Actually a new old bike. It’s a forty year old Raleigh three speed.
It still has old police registration stickers on it from 1972.
From the looks of it, all I need to do is repair the shifter and throw on some improved brake pads. Then I can head off and see how three speeds compare with the 24 I’m used to. :eek:
At any rate, I should get a workout, and I’ll be sweating in style. Has anyone else owned one of these monsters?
I owned a three-speed when I was in junior high, call it the mid-Sixties. It was considered “Gee whiz!” state-of-the-art bicycle technology in middle-class Sears Roebuck bike-buying families back then. Learning how to ride without a coaster brake was a challenge; I was prone to flipping myself over the front wheel for a while at first.
But once I got the hang of it, it was very cool. I felt very sophisticated riding it. And going uphill with the very-cool “it has gears!” bike, compared to my old Schwinn girls’ bike, was a breeze. Your feet went round and round more, but it didn’t tire you out as much. Neat.
I don’t know what I’d do with 24 gears to choose from, frankly. 
As proud owner of a 27-speed, all I can say is:
AAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIII!!! :eek:
I went straight from the single-speed rotate-backwards-to-brake kid’s bike to a ten-speed, so the idea of a nine-million-pound three-speed frightens me. 
Mine is a 27 speed, but it IS made of steel (as all real bikes are )
Actually the seatpost and handlebars are carbon fiber, and I think the wheels are aluminum, but the main frame is steel.
Its a Trek 520 which is designed for loaded touring. Besides the ride quality, the other advantage of steel is if you are south podunk hollow it is relatively easy to find someone who can weld it.
Brian