Cheap Pashley...something (I assume Sovereign Princess)

[Boopop]

I've been intermittently checking Facebook Marketplace lately for Pashley bicycles, as while I already had a similar city/town bike, I wanted one that looked really classy.

Up turns the above on fb Marketplace yesterday for £100. I did try to talk her down to £80 while chatting, but I knew it was a good price already so didn't put much effort in on that front. Cue working out how to get from Leighton Buzzard to Uxbridge, which was a little more complex than I thought. I'd forgotten however that a lot of the Underground network you can take bicycles on when it's not peak time. Phew! You can perhaps guess the next photo that's coming:

It's mine! All that it needed was the tyres to be pumped up. I'm not getting on very well with this Brooks saddle, so I'm thinking I might replace it with a Brooks saddle I already have. While I was on the tube last night I was under the impression both lights were dynamo powered. Looking up the Sovereign Princess spec today online I've realised that's not the case . Oh well.

Anyway it's in great condition - I just need to give it a clean. It's got Sturmey Archer 5 speed gears, drum brakes, and a 2.4w X-FDD dynamo hub up front. Brakes work, gears work, lights work, and the tyres hold air. Bizarrely I think the rear wheel needs new rim tape, that's what those white bits you can see which are floating around. Goodness knows how that got out.

So a few questions for you all:
- Is it a Pashley Sovereign Princess? If there's an easy way to tell, what is it?
- Could I splice the dynamo cable in two and hook up a rear dynamo light too?
- Can anyone think of a way to do that without an unsightly wire running along the frame?

 

[Boopop]

I spent most of the past hour or two attempting to disassemble the front lamp. I was hoping there would be a plug inside the lamp I could simply disconnect. Nope. There are plugs at the dynamo end but the issue is the wire goes inside the front fork. Assuming I buy a nice new LED front lamp, how do I get the new wire through the fork? I'm guessing tie the new wire to the old one and then pull the old one out, leaving the new one in its place. If anyone has any fool-proof suggestions on how to do this such advice would be gratefully received. I suppose an alternative would be to snip the wire at the lamp end and connect it to the LED lamp instead.

Once I was satisfied that I had taken apart the lamp to the best of my ability and put it back together again (and it was still functional, phew!), I gave the bike a wipe down with a damp cloth in the garage. A bit fuzzy given I was relying on a streetlight for lighting, but anyway...the bike is in excellent condition, just some rust on the cranks, handlebars and bell.

I think I understand how to install a rear dynamo light - rather than split the cable coming out of the dynamo, it would seem most front dynamo lights have terminals to wire up the rear light with.

 

[FrankCrank]

Solid bike you have there, Pashley's are known for being well made and long lived. The brand was used by the Post Office for many a year, so what better pedigree could you ask. Last time back in Reading, I was over the uni for a ride, and had a quick chat to a lady on something very similar to yours, and she suggested I lift the bike, just to see how heavy it was. She explained that riding it was great exercise.
Anyways, reckon you got a bargain for sure

 

[Chris S]

Assuming I buy a nice new LED front lamp, how do I get the new wire through the fork?

You can just replace the bulb with an LED one.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264283715248

 

[Boopop]

You can just replace the bulb with an LED one.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264283715248

Oh, that simple is it? I did wonder. Which one? Will it be brighter and more useful? Thanks

EDIT: I would like the standlight on the front light though, hmm.

 

[Chris S]

Oh, that simple is it? I did wonder. Which one? Will it be brighter and more useful? Thanks

EDIT: I would like the standlight on the front light though, hmm.

Yes - LED bulbs are four times brighter than incandescent ones. You'd have to Google which one you need but it should just screw straight in.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNqSgVWyDL4

I don't know about the standlight though.

 

[dimrub]

As for hooking up the rear light - you can zip-tie the wire up to the gearing cable's outer, that will bring you almost to the rear hub, and from there just loop it around the rest of the chain stay and rack rail. Alternatively, you can try and look for a port on the down tube, near where it connects to the head tube - if there is one, you can try and search for a corresponding port near the end of the chain stay, the wire then goes through the bottom bracket's space (you'll have to take it apart to thread the wire) and that brings you, again, to the end of the chain stay. Personally, I'd do the zip-tie thing.

P.S. that's a fantastic looking bike. Regarding your comment on the Brooks: could it be the saddle needs a bit of tightening with that screw at the front?

P.P.S. regarding the rim tape on the rear wheel: If I had this bike, I'd take the tires off both wheels, if only to make sure the inner tube is inserted correctly (not at an angle, as it is now on the rear wheel) and the stickers are aligned with the valve (OCD? ME???)

 

[gizmo1994]

I too have a Sovereign Princess. Lovely bike, although a tad heavy but she rides wonderfully. Yours is indeed the Sovereign model as it has the skirt guard, the seat stay lock, hand painted good trim and the stand, these were all optional on the lower models. I simply added a battery rack light on the rear and it has been more than adequate. I upgraded the front light to a Lumotec classic which gives a good beam and doesn't dazzle oncoming riders.

 

[Boopop]

Thanks for the responses everyone, that's a lovely photo @gizmo1994, and thanks for the postive ID.

You're right @dimrub, I was very close to buying upgrades for the lighting situation yesterday but I'd like to take the bike to iBike London or Critical Mass London, and the thought of getting stranded in London without a bicycle-accepting tube station nearby isn't very appealing, so I'll be inspecting the wheels next. Almost bought some rim tape but I think I'll settle for electrical tape which I have plenty of.

 

[Boopop]

Last night...yikes that was a chore!

I endeavoured to take the rear wheel off so I could get a look at what was going on with the rim tape. I was pretty careful with taking all the screws and bolts required off (chaingaurd, drum brakes). The quick link for the chain was a bit weird, I was concerned I wouldn't be able to reinstall it and I didn't have any ideal spare chains lying around.
When I finally did get the rear wheel off, the rest of the rim tape practically leaped out at me after I deflated the tyre and got the tyre levers in. I decided to line the rim with three layers of electrical tape. A previous mishap braking coming down Bealach na Bà on rim brakes in the Scottish Highlands taught me that I should probably never do that again, but I figured the rims on this will never get hot and I won't be taking it down any huge descents anyway!

I put it all back together again and it seemed to be working fine. Then I noticed chain was bumping against the inside of the chain guard, so I loosened the wheel nuts and pulled the wheen back to tighten the change. Then I noticed the gear cable was starting to fray 🤦‍♂️. I'd previously had a similar issue with a 3 speed sturmey archer gear cable, and had to replace the whole inner and outer cable, frustratingly. This time however it turned out that the 5 speed shifter would put up with road bike inner cables. Rejoice! I have tens of them. I tried taking apart the 5spd shifter outside my garage. Big mistake! SA seem to have a nack for building seemingly simple shifters (good) which also have a habit of exploding their parts all over the floor when you take them apart (bad). A few parts launched themselves on to the tarmack. I found all of them except one. How important can it be? I decided to have a bit of a break as I couldn't work out how to put the shifter back together, and it was about 19:30 by this point and I hadn't eaten.

After looking around online quite a lot this video turned up on youtube for their 3 speed shifter, which seemed similar to the 5 speed one. Which part had I lost on the tarmack? A spring...ah, maybe a bit more crucial after all. After eating I went back outside and of course was scrambling around on the floor looking for a spring with my headtorch. I'd almost given up, then it appeared! Huzzah!

I briefly considered trying to put the shifter back together at my garage, but quickly came to the conclusion I didn't want to lose any more parts on the floor, so instead I took everything I needed to the hallway outside my flat.

To make what was becoming a tedious exercise a bit more bearable (I'd almost finished about an hour ago I thought!) I listened to the latest ep of the moral maze on BBC Sounds, on the ethics of veganism. It was interesting to hear the Welsh beef farmer's point about eating meat every day being each individual's personal choice, regardless of the climate impact. I'm not vegan myself, but if everyone could afford their own personal private jet, I wonder whether the same farmer would claim that's their own personal choice too and it's fine, regardless of the consequences. Note, I'm not suggesting meat should be rationed 😂. I'm just aware of the climate impact of meat, especially beef.

Sorry, that was a bit of a digression. Anyway, thank goodness I'd decided to put the shifter back together with the new cable in the flat hallway. I must have dropped the spring and plastic part it pushes up against in that video above about 10-20 times. It was still a bit of a pain looking for them on the tiled floor but not half as bad as it would have been in my garage. Eventually I managed to get it together properly, and retreated back to the garage to hook up the other end to the hub gear linkage.

So the end result now is the shifting maybe actually shifts a bit worse than before, I probably need to do a bit more tweaking on that front. On the bright side, I'm much more confident that the rear tyre won't puncture on account of spoke holes. Given how long it took me to get to the wheel off I think in future if it gets a flat I'll either try to us a puncture repair kit, or just get home by public transport. I didn't bother removing the front wheel as there's no evidence that the rim tape has done a runner.

If you got this far reading all that ramble, you might like to read my North Coast 500 tour log, where you can read more about that mishap on Bealach na Bà! It's here.

Oh, and I'm planning on taking it on Critical Mass London this evening

 

[EltonFrog]

Last night...yikes that was a chore!

I endeavoured to take the rear wheel off so I could get a look at what was going on with the rim tape. I was pretty careful with taking all the screws and bolts required off (chaingaurd, drum brakes). The quick link for the chain was a bit weird, I was concerned I wouldn't be able to reinstall it and I didn't have any ideal spare chains lying around.
When I finally did get the rear wheel off, the rest of the rim tape practically leaped out at me after I deflated the tyre and got the tyre levers in. I decided to line the rim with three layers of electrical tape. A previous mishap braking coming down Bealach na Bà on rim brakes in the Scottish Highlands taught me that I should probably never do that again, but I figured the rims on this will never get hot and I won't be taking it down any huge descents anyway!

I put it all back together again and it seemed to be working fine. Then I noticed chain was bumping against the inside of the chain guard, so I loosened the wheel nuts and pulled the wheen back to tighten the change. Then I noticed the gear cable was starting to fray 🤦‍♂️. I'd previously had a similar issue with a 3 speed sturmey archer gear cable, and had to replace the whole inner and outer cable, frustratingly. This time however it turned out that the 5 speed shifter would put up with road bike inner cables. Rejoice! I have tens of them. I tried taking apart the 5spd shifter outside my garage. Big mistake! SA seem to have a nack for building seemingly simple shifters (good) which also have a habit of exploding their parts all over the floor when you take them apart (bad). A few parts launched themselves on to the tarmack. I found all of them except one. How important can it be? I decided to have a bit of a break as I couldn't work out how to put the shifter back together, and it was about 19:30 by this point and I hadn't eaten.

After looking around online quite a lot this video turned up on youtube for their 3 speed shifter, which seemed similar to the 5 speed one. Which part had I lost on the tarmack? A spring...ah, maybe a bit more crucial after all. After eating I went back outside and of course was scrambling around on the floor looking for a spring with my headtorch. I'd almost given up, then it appeared! Huzzah!

I briefly considered trying to put the shifter back together at my garage, but quickly came to the conclusion I didn't want to lose any more parts on the floor, so instead I took everything I needed to the hallway outside my flat.

To make what was becoming a tedious exercise a bit more bearable (I'd almost finished about an hour ago I thought!) I listened to the latest ep of the moral maze on BBC Sounds, on the ethics of veganism. It was interesting to hear the Welsh beef farmer's point about eating meat every day being each individual's personal choice, regardless of the climate impact. I'm not vegan myself, but if everyone could afford their own personal private jet, I wonder whether the same farmer would claim that's their own personal choice too and it's fine, regardless of the consequences. Note, I'm not suggesting meat should be rationed 😂. I'm just aware of the climate impact of meat, especially beef.

Sorry, that was a bit of a digression. Anyway, thank goodness I'd decided to put the shifter back together with the new cable in the flat hallway. I must have dropped the spring and plastic part it pushes up against in that video above about 10-20 times. It was still a bit of a pain looking for them on the tiled floor but not half as bad as it would have been in my garage. Eventually I managed to get it together properly, and retreated back to the garage to hook up the other end to the hub gear linkage.

So the end result now is the shifting maybe actually shifts a bit worse than before, I probably need to do a bit more tweaking on that front. On the bright side, I'm much more confident that the rear tyre won't puncture on account of spoke holes. Given how long it took me to get to the wheel off I think in future if it gets a flat I'll either try to us a puncture repair kit, or just get home by public transport. I didn't bother removing the front wheel as there's no evidence that the rim tape has done a runner.

If you got this far reading all that ramble, you might like to read my North Coast 500 tour log, where you can read more about that mishap on Bealach na Bà! It's here.

Oh, and I'm planning on taking it on Critical Mass London this evening

That was epic! Well done for persevering.

 

[dimrub]

It happens to me sometimes. I pull at a string - something small, like derailleur adjustment, and the whole house of cards falls down, suddenly half the bike needs to be taken care of. Very cool project, though I'm not sure I understand why did you choose in favor of electrician tape, over proper rim tape.

 

[Boopop]

Oh I chose electrical tape over rim tape as the only rim tape I had on me was for a specific rim size (a loop) rather than a roll of tape. It didn't seem necessary to go to the expense of buying rim tape, hopefully I don't live to regret the decision.

Anyway, a small update. I didn't want to spend the £70-80 plus it would have cost to upgrade the bike with brand new dynamo lights, so I used the bargain hunter's friend, an eBay saved search, specifically for anything with Busch + Müller in the title. It took a few weeks but the Great Material Continuum that is eBay provided. First I got the rear light for £10, and then the front light (an up to date but modern looking equivelant of what it has already) for £30. They'll be going on this weekend - exciting!

The in situ rear battery light is getting rather irritating as the power button no longer works such that whenever the batteries are installed, the light is always on. Better than the alternative I suppose.

Once the dynamo lights are installed it will be my hop-on-at-a-moment's-notice bicycle, no special shoes, no tucking in of jeans, no charged batteries required

 

[Boopop]

Final update probably, as this bike doesn't need any further changes so far as I'm concerned. Dynamo powered LED lights fitted!

Under £200 spent and I've got a classy looking bike which I can hop on at a moment's notice without having to worry about charging batteries 👌. Looking forward to testing it this evening in the dark.

 

[Boopop]

Oh fine, one last photo! I was swapping bikes around in the garage for tomorrow's ride and once that was done couldn't help but go on a little late night pootle around the local streets to enjoy the new lighting set up. The car park next to the railway station has some nice streetlights for photos.

I'm rather fond of this bike!