'Back Pedalling' ... Youtube project starting maybe with a Raleigh Twenty project or two

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Inspired largely by an old Raleigh Twenty - actually two of them - sitting dilapidated in my brother's front garden, the plan was to recover one and ride it 25 miles home.

However, the one I was thinking about riding home for this project is a bit far gone for that. So I've bought another. I'll come back and post some pictures in the next day or two.

I am hoping to use the R20 I've bought to tow home the dilapidated R20. But it looks like I need to go through it first, as although the bike looks wonderful, every bearing has more play in it than I would like, the front brake barely works and the shifter barely works. So the first video (maybe*) is going to possibly be fettling the R20 I've bought into good ridable condition.

I'm still waiting on some kit I've ordered to make the video to arrive, but in the meantime I've created some artwork for the Youtube channel. I'm not a graphic designer, so I'm hoping this will do!

*I think the R20 may need tools and parts, so if there's any extra delay I may first create videos tuning up an Islabike and also cleaning and servicing my Trek District, the latter including a service of the rear Alfine 8 speed hub. Don't worry though, the R20 recovery will happen. And I already have some plans for bringing the dilapidated R20 back to life.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

The first video is live:


View: https://youtu.be/nAOXvTONcrM


I'm sorry I forgot to take pictures of the bike whilst I had it out for filming. I will do though and get them posted here.

You can, if you like, subscribe to the channel to see how the project progresses. I'll be keeping this thread up-to-date too. Hopefully the parts/tools I've ordered will be here early next week and I can make a start on getting the R20 road worthy and ready to tow.

 

[rogerzilla]

The R20 has a fairly unique headset with a nylon bush instead of a top race. Some say this is for damping, others that it's just a cheap-out by Raleigh.

The biggest issues in renovating/upgrading a Twenty are the Raleigh threading (NOS BBs and headsets now pretty much gone), the super-wide BB shell, and the almost-obsolete wheel size. I've solved all these one way or another, but it involved big shop tools, a new fork, and a geared coaster hub.

 

[figbat]

I thought the Twenty used 451 wheels? These are infinitely easier to find rims and tyres for than the 420 wheels on the Dawes Kingpin.

 

[FrankCrank]

I think the KP has 440 sized wheels, and later ones 451.
On these types of Raleigh, the rear wheel is designed to have a very slight amount of freeplay in it. If you try to eliminate this, the cranks will rotate as you walk the bike along, which may prove annoying - one of many foibles associated with these old shopper bikes. All of the oddities can be overcome and improved upon, and before long they become very addictive

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

The R20 has a fairly unique headset with a nylon bush instead of a top race. Some say this is for damping, others that it's just a cheap-out by Raleigh.

The biggest issues in renovating/upgrading a Twenty are the Raleigh threading (NOS BBs and headsets now pretty much gone), the super-wide BB shell, and the almost-obsolete wheel size. I've solved all these one way or another, but it involved big shop tools, a new fork, and a geared coaster hub.

I forget to mention it in the video, but the headset is loose in this one, so we will probably be getting to that nylon bush in a future video.

76 mm wide / 26 TPI bottom brackets. Raleigh were the Canondale of their day. I think this Twenty I'll try and keep as original as is practical. The one I'm due to tow home, that will be a resto-mod - if the frame is salvageable - and I'll be trying to find an LBS probably who can re-face and re-thread the BB.

I thought the Twenty used 451 wheels? These are infinitely easier to find rims and tyres for than the 420 wheels on the Dawes Kingpin.

It does. 406 on export models. According to the late Sheldon Brown, both wheel sizes turned up across the pond.

I think the KP has 440 sized wheels, and later ones 451.
On these types of Raleigh, the rear wheel is designed to have a very slight amount of freeplay in it. If you try to eliminate this, the cranks will rotate as you walk the bike along, which may prove annoying - one of many foibles associated with these old shopper bikes. All of the oddities can be overcome and improved upon, and before long they become very addictive

Good to know. The main bone of contention in respect to the hub at the minute, is it's reluctant to shift into anything but high gear. Hopefully that is a matter of adjustment - the gear cable being very slack at the moment. I've also got an 18t Sturmey Archer sprocket on the way, to gear it down slightly. I've got both the flat and dished flavour ordered, as I can't quite see which the current sprocket is - flat I think.

Thanks all for the pointers. I've done a fair amount of 'research' and watched a good number of R20 focussed videos, but there's no doubt some facets of information I've missed.

 

[rogerzilla]

In case you're interested, this is what I did, but you may think it's excessive!

1. Fitted a Firecloud long steerer BMX fork with V-brake bosses. Reamed the head tube and cut the fork crown to ISO and used a standard Tange headset.

2. Faced the BB shell on both sides until I got to 73mm. 68mm is not possible because of the tubes and welds. Then re-threaded to ISO and fitted a 73mm UN-55 BB.

3. Built 406 (BMX size) wheels with a Sachs Duomatic at the rear.

This solves all the problems, including the otherwise disastrous braking if you switch to 406 wheels (100mm reach!).

Another, possibly more elegant, option, would be to have a new ISO-threaded or even unthreaded steerer brazed into the original fork, and keep 451 size wheels. Tyre and rim choice is limited but it would look more original. Note: you can't rethread a 26tpi steerer to 24tpi ISO. There will be missing threads right where you need them.

 

[figbat]

I think the KP has 440 sized wheels, and later ones 451

Yes - 440. Typo on my part!