Old Raleigh Winner

[NormanD]

I bought an old Raleigh Winner from a neighbour in mint condition (and I mean mint) for £50 ... I know this was the bottom end of the bike market when they came out.

It's a 10 speed /down tube shifters / original tyres / only thing I changed was the saddle and added some bar tape to it.

Would the frame of this make a half decent tourer by adding some panniers to the rear? ... It'll be mainly used to cycle down and along the coast (North east) about 40 to 60 mile trips about once or twice a week.

thanks in advance
Norm

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Almost any bike will make a tourer with the major provisos that it is comfortable and man enough to carry a load. Get the frame thoroughly inspected inside and out as corrosion is the greatest danger on an old steel job, then ride the bike as it is for a while to see how comfortable you find it. Some bottom end bikes were made from gas pipe, which although strong, is heavy and gives the most bone-jarring ride imaginable.

 

[NormanD]

Thank you Gerry

I shall have it checked out at the local LBS

 

[bigjim]

Good bike the Winner. I had one for a while. Don't think they were bottom end at all. Good strong frame, will tour fine. 2 guys did a world trip on Raleigh Winners. Google it. Think it was a Raleigh marketing thing so bikes could have been factory prepared.

 

[NormanD]

Thank you Jim

This is the bike with the only changes being the saddle and bar tape and the only scratch on the frame is when I fell over it (dont ask how I done it, but I did)

I've had the frame checked out and as how I bought it the LBS said its in mint condition.

Norm

 

[GazK]

Woah! 80s flashback... I used to drool over the Winner when it came out, and almost had one for Christmas, but ended up choosing a Coventry Eagle instead. The fact that it was on my Christmas list shows that it was at the bottom end of the range (when I were a lad, poor as dirt, etc). From memory it would have been around £120 in 1981. At that time it wasn't possible to buy a "racer" for less than £100.

 

[OldManGraham]

The bike that got me back in the saddle 9 days ago is a Winner, I love it even if the majority don't 👍

 

[rogerzilla]

Is that the one that was a sort of pale green with black fade? Used to be one in the school bike shed circa 1985.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Nothing wrong with old basic steel Raleighs like the Winner at all. Most of us of a certain age will have grown up riding relatively low-end Raleigh or similar bikes, because the expensive and exotic stuff was out of our price range. I did countless miles on a low budget Raleigh Arena when I was a youngster, and it wasn't even the 10-speed version. just a 5-speeder with cottered steel cranks just like you'd find on a Raleigh 3-speed.

As already mentioned, a lot of bikes can be easily be re-purposed for various uses. The important thing if you want some sort of day tourer is the frame needs to not be too racy or tight in clearances, and you need a long enough wheelbase so panniers can be fitted without kicking them with your heels as you pedal. That rules out many modern road bikes, but fortunately the typical 70's/80's low end "racers" usually came with benign geometry and enough clearances to take stout tyres and fit mudguards. Many Raleigh models were based around the same generic hi-tensile steel frames, and the main differences were marketing-driven paint jobs and a few variations in component specs. My general rule of thumb is if I can jam my clenched fist into the space between the back tyre and the seat tube at the tightest point, then that frame is suitable for use as a utility or touring bike, and should be able to carry a pannier without heel strike. That holds good for both road-oriented frames and rigid 26" MTB's.