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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on August 2, 2013 at 8:40am

 Bikeforums: For the love of English 3 speeds

Lots of experience with these beasts there, and in the C&V forum in general.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on August 2, 2013 at 9:38am

Any polishing compound should work fine on the paint; you can pick them up at auto parts stores.

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Permalink Reply by John C. Wilson on August 4, 2013 at 10:02am

The old standard method for English finishes is to liberally dose the paint with oil and then wipe dry the next day. Yes, oil. Sturmey-Archer oil keeps it all Brit but any basic oil will do the job. Even if oil is not enough to complete the job to your standards it is simple and can't hurt the paint. And you might be surprised how well it works.

3M #5973 buffing compound as used for hand buffing at the body shop is what you want. About $25/quart and that will do a lot of bikes and a lot of parts. Don't use anything coarser and don't bother with the finishing glazes. There are a lot of very similar buffing compounds with other labels but 5973 is the standard and if the auto parts store doesn't know what's equivalent with a whole lot of certainty you are in  the wrong place.  Portage Parts on Milwaukee near Irving is a good spot. Be very cautious with pinstripes and decals. You can buff to a much too much better than original finish so take it easy. And don't get so carried away you buff through to metal. Touching up ain't easy.

If you're going to commute on that thing spend a lot of time tuning the brakes. They will stop the bike if you succeed in getting them right and they won't if you settle for good enough on the third or fourth try. Extra-length Fibrax brake pads from Yellow Jersey, Madison will help. Kool Stop has a brake block for that bike too and some prefer those, I like Brit Fibrax.

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