My dad's raleigh...resurrected
- Thread starter Matt-g
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
biggs682
Touch it up and ride it
- Location
- Northamptonshire
Spokesmann
Keeping the Carlton and Sun names alive...
- Location
- Plymouth, Devon
Very 80s! Nice.
TissoT
Guru
- Location
- The Home of British cycling
Those Ever ready lights take me back...
Nice to see it in good condition
Nice to see it in good condition
Last edited:
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Nice bike ... And those lights really yell "1980s!"
OP
OP
Matt-g
Senior Member
Thanks all.
To be honest my dad made it very easy for me. It had been stored in his garden shed and sat there for many years.
After he died, the house was sold and when we went into the shed, we discovered the felt roof had been leaking and it was sat in a puddle of oily water.
Luckily, he had oiled it up before storing it and the oil had attracted a fair amount of dust and formed a strong protective layer/crust, which washed off to reveal a bike in very good condition. The tires were flat, unsurprisingly....and also they had deteriorated badly.
I tried to pump them up, but the tubes had also gone the same way, unsurprisingly.
I was passing my local bike shop, who had a look at it and noted that the hub needed some attention. I hadn't spotted this and it surprised me, as I hadn't noticed and my dad wasn't one to neglect maintenance on anything.
They fitted the good quality tyres, tubes and rebuilt the hub and I had change out of £30!
I think the mechanic did it out of posterity, as he said these type of hubs don't get presented for repair very often, with the majority of bikes running derailers. He said he enjoyed working on it, as it brushed-up his knowledge.
I could have had a go myself, but he seemed particularly keen to do it and although I wasn't in a rush, I had litte time myself to play, also....space was an issue, if I had to leave it dismantled for any length of time,in between fettling sessions
I haven't attempted to polish up the chrome or aluminium, so it's a bit dull. Maybe when the weather improves I'll dig out the solvo auto sol- on the alloy only! It's too aggressive a cleaner for chrome.
But, it doesn't detract from the finish, so I may not go to those lengths. I find that once you have polished aluminium, you have to keep on top of it.
I've already got too many things to upkeep.
It rides really smoothly, and has a certain unrushed stature about it. Especially, as it sits so tall.
My Dad was 6'3" and long in the leg.
Even with the seat in its lowest position I struggle to get up on it and I'm 5'11 and similarly long legged.
I did ponder over whether to remove the rack and lights. But I've only got to find space for them if I do....and the rack may come in handy one day.
I suspect it won't get much use at all, but I enjoyed the the minor revamp.
The lbs sys that it's a Reynolds 531 tubing and maybe worth about £200 quid to the right person, although Ive seen a couple go on eBay for £50/£60 from time to time.
I wouldn't part with it for sentimental reasons, even though my dad was a practical type of bloke.
Incidentally, he was a cycle mechanic himself for quite a few years in his early working life. He told me he used to do a lot of work converting push bikes into what he called " cyclemasters", which was a motorised 2 stroke unit ( if my memory serves me well ) which replaced the rear wheel. I've not found much info on these so far, but will google it at some point soon.
He liked the sturmey archer gears as he said they were butlet proof and he never would contemplate a bike with derailers.
To be honest my dad made it very easy for me. It had been stored in his garden shed and sat there for many years.
After he died, the house was sold and when we went into the shed, we discovered the felt roof had been leaking and it was sat in a puddle of oily water.
Luckily, he had oiled it up before storing it and the oil had attracted a fair amount of dust and formed a strong protective layer/crust, which washed off to reveal a bike in very good condition. The tires were flat, unsurprisingly....and also they had deteriorated badly.
I tried to pump them up, but the tubes had also gone the same way, unsurprisingly.
I was passing my local bike shop, who had a look at it and noted that the hub needed some attention. I hadn't spotted this and it surprised me, as I hadn't noticed and my dad wasn't one to neglect maintenance on anything.
They fitted the good quality tyres, tubes and rebuilt the hub and I had change out of £30!
I think the mechanic did it out of posterity, as he said these type of hubs don't get presented for repair very often, with the majority of bikes running derailers. He said he enjoyed working on it, as it brushed-up his knowledge.
I could have had a go myself, but he seemed particularly keen to do it and although I wasn't in a rush, I had litte time myself to play, also....space was an issue, if I had to leave it dismantled for any length of time,in between fettling sessions
I haven't attempted to polish up the chrome or aluminium, so it's a bit dull. Maybe when the weather improves I'll dig out the solvo auto sol- on the alloy only! It's too aggressive a cleaner for chrome.
But, it doesn't detract from the finish, so I may not go to those lengths. I find that once you have polished aluminium, you have to keep on top of it.
I've already got too many things to upkeep.
It rides really smoothly, and has a certain unrushed stature about it. Especially, as it sits so tall.
My Dad was 6'3" and long in the leg.
Even with the seat in its lowest position I struggle to get up on it and I'm 5'11 and similarly long legged.
I did ponder over whether to remove the rack and lights. But I've only got to find space for them if I do....and the rack may come in handy one day.
I suspect it won't get much use at all, but I enjoyed the the minor revamp.
The lbs sys that it's a Reynolds 531 tubing and maybe worth about £200 quid to the right person, although Ive seen a couple go on eBay for £50/£60 from time to time.
I wouldn't part with it for sentimental reasons, even though my dad was a practical type of bloke.
Incidentally, he was a cycle mechanic himself for quite a few years in his early working life. He told me he used to do a lot of work converting push bikes into what he called " cyclemasters", which was a motorised 2 stroke unit ( if my memory serves me well ) which replaced the rear wheel. I've not found much info on these so far, but will google it at some point soon.
He liked the sturmey archer gears as he said they were butlet proof and he never would contemplate a bike with derailers.
