KneesUp
Guru
I've been on that eBay again ...
Mrs Knees mentioned that the reason she doesn't like riding her bike much is that she finds the cross bar annoying, and that she'd be more inclined to ride if she had a 'ladies' frame - so I had a look on the bay, and found a very clean looking Raleigh Misty not too far away for not much money. Lovely.
I'm sat looking at it in our kitchen, having test-fitted a 700c wheel in place of the 27" ones it had on (it fits, but the mudguard could do with a trim where it meets the chain stays, which is fine - the tyre is 1.5". There is enough adjustment in the brakes too) and I'm wondering when it's from, and if it was just a bike built to a budget, or if it marks the start of the decline of Raleigh. It looks very similar to the one in the catalogue that the veterancycleclublibrary have as being from c.1978
It has the same spec too - complete with Shimano PPS 5 speed shifter, suede look saddle and Positron dérailleur - although it's a Positron FH with a May 1986 date stamp. Did the spec really not change for 8 years?
Anyway - the cabling to the dérailleur and the back brake is hideous, as per the catalogue image, and was what got me looking to check if it was made like that. The frame has a mount for a centre pull rear brake behind the seat tube, as well as the holes in the cross bracing on the top tubes to allow the cabling through. That would have looked much more elegant, and would also have allowed the gear cable to follow the top 'mixte' tube straight down to the dérailleur instead of using those horrible plastic clamps to hold it in place on the down tube and chain stay. It's how some Mistys were made it seems, but I guess this way was cheaper. The state of some of the welds - on the stand plate in particular, also leaves something to be desired, and there are other cost-saving bits - the chain stay on the drive side, for example, has a redundant cable guide welded on - I suppose it was a stock part - and the left hand seat stay has notches cut out (they're supposed to be there but I've no idea what they are for) and a threaded hole on the inside, neither of which appear on the left hand side. Oh, and the seat post is comically short, the limit mark is about 3 or 4 inches total extension.
Apart from all that I'm quite taken with it. I need a cassette for the new back wheel and to locate the spare front wheel I have somewhere. I'm going to change the Positron shifter for something way more up to date - a 'Suntour XPress Accusishift Plus' 7 speed I had in my parts box. It's from 1990 I think
We'll see how the Positron FH copes with that - that might have to go too, although it will run up to a 34 tooth cog so it should be ok. Like the rest of the bike it looks hardly used. It also needs new grips. When OH rides it it may well need a longer seat post, and I might have to get a proper centre pull rear brake just because the cabling annoys me (plus surely that u-bend of cable will get full of water?)
Mrs Knees mentioned that the reason she doesn't like riding her bike much is that she finds the cross bar annoying, and that she'd be more inclined to ride if she had a 'ladies' frame - so I had a look on the bay, and found a very clean looking Raleigh Misty not too far away for not much money. Lovely.
I'm sat looking at it in our kitchen, having test-fitted a 700c wheel in place of the 27" ones it had on (it fits, but the mudguard could do with a trim where it meets the chain stays, which is fine - the tyre is 1.5". There is enough adjustment in the brakes too) and I'm wondering when it's from, and if it was just a bike built to a budget, or if it marks the start of the decline of Raleigh. It looks very similar to the one in the catalogue that the veterancycleclublibrary have as being from c.1978
It has the same spec too - complete with Shimano PPS 5 speed shifter, suede look saddle and Positron dérailleur - although it's a Positron FH with a May 1986 date stamp. Did the spec really not change for 8 years?
Anyway - the cabling to the dérailleur and the back brake is hideous, as per the catalogue image, and was what got me looking to check if it was made like that. The frame has a mount for a centre pull rear brake behind the seat tube, as well as the holes in the cross bracing on the top tubes to allow the cabling through. That would have looked much more elegant, and would also have allowed the gear cable to follow the top 'mixte' tube straight down to the dérailleur instead of using those horrible plastic clamps to hold it in place on the down tube and chain stay. It's how some Mistys were made it seems, but I guess this way was cheaper. The state of some of the welds - on the stand plate in particular, also leaves something to be desired, and there are other cost-saving bits - the chain stay on the drive side, for example, has a redundant cable guide welded on - I suppose it was a stock part - and the left hand seat stay has notches cut out (they're supposed to be there but I've no idea what they are for) and a threaded hole on the inside, neither of which appear on the left hand side. Oh, and the seat post is comically short, the limit mark is about 3 or 4 inches total extension.
Apart from all that I'm quite taken with it. I need a cassette for the new back wheel and to locate the spare front wheel I have somewhere. I'm going to change the Positron shifter for something way more up to date - a 'Suntour XPress Accusishift Plus' 7 speed I had in my parts box. It's from 1990 I think
We'll see how the Positron FH copes with that - that might have to go too, although it will run up to a 34 tooth cog so it should be ok. Like the rest of the bike it looks hardly used. It also needs new grips. When OH rides it it may well need a longer seat post, and I might have to get a proper centre pull rear brake just because the cabling annoys me (plus surely that u-bend of cable will get full of water?)
