My first 'project'. Input would be LOVED.

[garyo]

Hi guys. Stressful 24 hours for me but i'm coming through the adversity with fierce resolve. My one true love, my 3 year old hybrid (sadly with only half a year of use!) was stolen last night from Nottingham station. I was totally bummed out about it today but then thought sod it and went and brought a very cheap, pretty old mountain bike with the view to 'project' it.

My hybrid was bought from new. It helped me find a passion for cycling once I left London for Nottingham six months ago. My new bike though... well, it's born and raised in Nottingham - it even has a sticker; 'Designed and Handbuilt in Nottingham'.

There is a very old postcode etched into the underside. The postcode appears not to have been housing for 15 years or so - the place now being an ASDA!

It's a Raleigh Jackal in ruby red. I've uploaded some pictures to this gallery: https://1drv.ms/a/s!AlxWAqiYIiKyho5rk2Qb-MYD-OhA-Q

So. Here's why I am here.

I would love to know two things....

1) What can anyone tell me about this bikes approximate age/anything interesting about the model as I am not able to find any numbers, chasis details or what not.

2) I want to do some upgrades. I'm a total newbie. I want to tinker and generally make it better, I have limited tools, limited knowledge, limited finances, but plenty of time (no mates) so if anyone has gone through this, i'd love to hear stories, hints, tips. I think my initial desires are a new saddle (I presume these are relatively standard fayre!) and i'd love handlebars that are a bit bigger, if that's even poss. I suspect we have a slightly buckled front wheel and the brakes definitely need adjusting but i'm scared to fiddle at this point.

So far my version of making it better is cleaning it HA HA.

Thanks x

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Nice bike!
Straighten the saddle asp?
You'll need a 13mm spanner and a wrench, fittings are under the saddle.
Then take the seat post out, clean, lightly grease and refit.
Check brakes work.
Hold front wheel between your legs, move handlebars: they should not move.
If they do, tighten the top of the stem after setting them straight.
You'll need an allen key.
That will do for tonight

 

[garyo]

Thanks Pat!

Yep I attempted to adjust that saddle which is WAY too high for me earlier but sadly my wheel tool, the only tool i have bar a pair of plyers, did not quite do the job. So the two tools you mention are going on the amazon order tonight!

I am reasonably sure something odd is happening when i wheel it backwards too, definitely not one for this evening ha.

 

[BromptonChrispy]

That's a good looking and now classic looking old bike in my opinion! The internet and YouTube are well worth trawling through for maintenance. Your local library and charity shops/second-hand bookshops too. I often see older bike books in my local ones. The tools you'll need are basic and minimal and can be had really cheaply (but I'd avoid cheap adjustable spanners). Good luck.

 

[alicat]

Nice looking bike.

I admire your humour and resolve in adversity.

 

[Drago]

Rough guess, c.1991, or thereabouts.

 

[biggs682]

@garyo i think @Pat "5mph" has listed the basics and if you ask her nicely she will do them for you if you drop it off to her
looks like it's and ideal commuting and leisure bikes , my only other change would be some less knobbly tyre's if not going off road , as they will make it easier for you as they shouldn't require so much effort to roll .

So in short get on it and ride it fix the issues as they come along or before and hopefully you will pick up some tips en route

And a big well done to you for not just going out and buying another brand news bike there are loads of cheapish bikes out there just waiting to be used and ok they might not all sparkle as much as a new one but hey how much quicker or enjoyable is sparkly !!

 

[Hugh Manatee]

Low end Shimano kit on it. The beauty of low end Shimano is that it works nearly as well as stuff from higher up the range. It weighs more and may not last as long but it does work well. Alloy rims which is always a blessing. Similar looking frame to the Yukon.

My advice would be to use as is. As the chainrings wear, they don't look replaceable? That chainset will be very heavy and I would be looking for something a little lighter with replaceable rings in the future.

Another good thing is that it has rigid forks. Maybe consider new borrow tyres if you're riding it on the roads. I think @Drago is not far off. Early to mid 90s.

 

[garyo]

That's a good looking and now classic looking old bike in my opinion! The internet and YouTube are well worth trawling through for maintenance. Your local library and charity shops/second-hand bookshops too. I often see older bike books in my local ones. The tools you'll need are basic and minimal and can be had really cheaply (but I'd avoid cheap adjustable spanners). Good luck.

Thanks BC! adjustables will be avoided, Charity shops will be searched. Kind regards.

 

[garyo]

Nice looking bike.

I admire your humour and resolve in adversity.

It looks great, I just need to smarten myself up to bring myself in line with it now unfortunately, no doubt easier said than done.

 

[garyo]

Rough guess, c.1991, or thereabouts.

Rough guess, c.1991, or thereabouts.

I love that because it means the bike isn't considerably younger than me. I do believe she's in better nick than I am, mind, but that's ok.

 

[Threevok]

Lovely bike that.

 

[garyo]

OK now i've worked out how to mulitquote...

@garyo i think @Pat "5mph" has listed the basics and if you ask her nicely she will do them for you if you drop it off to her
looks like it's and ideal commuting and leisure bikes , my only other change would be some less knobbly tyre's if not going off road , as they will make it easier for you as they shouldn't require so much effort to roll .

So in short get on it and ride it fix the issues as they come along or before and hopefully you will pick up some tips en route

And a big well done to you for not just going out and buying another brand news bike there are loads of cheapish bikes out there just waiting to be used and ok they might not all sparkle as much as a new one but hey how much quicker or enjoyable is sparkly !!

I've already noticed that those tyres are considerably harder work than on my hybrid, I figured that was always going to be the way when switching between a hybrid and a more standard mountain bike but yeah, they are in fact pretty brutal. On the plus side I don't mind doing that extra work right now, but it's just typically the way that i work DOWN THE HILL from home. Come 6pm I'm not looking forward to my first run home, ha. Bring on the fun. Yeah I might have to swing it round to Pats... i don't score particularly high on the DIY front, although I did put up a blind once which I think scores considerably higher than an IKEA shelf. Maybe the bike is my calling....

Low end Shimano kit on it. The beauty of low end Shimano is that it works nearly as well as stuff from higher up the range. It weighs more and may not last as long but it does work well. Alloy rims which is always a blessing. Similar looking frame to the Yukon.

Thanks HM! I don't think the rather questionable individual that sold me the item could count. Not only on the basis that he appeared only to have donned one sock yesterday morning but indeed the fact that it was listed as 18 gears when clearly we are in 15 territory. The reality is of course for my usual usage i use around 3, max, ever. Do we assume that it's all OEM and therefore no-one has particularly fiddled with it? I'm interested in anything that can help me reduce weight here so aside from a gym membership for myself, in the medium to long term i'd like to consider an upgrade to this department. I'd assume this is the harder of the jobs on the list so definitely one to bank for now.

My advice would be to use as is. As the chainrings wear, they don't look replaceable? That chainset will be very heavy and I would be looking for something a little lighter with replaceable rings in the future.

As above on this front. It's not actually half as heavy as some of the bikes i've handled but one assumes that we could make some serious deductions on this with time.

Another good thing is that it has rigid forks. Maybe consider new borrow tyres if you're riding it on the roads. I think @Drago is not far off. Early to mid 90s.

Tyres referenced above, bloody well tough right now with these animals ha ha.

 

[garyo]

Lovely bike that.

Thank you for your kind comment!

 

[BromptonChrispy]

Thanks BC! adjustables will be avoided, Charity shops will be searched. Kind regards.

You’re welcome. As your skills develop you’ll get an enormous sense of pride from learning and doing it for yourself. It looks like the perfect bike to learn on too. If you can get a copy of the “Park Tools” Blue book of bike maintenance - maybe on eBay - your halfway there.