1967 Raleigh Sprite with S5 5 Speed

[3-speeder]

I installed the shifters and had them adjusted, shifting through all gears, while the bike was turned over in my basement. Time for the road test. The bike felt great and it shifted into all gears, both shifters adjusted properly however low gear wasn't working right. It kinda jumped or skipped a bit. No amount of adjusting would fix it. I figured it must be internal so I swapped the wheel set from my other Sprite and decided to deal with that later. I had also swapped the stem and pedals so that this bike is complete with the correct parts. The S5 hub that got swapped over had the pin that went into the left side so I used the same bell crank that was on it because the engagement piece was wider and flat. I thought it might work better. It does work just fine. @FICHT 150 can you share an image of the spring that you had mentioned you'd used to improve this set up? I'd appreciate it. I had a great ride last night and took a few pictures.

 

[FICHT 150]

Two photos, and some ‘splainin...

You have the dreaded stamped sheet metal bell crank. This bell crank is used with a threaded nail, that seemed like a great idea at the time to keep the nail, that resides under the bell crank from getting lost when the bell crank was off for service, but, if the wheel falls, or takes a solid rap to that side when the wheel is on the bike and the bell crank is installed, it splits the key. Bad juju.
I have heard many times over the years that this is the most inferior of the 5 speed setups, but, I have two of them, and they work just fine, but, I believe the spring installation is the answer to that.
The setup you would use (easiest) is shown on the blue ladies bike that I built for my wife. The other shot is of my most recent DL1 build that I converted to 5 speed, using a Shimano 3 speed “555” bell crank, that I drilled and tapped to fit the Sturmey axle. I used a die grinder and a thin cut off wheel to cut slots in the end of a surplus Sturmey 3 speed axle, to make my tap. My nail was pretty much just an old nail, that saw enough grinding to make it pretty and to get it to fit everywhere. If you used the nail from the Shimano 3 speed, it would just need to be shortened up to work.
I usually install Sturmey pulley wheels, from an AW shift mechanism, to both sides of a 5 speed that I convert, but, that is optional. It will work, either way, the pulley wheels just add refinement, and a better feel for where you are.
Let me know if there is anything else you need to see.

Ted

 

[3-speeder]

Thanks for the info and images. I'll get a hold of Bikesmith Mark and see about getting that spring set up. I felt like it needed something to help draw the cable back toward the rear hub