Jack Taylor Super Tourist - 1983 built - sold 1990 -
- Thread starter Jamiedyer
- Start date
sefton1275gt
Devout Dirtbag
Very nice. Great photos
PeterPerfect
Senior Retro Guru
A thing of real beauty; oozes quality.
If it were mine, I'd swap out those suicide brake levers.
They look the part but they weren't nicknamed that for nothing !
If it were mine, I'd swap out those suicide brake levers.
They look the part but they weren't nicknamed that for nothing !
PeterPerfect
Senior Retro Guru
Actually, having zoomed in and read the spec sheet, I take it all back; I now see that they're Mafac brake levers.
Anyone used these before?
I thought it was just Weinmann that did these and those had very little or no pulling power.
Hi Peter, apologies as I missed this post.
The levers actually work really well and were great on the loose surface roads, meant I could keep my hands on the tops. With the cantis they have really nice feel and are very progressive. I too had only ever seen Weinmanns and when I initially seen them I thought ' they will have to go' but on closer inspection they are quite nicely engineered. While I wanted to keep it original it is primarily a rider/tourer to be used so the fact they actually work very well works out great so will keep them on.
Sadly the weather has not been good up here at all and my fortnight off work in October had only 2 dry days. So with the gritters now out and the roads up here likely to be damp until well into 2024, this one may stay tucked up until better weather. The Super Clubman will still be out and about when the weather allows as it is well waxed and is used to the ice and damp
Jamie
Out again today and seen as how it hadn’t rained yesterday or this morning I thought I would be fine to take the Super Tourist for a few hours round the coast before winter closes in and the roads are too salty and too wet. For winter the Super Tourist will get tucked away and the Super Clubman comes back to the fore. It’s already battle hardened to the northern winter, meaning it's patina is well waxed.
As can be seen, I didn’t get too far before the rain came driving in off the sea.
I managed a bit further than last weekend before it got me, but just meant longer pushing into the headwind home. At least I got few hours out and about and christened the tourer in the rain. First rain it has ever felt.
I love riding this one but still needs a few tweaks. Maily just the front derailleur as I hadn't swapped the cable out yet and then properly adjust as I am sure that will sort it. I will most likely fully strip it over the winter and grease, service and adjust everything at the same time.
It handles really nice and I am sure with a front load on it, it will really come into it's own. Just a shame the weather has been so dreadful up here lately so have not had much chance to take this out, let alone get away for a tour. I have been riding my Super Clubman but must admit with this being so spotless, I didn't really want to ride it on the gritty, greasy roads.
Hope you all had a nice weekend.
Jamie
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Drying off in the kitchen
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
There is also more photos and information over on my blog if anyone is interested. Nothing flash, just somewhere to keep all my bike ramblings.
BLOG: https://theroadlesspedalled.blogspot.com/
As can be seen, I didn’t get too far before the rain came driving in off the sea.
I managed a bit further than last weekend before it got me, but just meant longer pushing into the headwind home. At least I got few hours out and about and christened the tourer in the rain. First rain it has ever felt.
I love riding this one but still needs a few tweaks. Maily just the front derailleur as I hadn't swapped the cable out yet and then properly adjust as I am sure that will sort it. I will most likely fully strip it over the winter and grease, service and adjust everything at the same time.
It handles really nice and I am sure with a front load on it, it will really come into it's own. Just a shame the weather has been so dreadful up here lately so have not had much chance to take this out, let alone get away for a tour. I have been riding my Super Clubman but must admit with this being so spotless, I didn't really want to ride it on the gritty, greasy roads.
Hope you all had a nice weekend.
Jamie
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrUntitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrUntitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrUntitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrDrying off in the kitchen
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrThere is also more photos and information over on my blog if anyone is interested. Nothing flash, just somewhere to keep all my bike ramblings.
BLOG: https://theroadlesspedalled.blogspot.com/
Yesterday was the first decent weather day when I hadn't been super busy so with a few hours to spare I decided to head out for a bit of leisurely riding on the Super Tourist. More of a test ride of sorts as I had been tinkering away here and there trying to sort some of the shifting issues I have had since I got it.
There are several issues I believe all coming together to make it inconsistent on shifting and when it goes wrong, a bit dangerous on two occasions. Minor and niggles to be expected really but on an otherwise sweet ride they are annoying.
It would shift onto the large chainring but was rubbing the front Arabesque guides on the derailleur, I retrimmed this on a couple of occasions thinking it was sorted, though the Arabesque cages are very narrow, I did check against another I had and they were both the same. After the weekends ride I managed to put it down to a slightly warped chainring by 1.23mm and a joining link where the two pins stick a couple of mm past the backing plate, enough that now it's just a very annoying, rythmic tink, tink, tink. The other issue was the rear Suntour derailleur being a bit 'sticky', I would get trimmed up really nicely when at home and very slickly clicking through the gears to then get out on the road and it would not go onto the largest gear and would rub, that was easy enough to see as it was hitting the metal pie dish spoke protector before it could shift the chain onto the gear. The main issue though is while it was trimmed and working fine at home it would then hit the spokes on the rear, would try and over throw the chain only to land between the spoke protector and cog and would generally miss the odd shift, this too got a bit better with a good strip and degrease and then lube up the pivot points and the springs and then the third issue being the freewheel itself, have tried to clean out the old grease, regrease and make sure it is well lubed but it still just randomly will disengage, most noticably after a run with a bit of pressure, say on a long flat and then when you shift to go up a hill, it takes a second to realise that it's not engaged and you are just spinning, then hunt both directions to have it engage before you topple over still clipped in These are legacies of a bike sitting unused for 30 odd years with grease hardening, things drying out etc so minor things in the scheme of it but definitely must get it sorted soon as I couldn't trust it on a long tour and to be honest the three things combined would drive me mad on a long tour. I will most likely swap out the rear derailleur, freewheel and replace the joiner on the chain and, if then needed, the large chainring, I am sure this will cure it.
Otherwise yesterdays ride was a really nice ride out to the southwest of the county. Sticking to the quieter single track roads I could ride along getting more and more familiar with this Jack Taylor. In a similar style to my Super Clubman it has that very relaxed but responsive feeling. You can certainly feel the touring geometry being longer with more relaxed angles and more rake on the front. I think that this one, even more so than the Super Clubman would handle even better with a bag on the front. Maybe if I try a brevit down to Dingwall to Brians overnight as a test run I will just have my trunk bag and a couple of small front panniers and see how the handling goes.
I have adjusted all the contacts to fit and it feels very comfortable and everything just falls to hand. So once I get niggles out the way I am looking forward to some good quality miles in the spring and summer.
Jamie
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
There are several issues I believe all coming together to make it inconsistent on shifting and when it goes wrong, a bit dangerous on two occasions. Minor and niggles to be expected really but on an otherwise sweet ride they are annoying.
It would shift onto the large chainring but was rubbing the front Arabesque guides on the derailleur, I retrimmed this on a couple of occasions thinking it was sorted, though the Arabesque cages are very narrow, I did check against another I had and they were both the same. After the weekends ride I managed to put it down to a slightly warped chainring by 1.23mm and a joining link where the two pins stick a couple of mm past the backing plate, enough that now it's just a very annoying, rythmic tink, tink, tink. The other issue was the rear Suntour derailleur being a bit 'sticky', I would get trimmed up really nicely when at home and very slickly clicking through the gears to then get out on the road and it would not go onto the largest gear and would rub, that was easy enough to see as it was hitting the metal pie dish spoke protector before it could shift the chain onto the gear. The main issue though is while it was trimmed and working fine at home it would then hit the spokes on the rear, would try and over throw the chain only to land between the spoke protector and cog and would generally miss the odd shift, this too got a bit better with a good strip and degrease and then lube up the pivot points and the springs and then the third issue being the freewheel itself, have tried to clean out the old grease, regrease and make sure it is well lubed but it still just randomly will disengage, most noticably after a run with a bit of pressure, say on a long flat and then when you shift to go up a hill, it takes a second to realise that it's not engaged and you are just spinning, then hunt both directions to have it engage before you topple over still clipped in
These are legacies of a bike sitting unused for 30 odd years with grease hardening, things drying out etc so minor things in the scheme of it but definitely must get it sorted soon as I couldn't trust it on a long tour and to be honest the three things combined would drive me mad on a long tour. I will most likely swap out the rear derailleur, freewheel and replace the joiner on the chain and, if then needed, the large chainring, I am sure this will cure it. Otherwise yesterdays ride was a really nice ride out to the southwest of the county. Sticking to the quieter single track roads I could ride along getting more and more familiar with this Jack Taylor. In a similar style to my Super Clubman it has that very relaxed but responsive feeling. You can certainly feel the touring geometry being longer with more relaxed angles and more rake on the front. I think that this one, even more so than the Super Clubman would handle even better with a bag on the front. Maybe if I try a brevit down to Dingwall to Brians overnight as a test run I will just have my trunk bag and a couple of small front panniers and see how the handling goes.
I have adjusted all the contacts to fit and it feels very comfortable and everything just falls to hand. So once I get niggles out the way I am looking forward to some good quality miles in the spring and summer.
Jamie
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrUntitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrUntitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrUntitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrUntitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrUntitled by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrUntitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
PeterPerfect
Senior Retro Guru
Hi Jamie.
Any chance there's a chain issue at the root of some of these problems ?
A twisted or seized link ?
Just a thought.
Nice pics and it looked quite a nice day.
Any chance there's a chain issue at the root of some of these problems ?
A twisted or seized link ?
Just a thought.
Nice pics and it looked quite a nice day.
Peter, you could well be right and I too had been thinking the chain itself and not just the slightly proud joining link.
I was thinking to replace the whole chain and not just the joiner, it doesn’t seem to be kinked or tight but it also just doesn’t look to sit ‘right’.
I wonder whether the original was a bit tight or seized from sitting so long and maybe this is a replacement or the joiner at least doesn’t look right. This chain is absolutely covered in oil and even though it’s been washed and wiped it still looks like it has been taken off and soaked in oil, so could also be hiding a stiff link somewhere.
A great place to start anyway as there is no wear on the drivetrain. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.
Jamie
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