Carlton Corsair, new arrival

[RichardB]

Quick survey:

1. Black saddle and black bar tape (as original from factory) or
2. Brown saddle and brown bar tape (matches rest of colour scheme)?

Probably going for a Brooks B17 and cloth tape. Need help. Wife no use (what's wrong with the ones on it already?).

Thank you.

No one going to help me out? If I don't get any replies, it will be rainbow glitter on the bars and a cheap gel seat cover from Halfords.

 

[Drago]

Brown and brown. Let the collar match the cuffs

 

[midlife]

Black . Only brogues should be brown lol.

 

[Paulus]

I'm with @Drago on this. Brown and brown will complement the frame colour.

 

[Gunk]

That’s very nice 👍

 

[RichardB]

Brown and brown. Let the collar match the cuffs

I'm with @Drago on this. Brown and brown will complement the frame colour.

I was on the point of ordering a brown saddle for exactly these reasons but then I wondered if it would be too much brown. Black saddle, bars and tyres could be a nice contrast, no?

Black . Only brogues should be brown lol.

I know where you're coming from. My sensible side tends towards black, but I'm not sure.

Changing the bar tape is going to be a challenge. The brake hoods are original Weinmann and they fit and work fine, but I can see they are quite brittle. I doubt if they will survive being removed and reinstalled, and proper Weinmann-branded replacements seem to be unavailable. There are modern copies, I suppose. We shall see. Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Kempstonian]

I'm in the brown and brown camp.

Or the rainbow glitter and cheap gel seat cover. That sounds fun.

 

[Gunk]

Changing the bar tape is going to be a challenge. The brake hoods are original Weinmann and they fit and work fine, but I can see they are quite brittle. I doubt if they will survive being removed and reinstalled, and proper Weinmann-branded replacements seem to be unavailable. There are modern copies, I suppose. We shall see. Thanks for the thoughts.

just undo the Allen bolt behind the lever and they’ll easily pull away from the bars

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Honey brown

 

[Gunk]

Oh and don’t get hung up on brown/black, brown/brown, black/black etc. It doesn’t really matter.

 

[RichardB]

just undo the Allen bolt behind the lever and they’ll easily pull away from the bars

Are you talking about the actual lever? That's not a problem. It's the rubber hoods over the levers that are very stiff and brittle. I think they would disintegrate if I tried to peel them back to get the bar tape round the levers.

Oh and don’t get hung up on brown/black, brown/brown, black/black etc. It doesn’t really matter.

Thanks.

 

[midlife]

Lots of people remove the brake levers, keep the bands In place, wrap the tape around the bands, then bolt the levers back onto the bands.....if that make sense

 

[Gunk]

^^^ this

 

[RichardB]

Oh, I get it. Cheers.

 

[Rhys jones]

Well, it's here. It arrived today and in many ways it is better than I expected, but there are, as always, a couple of niggles.

First, a pic (there will be more):

View attachment 529471

Good bits first: it's very original. Paintwork is deep and shiny with only a few chips and blemishes - pretty good for 40 years old. Decals good. Mudguards, chainset protector and rack are present (on most I have seen these are missing and it's £££ to put them back). The rack looks very like the original, but I'm not 100% convinced. It's too good. They came from the factory with a brown suede saddle, and this looks like it might be the original one. It's getting binned asap, though, like I did with my first Corsair. It's horrid and uncomfy. Tyres are English-made Michelin Sports, 27x1.25. The front is newish, but I think the rear might be the original tyre. It's a gumwall, horrendously old, and the brown bits are melting and cracking everywhere. It's getting new tyres before I go anywhere. Bar tape is inevitably a replacement and will be changed. I'm wondering about Brooks leather bar tape to match the B17 the other end is getting - too much? Miraculously, no one has thought to 'upgrade' the Raleigh-branded front and rear mechs. However, the rear block is a 14-24, and I know my old bike was a 14-34. Has someone swapped it to make the bike racier, or is this how they were sold? I was expecting a nice 33" bottom gear and the 42x24 gives 47", which will bust my knees big time. We shall see. I might take up the challenge.

Less good bits? Someone has tried to touch in the paint in places and left things a bit rippley. Not very noticeable, though. The seat pin nut is chewed and was seized up. I have managed to free it and the bolt is fine, but it needs a new one. Thankfully, both seat pin and stem are free. The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that the front and rear brake cables were wrong way round. Took me about 10 minutes to put right, once I had remembered how centre-pull calipers work. Chain is slightly rusty and the cables are stiff. I think new consumables are in order, followed by a good strip and lube of everything that moves.

Finally, I rode it round the garden. I hadn't ridden a bike with toe straps for many years. Yes, I fell off.

More to come when I have had a better look in the morning. There are some small detail differences between my 80s Corsair and this one, which the seller says is 1979. If anyone has any knowledge of the history of this model, I'd be really interested to hear it.

How much do you want for the suede saddle?