1968 Schwinn Town & Country trike: Fix it?

[MonnaVanna]

I never learned how to ride a bike (I know, I know, shut up), so I bought a 1968 Schwinn Town & Country tricycle for cheap and made it rideable (New tires and gear shift cable). Now the 3-Speed Sturmey-Archer hub is broken; they guy at the bike shop says that replacing it would be difficult, expensive and would require replacing the entire wheel. Furthermore, it is his opinion that I shouldn't fix it because it is a rare model and worth something to the right collector if it still has orginal parts. The gear shift cable and tires are the only thing not original, plus a previous owner tried to re-paint it (but the new paint is coming off, revealing the original).

So: I can retire it to my mom's barn and learn to ride a bike, or I can cough up the dough to fix it so that I have transportation right away. I'm a college student, and I was riding the trike to class; without it I haven't been making it on time!

I'm skeptical that it's worth anything because I bought it for $50. What do you think, should I hang on to it as-is or fix it so I can enjoy riding it?

 

[J.E]

Fix it.3 speed are farly common.

 

[37fleetwood]

I probably have a dozen old Sturmey archer hubs if you need one. all you will need to do is get one and replace the broken parts in yours saving the wheel. first though dust off your heels and find a new bike shop. he has been wrong on all counts. your bike is cool but not very rare nor is it particularly valuable. it is well worth fixing and this guy obviously isn't qualified to check tire pressure. finally, keep riding your trike and be proud! old bikes are cool and yours has that extra quirky kinda cool you don't get from a mountain bike
Here's you on your trike running him over

.
Scott

 

[MonnaVanna]

The same guy told me I would have to rebuild the wheel because the spokes would need to be cut in order to change the hub. He quoted me $200 for a new hub + the labor to restring the spokes. Does anybody have an old wheel w/ the hub in it (a good hub) the right size? Or is he pulling my leg? Unfortunately it's the only for-profit bike repair shop in town; the bike co-op said that no one coud fix anything so complex.

 

[37fleetwood]

I have as I mentioned several of these hubs which should be good. if you pay shipping I could send one but it might be better if you sent the wheel. unless something really bad happened I can't imagine that the hub shell is bad. most likely something inside is broken. if you can describe what it is doing wrong and we will see if we can figure out what went wrong. it may just be an adjustment. again I have no confidence in your shop.
Scott

 

[militarymonark]

it seems like the bike shop is trying to get one over on you. I think you should learn to ride a bike your balance is prob better than when you were a kid and it should be quick to learn besides then you can get into classic bicycles and enjoy an awesome hobby. No one is laughing so dont worry about that I had to teach my dad how to read and now he's a history teacher so there is hope

 

[Wang Mark Restorations]

Scott I Need Your Help

I was looking around on google trying to figure out how to fix my Schwinn Town and Country Trike. The gears are starting to slip a lot in the internal 3 speed hub. I realize this is an old thread, but I was hoping that you may still monitor it. I you can at all help me with this it would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Stefan

 

[Andrew Gorman]

Wang:
Try adjusting your shifter-
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer.html
They are a little fiddly to get dialed in, and age, cable stretch and loose locknuts can get the shifter out of whack. SA hubs are pretty bulletproof.

 

[OldRider]

I dread everytime I have to remove the rear wheel on my Eatons RoadKing.Those SA 3 speed hubs work just dandy when everything is set right, but it takes me, the amateur, 10 minutes of fiddling with the shifter cable to get it set right again!

 

[Strings-n-Spokes]

Stefan

Some of those were Shimano equipped (post 70's) ealier ones were Sturmey Archer. You can start your own post too