Raleigh Chiltern Ladies Bike - any good (see photos).

[Rimmer]

Looks beautiful to me rinmmer - from the pics looks like one of those "old used" bikes that has been sat in a good garage since bought. A good buy I'd say.

Yes it seems odd why the condition of this bike is so good? There are some scuffs as you can see but my guess is that was done during some sort of recent move - I'm not sure. I bought this bike from a local cycle centre near where I live - it's a basic place comprising shed and a field where he just gets loads of bikes offloaded onto him and this one just stood out due to its condition.

 

[annedonnelly]

Nice colour!

 

[Tail End Charlie]

That's a good little buy you've got there. I have a man's Chiltern, the hub is dated 1990 and it has cottered cranks. It was in far worse condition than yours and it scrubbed up nice. Very relaxing ride, you just want to go along smelling the roses and taking in the view.

 

[Chris S]

That Chiltern must be the last model Raleigh made with cottered cranks, unless anyone knows different?
Interesting to note the end of the mudguard has been painted white like they were in WW2. Is it reflective?

I read somewhere that Raleigh carried on using cottered cranks until they stopped using their proprietary bottom brackets. That would have been some time in the 1980s.

Oh, and the ends of metal mudguards are often painted white to cover rust

 

[Blue Hills]

Yes it seems odd why the condition of this bike is so good? There are some scuffs as you can see but my guess is that was done during some sort of recent move - I'm not sure. I bought this bike from a local cycle centre near where I live - it's a basic place comprising shed and a field where he just gets loads of bikes offloaded onto him and this one just stood out due to its condition.

I bought a 20 year old plus Ridgeback in that sort of nick - pretty clear that it had hardly been ridden since bought. One of the tyres exploded when I first pumped up though - had, not surprisingly, perished.

 

[Rimmer]

Sorry stupid question perhaps but - what's the correct way to change gears on this 3-speed sturmey Archer - should you "stop pedaling" between each change?

 

[mjr]

Sorry stupid question perhaps but - what's the correct way to change gears on this 3-speed sturmey Archer - should you "stop pedaling" between each change?

Pedal forwards gently ideally, or it OK to freewheel or change when stopped and not pressing a pedal. Do not backpedal, which was a common myth years back.

 

[Rimmer]

Pedal forwards gently ideally, or it OK to freewheel or change when stopped and not pressing a pedal. Do not backpedal, which was a common myth years back.

Thanks for that clarification.

 

[Reynard]

Ah, that's really rather nice @Rimmer

Doesn't want much in the way of tweaking to turn it into a nice town / shopping bike - either a basket on the front or a rack and panniers on the back and you'd be all set. Good buy for the price. And I love the colour.

 

[Rimmer]

Ah, that's really rather nice @Rimmer

Doesn't want much in the way of tweaking to turn it into a nice town / shopping bike - either a basket on the front or a rack and panniers on the back and you'd be all set. Good buy for the price. And I love the colour.

Yes it’s pretty retro