- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
As those who have read my posts before may know, I quite like my old Raleigh 
and have upgraded it as bits wore out.
While the current set up is great, I have for some time had a hankering for a wider selection of gears with a few more options for climbing so a few bits and bobs went on my birthday list....
To set the scene, my Raleigh Pioneer Jaguar is a trekking style bike which I bought new in 1998. It came as an 18 speed with grip shifters, a 28-38-48 chainset and a close ratio 14 to 24 freewheel.
I should point out that in ’98 this was a decent spec at this end of the market as 10 or 15 speed with thumb shifters was still common.
The highlight of the spec though is the frame, which is made of 4130 Cro-moly steel. This is reasonably light and gives a nice ride.
A couple of years ago, while renewing the drivetrain, I upgraded to 21 speed with a “mega range” style 13-34 freewheel which gives brilliant climbing ability – I could now sit and wind my way up climbs which were previously only possible by standing on the pedals and pushing until it felt like my chest would burst. This improvement was great but I still wanted more.
The next logical step was to go to 24 speeds. A simple idea which I’d been thinking about since well before the last upgrade, but there is a snag – to be successful, 24 speeds means changing to a modern back wheel equipped with a freehub. Now, a freehub has an axle length of 135mm over the lock nuts and therefore requires the distance between the rear dropouts to also be 135mm... obvious really, but hubs for a screw on freewheel are traditionally only 126mm meaning that the frame has to be bent to fit – a bit daunting but possible. (Note; this is only possible on steel frames as aluminium alloy ones are at risk of being over stressed and breaking if you try it).
Whilst it’s possible, I really didn’t fancy the idea of “cold setting” as I felt nervous about maybe damaging my frame, so the idea went on hold. Then, one day while the back wheel was out for maintenance I decided out of curiosity to actually measure the distance between the dropouts and found it’s 132mm. Suddenly the project is possible again as the adjustment needed is minimal (alright, I know I should have measured it before and not assumed).
So, my birthday came and everyone has been good enough to get the parts I asked for. There was a slight problem with one of the wheels being black and one silver (my fault, I wrote down the wrong part number)
but Raleigh were really good about doing a swap. Now I just needed a dry day to get out and do the build and yesterday was that day.
The first job was the strip down. The chain came off really easily thanks to the KMC quicklink, I then moved to the cranks and bottom bracket which also came off easily thanks to having been greased when assembled.
Has anyone else noticed that Teflon based grease smells strongly of gunpowder when it’s been compressed?
After removing the rear derailleur I swapped the tyres on to the new wheels. It was a great moment when I could stand the bike on its new wheels for the first time.
I should have known that things were going too well. When I attempted to fit the front derailleur it wouldn’t go on. There is simply no clearance for it between the frame and the rear mudguard. Looking at the mudguard I thought I could create enough clearance by adding a spacer to the front fitting so I removed the stand and tried removing the fitting.
I’m sure you’re well ahead of me here – it’s the original 14 year old set screw and nut so of course it was solidly rusted in place. I don’t have a cranked screwdriver to hand so I had to improvise and hold the head of the screw with a pair of pliers while I attempted to undo the nut. Pliers slip, there’s a moment of pain and I now have quite a pretty blood blister on my index finger.
The nut eventually broke off the set screw and I was able to cut a new one to size (with a bolt not a screw) and space it correctly, but the front mech still doesn’t fit.
I now know there are two types of clamp-on fitting and naturally I’d put the wrong one on my list.
Unfortunately because I’ve stuck the adapters in place I can’t now return it. Fortunately it appears that this will fit on my knockabout bike which will need a new front derailleur quite soon.
Hey ho... go and fit the new brake blocks instead. These at least went on easily, but as always I take ages on the adjustment to get it just the way I like.
By this time it is 6pm so I pack away and will resume on Monday when I can visit one of my local bike shops who appear to stock the alternative mech I need.
Time to relax a bit.
There's a set of pictures showing what I've done so far here.
To be continued....
and have upgraded it as bits wore out.While the current set up is great, I have for some time had a hankering for a wider selection of gears with a few more options for climbing so a few bits and bobs went on my birthday list....
To set the scene, my Raleigh Pioneer Jaguar is a trekking style bike which I bought new in 1998. It came as an 18 speed with grip shifters, a 28-38-48 chainset and a close ratio 14 to 24 freewheel.
I should point out that in ’98 this was a decent spec at this end of the market as 10 or 15 speed with thumb shifters was still common.
The highlight of the spec though is the frame, which is made of 4130 Cro-moly steel. This is reasonably light and gives a nice ride.
A couple of years ago, while renewing the drivetrain, I upgraded to 21 speed with a “mega range” style 13-34 freewheel which gives brilliant climbing ability – I could now sit and wind my way up climbs which were previously only possible by standing on the pedals and pushing until it felt like my chest would burst. This improvement was great but I still wanted more.
The next logical step was to go to 24 speeds. A simple idea which I’d been thinking about since well before the last upgrade, but there is a snag – to be successful, 24 speeds means changing to a modern back wheel equipped with a freehub. Now, a freehub has an axle length of 135mm over the lock nuts and therefore requires the distance between the rear dropouts to also be 135mm... obvious really, but hubs for a screw on freewheel are traditionally only 126mm meaning that the frame has to be bent to fit – a bit daunting but possible. (Note; this is only possible on steel frames as aluminium alloy ones are at risk of being over stressed and breaking if you try it).
Whilst it’s possible, I really didn’t fancy the idea of “cold setting” as I felt nervous about maybe damaging my frame, so the idea went on hold. Then, one day while the back wheel was out for maintenance I decided out of curiosity to actually measure the distance between the dropouts and found it’s 132mm. Suddenly the project is possible again as the adjustment needed is minimal (alright, I know I should have measured it before and not assumed).
So, my birthday came and everyone has been good enough to get the parts I asked for. There was a slight problem with one of the wheels being black and one silver (my fault, I wrote down the wrong part number)
but Raleigh were really good about doing a swap. Now I just needed a dry day to get out and do the build and yesterday was that day.The first job was the strip down. The chain came off really easily thanks to the KMC quicklink, I then moved to the cranks and bottom bracket which also came off easily thanks to having been greased when assembled.
Has anyone else noticed that Teflon based grease smells strongly of gunpowder when it’s been compressed?
After removing the rear derailleur I swapped the tyres on to the new wheels. It was a great moment when I could stand the bike on its new wheels for the first time.
I should have known that things were going too well. When I attempted to fit the front derailleur it wouldn’t go on. There is simply no clearance for it between the frame and the rear mudguard. Looking at the mudguard I thought I could create enough clearance by adding a spacer to the front fitting so I removed the stand and tried removing the fitting.
I’m sure you’re well ahead of me here – it’s the original 14 year old set screw and nut so of course it was solidly rusted in place. I don’t have a cranked screwdriver to hand so I had to improvise and hold the head of the screw with a pair of pliers while I attempted to undo the nut. Pliers slip, there’s a moment of pain and I now have quite a pretty blood blister on my index finger.
The nut eventually broke off the set screw and I was able to cut a new one to size (with a bolt not a screw) and space it correctly, but the front mech still doesn’t fit.
I now know there are two types of clamp-on fitting and naturally I’d put the wrong one on my list.
Unfortunately because I’ve stuck the adapters in place I can’t now return it. Fortunately it appears that this will fit on my knockabout bike which will need a new front derailleur quite soon.
Hey ho... go and fit the new brake blocks instead. These at least went on easily, but as always I take ages on the adjustment to get it just the way I like.
By this time it is 6pm so I pack away and will resume on Monday when I can visit one of my local bike shops who appear to stock the alternative mech I need.
Time to relax a bit.
There's a set of pictures showing what I've done so far here.To be continued....
, but in a good way. I've geared it lower at the bottom end than it was, for good hill climbing ability, but the top end should be about the same as before. I just have to select one gear higher on the shifter than I'm used to.
