newport RI project and shipped off to another (actually more interesting) one in Richmond VA.  This left co-workers to box up and ship all of my field gear and projects.  It sounds like the small parts from the bike  were shipped to San Francisco, but the major parts will catch up with me here.  It will arrive on Friday so I can do an inventory then.  I did pick up a probable parts bike- a Ladies Rixe with some decent chrome remaining.  I almost backed out when I saw it had 28" wheels, but I have other uses for 28" clincher rims.  The Torpedo brake on the Rixe is dated 1970, but it sure looks older.


----------



## Andrew Gorman

I tried the 28" wheels and tires on the Adler.  They look sharp!  At least without fenders... The Rixe wheels have Woods valves- not hard to use, and look a little different.  Think of them for your next ratrod project.   The Adler fork is a bit shorter than the Rixes' .  Most German bikes of this era have a lot of daylight between the fenders and tires.  The stamp brake/ Stempel Bremse / spoon brake needs a good bit of clearance to operate, and a noticeable gap gives space for mud.  The Adler was a 26er, so I will lace up the  Velocity Blunts.  Maybe I can use a higher profile 26" tire, but I think that MTB fad is over(?).  I am out of the loop.  I will give the frame a going over with graffiti remover this weekend.  The more I look at it it doesn't look that bad.  Not good by any means, but it's 79 years old.  The real question is what to fill the gaps in with.  A Sherwin Williams rep I met in a bar recommended "SherCryl" which you can put on with a roller.  It looks great, bit the smallest can is  a gallon.  That is a lot of black bike paint, but could be worth it.


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Here is the bike frame with the 28" wheels.  They fit, but it is a tight squeeze.  And the junction of the tire and fork crown is unharmonious.  With a wheelbase this long and the geometry so slack this bike is going to track as straight as can be.  I at least like that.


----------



## Andrew Gorman

I've been doing some more work on the bike, but nothing worthy of a picture.  Main effort is to shine up what paint is left.  Overall, probably 60% is left, with the barest areas being the chainstays  and the top tube  The fenders are the real weak spot, but on the frame and fork where there is original black paint it shines right up with Meguiars PlastX, which was on sale at Harbor Freight.  Once again I am very impressed with asphalt/copal oven baked enamel.  If you have an old bike with some factory paint, especially old black bikes try to shine them up! I may try to tip in and sand down some touch up areas, but will have to experiment first. I have some Tractor Supply implement enamel and hardener to work with in my minimal free time.
I am really happy with goof-off graffiti remover for taking off the top layer.  It has some thickener in it so it will hang on the frame. and crinkled up the previous re-paint right away. And after a while (and being re-wetted with LA Totally Awesome from the dollar store) would soften up the yellow primer applied for the repaint so it could be scraped off the underlying original paint, all while not messing with the pinstriping too much- the rubbing compound had more impact on those.    All of the gearbox pieces have been removed and are carefully labeled.  The works are not very complicated so should go back together without issue even if what I have does not exactly match the 1936 and 1938 drawings.  Next step is to calculate spoke lengths for the Blunts and the German hubs.  Working hours that would be illegal in the EU means I need to sit down and take a deep breath before crunching numbers.  I have found no sign of a downtube Adler decal or a "dreigang" decal on the rear fender.  From what my lousy German can figure out, during the Nazi era bling was frowned upon.  Export bikes had painted darts at the head and lots of decals, but domestic bikes and women went without makeup .  Again, this is a really interesting bike from an interesting period in history.  I'm really enjoying this project as a "data target"!  And it gives me a chance to use what little German I have.


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Slowly progressing... I dropped the rear wheels off at the local bike shop to pop the sprockets off, since I do not have a decent vise.  I haven't heard back from them yet.  I did get the front wheel built with a German hub, instead of the New Departure that was on it.  And found some appropriate reading material.


----------



## Paulclarke

This is the same adler that I have! Very hard to find photos of online. The chrome on mine is in bad shape. Frame has original paint but chain guard is painted over. Mine is missing the flying eagle emblem that goes on the front fender. I noticed you have a photo of one. Any info on one of those would be great. Looking forward to seing more updates.


----------



## Paulclarke

Nevermind! I saw the photo of the ladies bike. Very similar to my adler. Frame is very close. Front brake. Oh well. Nice work!


----------



## kwoodyh

Nice work how did you fix the tear in the fender? Painting with a brush and or roller works well just more work to get it all rubbed out smooth!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## kwoodyh

Another option on how the bike got to the states is it could of been shipped back by a GI with an eye for craftsmanship and knowing he would have the only dreigang bike around? You mentioned export bikes had more embellishment and yours looks like a domestic style.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Andrew Gorman

I'm glad to hear there are more of these around! The eagle, or "schutzblechfigur" show up occasionally on eBay.de, or from German old bike suppliers:
https://velo-classic.de/oxid2/Fahrrad-oxid/Schutzblechfiguren/
To fix the fender I just sandwiched the torn area between two pieces of sheet metal. It is still in California so I do not have pictures.  yet.


----------



## kwoodyh

Common practice for aircraft sheet metal is to drill a small hole at the end of the tear to stop any further tearing I guess the repair theory was it diffusers the direction of the tear and stops any further damage?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Andrew Gorman

I'm making slow progress.I needed to remove the chainring to get to a bearing and a fossilized rubber seal.  I tried last week, borrowing an electricians tri-stand at work. This variety has a chain clamp on it, and I really liked how well it grabbed the gear end.  BUT that chainring was on very, very tightly after 79 years.  I destroyed my chain whip without budging the ring.  So, rooting aroun the scrap pile and picking up nuts and bolts around the site I made my own adjustable Adler Chainring wrench out of some Unistrut and fittings.I knew I needed grade 8 bolts for the prongs, but the local strip mall hardware store did not have any with long enough threads.  I used the garden variety 1/4X20s, and they bent just as the ring was starting to move.  So I re-engineered the wrench into a non-adjustable with the grade 8s I had, and with not much effort the ring came off! (After week of heating it up on the stove a couple times each night and liberal use of Kroil).  Now I can start re-assembling mechanical bits.


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Long hours at work and a trip home (yay!) were keeping me occupied.  I have the paint as cleaned up and touched up as much as I want to.  There is a difference between  the original paint (very shiny) and the Tractor Supply paint with hardener (less shiny).  The hardener definitely helped but I wasn't able to get it as polished as the original baked-on asphalt and copal resin original. It still looks 80 years old so I am content. When I get a free weekend I will touch up the pinstripes to make the bike look better but not tarted up.
I found one worn out part, and it had me worried for a while.  The "Gegenmutter" or stop nut for one of the crank axle bearings.  It was a thin aluminum disc with badly worn male external threads and a recess for a gasket.  I couldn't find a stock part like it and was resigned to making one on the Mighty Craftsman lathe when I got home.  I finally got around to taking decent measurements of the part, and after some digging around on the web I found a just about perfect match- a camera lens adapter! Made to put a c-mount lens on a camera with M42X1 threads. It even has a recess for the gasket.  I just drilled two holes for a pin spanner  and screwed it in.  And there was much rejoicing. This part looks like it was designed to fail before the bottom bracket shell (eminently sensible), so I am glad there is an easy off the shelf fix.  $9.50 delivered from China. 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-C-MOUN...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Sadly, this project has come to an end.  After the bike flights box arrived, it was staged on the stairs behind a security gate but after taking out the recycling someone... did not latch the gate and the next morning it was gone.  For the thieves I'm sure it was the bike equivalent of an Amazon box containing a can of cat food- a crappy looking bike frame, three wheels and four rusty fenders.  The only sale-able bits would have been two 26" Velocity Blunts with amateurish pinstripes laced onto a 1938 Torpedo coaster brake and a nondescript front hub with tires with the logos sanded off. Other interesting bits were in another box- at least I still have the chainring.  I am heading out to Yosemite for a week to forget.  But at least I have pretty OK translation of the manual and know how to put the transmission back together .  Feh.


----------



## Kato

Andrew Gorman said:


> Sadly, this project has come to an end.  After the bike flights box arrived, it was staged on the stairs behind a security gate but after taking out the recycling someone... did not latch the gate and the next morning it was gone.  For the thieves I'm sure it was the bike equivalent of an Amazon box containing a can of cat food- a crappy looking bike frame, three wheels and four rusty fenders.  The only sale-able bits would have been two 26" Velocity Blunts with amateurish pinstripes laced onto a 1938 Torpedo coaster brake and a nondescript front hub with tires with the logos sanded off. Other interesting bits were in another box- at least I still have the chainring.  I am heading out to Yosemite for a week to forget.  But at least I have pretty OK translation of the manual and know how to put the transmission back together .  Feh.





Damn this sucks........I was wondering how the resto was going and I'd found some info on the original pinstripe pattern I was going to pass on. 
Sorry to hear the bike got stolen !!!!


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Worst part, not ALL of it was stolen.  About all that would really be sale-able were two new rims and tires.  The box showed up a few days ago across the street containing only 1 28" clincher rim and 4 old tires so the perp can't be far away.  My wife suspects the crazy hoarder guy around the corner, but I think I'm on pretty good terms with him.  I'm still interested in the pinstripes- the Export and Domestic versions were very different.


----------



## Kato

Andrew Gorman said:


> Worst part, not ALL of it was stolen.  About all that would really be sale-able were two new rims and tires.  The box showed up a few days ago across the street containing only 1 28" clincher rim and 4 old tires so the perp can't be far away.  My wife suspects the crazy hoarder guy around the corner, but I think I'm on pretty good terms with him.  I'm still interested in the pinstripes- the Export and Domestic versions were very different.




Damn......hopefully you'll find out who took it and hopefully even the bike.
Here is the link to where I saw the ladies bike with the pins - blue and white which I think is what you found.
I think the one you had would be considered domestic.......remember a guy from the US bought it while in Germany and then shipped it home.

http://www.oldbike.eu/museum/1930s/1938-2/1938-adler-dammenrad-ladies-bicycle/


----------

