So, OK, yes, I did go buy the old Raleigh from the bike shop guy today.  I told Laura about it, and she said "Oh, you should get it."  That was enough for me.

It appears to be an old Raleigh Superbe, but with an AG hub.  The hub is definitely from 1952, so I would assume the bicycle is too.

It is rideable now, but I think it may be a long term project.  The plate with the electrical connectors on the hub rotates along with the hub unless you hold it in place, so there is some locking mechanism somewhere that seems to be missing or broken, and I can only hope that part is repairable/replaceable.

Right now, there only seem to be two gears working.  I fiddled with the adjustment without really looking up Sheldon's instructions, so, maybe it might just be a matter of adjustment, but there might be something wrong in the hub as well.  I foresee a lot of fiddling and adjusting, and maybe eventually taking the hub apart to relube everything.  (There is an oil port, and the bike shop guy said he put some oil in there, but it might need more).

The rubber block pedals are in surprisingly good shape for their age.

And I really have to replace the saddle.  This one is as flat as a pancake - aged beyond belief.  A new saddle will just about double the price of the bike.

And is there any way to tell which key goes to the locking fork and where to get such a key?  Ridiculous, I know.  I would never just lock a bicycle fork and feel it's safe, but since there is a lock there, the part of me that is OCD would like a key for that lock.

Oh, and a pump that fits between the two pump pegs.

I wish I had more time (and money).  My nature is to work on something obsessively until it is in immaculate condition and then riding something else because whatever it was I was working on is now too nice and costs too much, and I wouldn't want it damaged or stolen.

Oh, and some Schwalbe tires with tourguard for the goatheads around here.

The list goes on.

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