Coming along

Well, I've gone completely off the deep end with the Raleigh Competition GS.  I've spent the last few days removing layers of grease and cat hair from all over this bike.  Not really my neighbors fault - it has been in storage for about 20 years and collected a lot of spider webs and hair on an already greasy frame.  Anyway,  I've taken it all apart and fully degreased, cleaned and now waxed.  It has come back to life again!

So here is where I've gotten to.  The original tires were 700 x 28's, designed for road racing.  But I'm going for a bike that is somewhat like the Pashley Guvn'or.  These are 700 x 35 Schwalbe Delta Cruisers in cream (I have a thing for cream tires these days I guess). These tires barely fit between the chain stays in the back, and no need to worry about fenders... they will not fit.  At some point, I may move the Conti Gatorskins I have on my Surly over here and put the Deltas on that bike... make it a real cushy ride for commuting.

This bike has taken a fall at some point.  The frame is fine, but a couple of the components were in really tough shape.  First was the brake levers - extremely scratched up.  I ordered up a set of identical Dia Compe drilled levers from someone on eBay and they arrived almost the next day.  Good thing about these levers were that they came with the original cable and housing as well.  Saved a few bucks on this one.  The cable/housing is a little shorter than I'd like, but it keeps it looking very sleek over the bars.

So I have a few other things on the way...  The rear changer was badly damaged in the fall too.  It ground the top swivel nut into the body of the derailleur causing it to wobble in the hanger and not swivel.... not good.  So I have another changer being shipped in from, well, Hungary.  I know, I know.  Off the deep end.  I can't put it all together until the changer comes.  The chain is in a pot of lubricant working out the years of grime.  I can't wait till the new Campy Nuovo Gran Sport rear changer gets here and I can put the drivetrain back together.

I shopped some Campy pedals from that era... sorry, just too pricey.  I have a set of MKS Sylan Track pedals coming, with some stainless steel toe clips and leather straps.  All via eBay.

And to top it all off, you can see the Brooks B-17 Special saddle from the Faggin now mounted to the Campy seat post.  I have purchased two different sets of bar tape, and each time thought, it just wouldn't do to have plastic tape on this girl, so.... yes... a set of Brooks Honey leather bar tapes are coming.  The best deal I could find on eBay has them coming from Northern Ireland...

This will end up a truly international bike!

charles

A busy weekend

Its been a busy summer and the blog has suffered.  Sorry.  I've really been enjoying myself though.  I tend not to ride much when the temperature gets in the upper 80s and 90s, so I do not have many war stories from the saddle.  But I've been working on bikes in the shop and have a number of stories to share from the bench...

This last weekend was a real winner in terms of finds.  My neighbors were all having garage sales.  We didn't get our act together to price up stuff to sell, so we ended up hauling a bunch of cr*p to the local thrift store.  Now I stop at the thrift store on a VERY regular basis looking for bikes and didn't notice this one the other day when I was there.  After dropping off stuff, I just happened to glance at the rack and noticed some bright yellow ramhorns.  "Just a second..." I said to my wife.  I wandered over and the first thing I noticed was the full grouppo of Shimano 600.  "We are buying this bike" I said.  Tires were flat, chain was dry. there are a bunch of scratches and a very minor dent in the top tube... BUT after all that is said, it is Reynolds 531cs with FULL Shimano 600 (hubs, cranks, brakes, changers).




It is a Trek 610 from 1983-1985, blue and yellow, it has a very "Swedish" look about it.  The tires and tubes are new.  The saddle is a throw away, but the pedals are vintage MKS.  A real nice find.  It is a 52cm frame with a 31" standover height.  (For my friend at Starbucks this morning, this is the bike I was telling you about... measure your standover height - floor to, ummm... sorry no other way to say it, pubic bone, if 31" or greater, this will work for you)  It needs some serious cleaning up and new bar wraps and gum hoods... it will be perfect for a shorter road rider.

When we got home, I drifted over to my neighbor's house to see what kind of scraps he had left from his garage sale.  My neighbor has been a roadie for years and currently has a carbon fiber something he rides. 

"How did you do on the sale" I asked.

"Not too bad, I had a couple mountain bikes that went for $40 a piece" he said.

I mentioned the bike I got at the Thrift Store.  He asked me to wait and brought out a very  (VERY) grimy bike.

"This was my first ride when I started getting into cycling back in the 70s.  I put it away years ago thinking my son might pick it up.  I was going to sell it today, but forgot to bring it out."

I stared at it.  Under the grime was a Raleigh Competition GS, full Reynolds 531, Campy Nuovo Gran Sport changers, cranks, BB and hubs.  The brakes are high end Dia-Compe alloy blocks with drilled levers...

"umm... what are you thinking of asking for it?"

"$25"

"Are you sure about that?  This is a pretty nice bike."

"I'd be happy to see someone riding it that really appreciates it.  It's yours if you want it..."



This is the Raleigh, now fully dis-assembled and on the rack.  I've got the wheels off now.  I want to take them in and have the spokes tightened.  I'm putting on new tires, tubes and rim tape.  The bike went down in a crash at one point and damaged the rear changer.  I have a new one coming via eBay.  Ditto with the brake levers.  Although they worked, I figured a new set with no scratches would be worth it.  Since I'm only $25 into the bike, I figure I can put some bucks into it and really make it nice.

My biggest question will be how to treat some of the areas where the paint has been scratched off.  Underneath all the grime behind the crank/inner chainring, there is an area where the paint has been chipped off, probably due to some rough riding/dropped chain.  I don't want it to rust, but am leery of painting it and ruin the vintage look.  Since I plan on riding it for a bit (it's my size exactly - 59cm)





Campy changers front and back.  I've got the rings off to clean them.





Reynolds 531 throughout - forks and stays included.  There are a few decals where the edges are starting to peel a bit.  I'm looking into what kind of glue I should use to re-affix them.

So I have a LOT of work going on with these... fun fun fun.  I'm up to 21 bikes now between all the kids and my bikes...  I need to sell off a few.

Charles

Summer Lull

The heat of summer (not to mention being way to busy at work) has kept me from the keyboard over the last few weeks...

Not to worry, there have been many updates to the bikes and I'm planning on updates soon.  Stay with me!

charles

PS - a teaser... from Manzanita, OR.  Lovely!!

My Commute

I have to admit I'm pretty lucky as far as a commute goes. Much of my ride us on the Mountains-to-Sound Greenway between Mercer Island and Bellevue. There is a section of the trail that surmounts a small arching bridge over the Mercer Slough, a marshy section of Lake Washington just south of Bellevue. It's a great place to canoe, quietly slipping between the reeds to spy turtles, ducks, dragonflies and, the symbol of Raleigh Cycles, the Great Blue Heron. One time, following a particularly crummy day at work, I stopped on the top of the bridge to catch a couple of river otters frolicking in the weeds and mud of the bank. They seemed so carefree, and, just watching them play, washed away the cares of the day.

I often stop here and hope to introduce my Tourist to the other herons in the neighborhood.







charles

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New Orleans sightings

I have been a bit lax on updating the blog recently. I was in New Orleans last week on business and was really impressed with the number of bicycles I saw. It makes sense- the delta lands are flat and cycling would be a joy, if it weren't for the absolutely oppressive heat.

The bikes I saw were much like the city itself- a mix of parts, and a little dirty and provocative at the same time.


Here's a jaunty young buck, an older Schwinn, ready for a night out on Bourbon Street. He's got his bars done right to catch the attention of passing loop frames that might happen by...




This young stallion is rocking a set of the ever-present emerald green party beads that have become synonymous with this city. Loving the old school brass bell...




This little Brompton folder just made me a little homesick and wished I had my beloved Twenty with me. I must find a way to transport it by plane.




This is a pretty typical scene. This older couple has seen better days. She looks on from the safety of her wrought iron balcony at a gent who went a little too far last night. She's only a little worse for the wear, missing her saddle. He's now passed out in the street and thieves have picked him apart. The dangers of over-indulgence...

I love this city, but you must be careful. My only regrets from this trip were not having my bike with me and not making it out to Wallingford Bike shop.

Charles

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My Third Twenty

I've got to stop looking around on craigslist! I just keep finding more bikes.

I recently came across a Raleigh Twenty here around Seattle that was different from all the others I'd seen recently. First off, it is blue. I'd heard these were uncommon and it must be true because I've only seen one before in my looking around on the web.

But this is a really rough example. The finish is in pretty bad shape with numerous scratches and even a couple spots of what we called "cancer" in my youthful high school days. Rust that had worked it's way under the finish in spots, that was cancer. Even a few of the chrome bits are rusted over- the main hinge handle, the top rim of the headset, and the inside of the fenders.

The most unique thing about it is the single speed coaster brake hub in the back. It's not Sturmey Archer. It is a Suntour Coaster brake hub.

Sooooo.... This may finally be the bike that I convert to a daily rider with new hubs and rims, lighter seat post and the like. The condition doesn't warrant trying to restore it to showroom. I will probably "borrow" some parts and put them on the other nicer bikes.

So here are the pics...




Here she it. A coal miners daughter of a Twenty. Doesn't look too bad from a distance.



Notice no front or rear brake blocks. Not a multiple speed bike so no shift cable either.



Ouch! This is indicative of the overall status of the bike.



Weird. No SA hub. Single speed Suntour coaster brake. Really gummed up and running stiff. No way to date her without the SA hub. But the older bars and decals make it from the earlier period of production.



Here is the whole herd!




No one likes to witness surgery. Within 30 minutes, I had her completely apart down to the bottom bracket. She lays in parts in my shop.

I'm going to need a lot of help and advise guys! Any ideas? What should I do with her? I'd love to have a Twenty as a daily rider, even a bike to dis-assemble and pack on a plane. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

charles



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Delta Cruisers and Carradice

I got a text message from my wife this afternoon.  "You have packages!" For some odd reason, UPS claimed there was  "natural disaster" somewhere around Spokane, WA that delayed the arrival a couple days.  But I knew exactly what she was talking about.  The Delta Cruisers had arrived.

I hopped on the Twenty that I rode in to work on this morning and "raced," or at least went as fast as a Twenty can carry you, home.

The rest of the next couple hours was spent pulling the original rubber off the Tourist and putting on these gorgeous cream-colored beauties.

The front was no problem at all.  Once the brake pads were removed and the axle lined up with the keyhole slot in the fork, the wheel dropped right out.  The original tire was a bit difficult to get off.  The tube was the original one too and had two very old patches on it.  I was a little nervous the Delta Cruisers wouldn't fit as they seemed a bit large.  In fact, the first time I put air in it up to 35psi, I noticed some of the bead sticking out.  I let a little air out and pushed it in, re-pumped to 40psi (these are rated max 45psi) and it held fine.

The rear... well, let's just say it wasn't so easy.  Here were the steps:

• Undo shift cable
• Remove brake shoes
• Undo brake guides and slide them back so wheel clears them
• Remove axle nuts (indicator nut on the right, standard nut on the left) and  washers.  Don't mix them up!
• Remove wheel alignment nuts on the back of drop outs
• Slide wheel forward and remove chain from cog
• Slide wheel back out of drops
• Watch for the unique wheel alignment/chain tensioner

I HOPE that I never get a flat on this thing while I'm on a long ride.  It would be very unpleasant to have to undo all this in the wild.

I also took the opportunity, while I had her all ripped apart to adjust the chain (it was a bit loose previously) and then re-set the rear brakes.  This was the most time consuming part.  Adjusting rod brakes appears to be an art that will take me some time to master.

Anyway, I got it all done! and look at this lovely girl!!







Another surprise was my Carradice Barley saddle bag that arrived from England.  I got a great deal on this bag, even shipped from across the pond.  What quality!  Now I know why everyone talks about this bag. 







One thing I've learned from mounting other saddle bags with leather loops to Brooks saddles is that the metal very quickly chews up the leather on the loop strap.  While I'm sure you could get replacements, I "line" the loop on the saddle with a short 1.5 inch section of old road inner tube.  I save all my old inner tubes.  They come in handy for so many things.  From buffers to keep a chain from hitting the chain stay to makeshift bungee cords to tie something to a rack, they are very handy to have.

Here you can see the short section of tube with the leather strap running through it.  The easiest way to do this is to push the tube through first and position it, then slide the strap up through the inner part of the tube.  It can be a bit tricky, but it really saves straps from the wear of metal on leather.






I'm riding her in tomorrow, no doubt about it.  I'll post my impressions of the ride.

~charles

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