Smackhead Express - Raleigh Routier

[wafter]

A post-winter update.

the state of the Router was tentatively investigated recently; and while not untouched by the ravages of winter I was pleasantly surprised by how it'd fared under its semi-permeable, coarsely-woven synthetic veil.

My DIY council paste-wax preservative has apparently done a great job of arresting corrosion on the chainset; with only the odd spot of rust visible on the unit's faces and wear-surfaces of the teeth:

The wax was hastily added with a toothbrush in the relative cold; knowing it works OK now it'd probably be wise to re-apply when it's a lot warmer - possibly with a bit of encouragement from a hairdryer / hot air gun / propane torch to give a more even, sealed finish.


Likewise the (waxed) chain has fared pretty well - not rust-free, but not totally ginger either as one might expect from an unloved, totally outdoor chain.

The chain was removed and re-waxed, as per this post in my waxing thread; giving smooth, silent service when I recently managed to get out for the first time this year on the Raleigh

So yeah, it's survived the rigors of winter better than I have, and once more has been a joy to get out on now the weather's something better than horrendous.

In terms of mental health this battered old workhorse continues to provide the best bang-for-buck of any other purchase.. and seems like a more than fair trade for the hours and modest financial cost spent dragging it back to life after discovering it as an abandoned pile of scrap on the side of the road.

I wonder if Disney would be interested in the film rights..

 

[All uphill]

I wonder if Disney would be interested in the film rights..

Coming soon to a cinema near you...

...three beardy men, each with their own flask of tea and cheese sandwich.

 

[wafter]

Coming soon to a cinema near you...

...three beardy men, each with their own flask of tea and cheese sandwich.

lol - three would imply that I have friends

On-point with the beard though (can we add inappropriately long hair for a middle-aged hairline?) and general preparedness; even if I'm not a tea drinker..

Seems a terrifyingly fitting stereotype for anyone riding old steel, doesn't it?

 

[wafter]

Oh yeah, one for posterity; moments after the beast was dragged from its slumber and thrust into the stark gaze of the spring's first real sun

 

[metric]

Hey Wafter,
I have just acquired this bike and after taking the rear wheel off and putting the spacers to one side, now when reassembling there doesn't seem to be enough room to fit the spacers or gripped washers in. Can youpossiblye photograph your rear wheel bolts, please?

 

[wafter]

Hey Wafter,
I have just acquired this bike and after taking the rear wheel off and putting the spacers to one side, now when reassembling there doesn't seem to be enough room to fit the spacers or gripped washers in. Can youpossiblye photograph your rear wheel bolts, please?

Not sure if this was stated earlier in this thread, however in summary when I re-set the wonky frame I set the axle spacing to the prescribed 120mm and too found there was no space for anything between the dropouts other than the wheel assy itself.. So the locknuts on each end of the axle are now directly in contact with the frame and the fat, textured spacer is beneath the DS axle nut.

Not sure if this is where it's supposed to be but there were witness marks in that area on the RD hanger so it's obviously been installed there in the past..

 

[wafter]

Thanks to the improving weather with the changing seasons, the Routier's seen a bit more daylight recently.

Unfortunately due to its less-than-ideal storage situation over the winter as well as various mistakes that have been made on my part, it's becoming decreasingly pleasant to ride.

Since around the time the rear wheel was rebuilt last year the freewheel has been reluctant to allow the wheel to coast; causing the upper section of chain to be shunted forward and sag onto the chainstay whilst the bike is in motion but my legs aren't... In addition the chain has become very squeaky; doubtless thanks to both my mis-judged changes to the wax mixture and the fact that a good proportion of last week's ill-judged pre-pub ride took place in torrential rain..

Last week's ride was particularly unrefined and I chose to do something about the chain at least - bringing it home and giving it a bath in the revised wax solution. Upon truimphantly returning to fit the chain the next day I found the rear tyre to be flat... since I didn't have the gear to fix it (and the freewheel still needed attention) the whole wheel was removed and carted home again

The brief was simple; remove / strip / clean / re-grease / reassmble the freewheel, and sort the puncture. Of course the reality proved less straightforward than the ideal..

First-off the axle bearings proved to be both rough (a known problem) and tight (probably as a result of self-tightening since last time I didn't have the correct cone spanner to really tighten the lock nut). I tried removing the axle with the freewheel in situ; only to be reminded that it needs the freewheel to come off first.

Having purchased the correct tool last time I hopefully attempted to remove the freewheel using a breaker bar, with the wheel flat on the table.. resulting in nothing other than a nasty twinge in my chest. Having decided a lot of force needed to be applied at the tyre I set about addressing the puncture. Tube and tyre off, tube filled and systematically immersed in a bucket of water.. with no bubbles. Given the greater importance of the freewheel situation I reassembled it all and banged a load of air in it to at least allow me to fry and remove the free wheel.

Now mostly sitting on the upright wheel I applied a lot of weight to the end of the breaker bar; resulting in a load ping as one of the spokes snapped. After checking that I was indeed going in the right direction (and devoid of any better approach) I gritted my teeth and repeated the exercise with more torque - this time the loud ping signally the thread on the freewheel breaking away from that on the hub - after which point it unscrewed with no issues.

After this the axle came out; all was cleaned, re-assembled with lashings of moly grease and pre-loaded easily with my nice new Park cone spanners... the size necessary (15mm) being one I'd bought for completeness rather than necessity when ordering the size I required for the Fuji. Yay for over-thought pragmatism

For the record the axle runs on 9x 1/4" ball bearings on each side; the roughness being due (I think) to some damage to the inside of the outside bearing cups that were probably present from manufacture.

On to the freewheel with some trepidation; the internetz having taught me what to expect and crucially that the outer bearing race / retainer has a LH thread. For once I consciously exercised some mechanical sympathy and, unlike the internet monkeys with their hammers and punches, removed the outer race using two plain drill shanks clamped in padded vice to engage the two shallow holes in its external face; while applying torque with the freewheel tool and breaker bar. Miraculously it unscrewed with little fuss; remaining undamaged

The freewheel contains two sets of 3.2mm ball bearings at its inner and outer extremities; which all obligingly fell out all over the place when the unit was separated. The 67 I counted were collected with a magnet and dumped into the paraffin jar:

The outer bearing race in the freewheel seemed all good, once cleaned up:

Likewise the inner race also seemed fine. Construction of this Shimano parts seems "substantial", while a lot of machining appears to have gone into it..

Finally the base / inner section of the freewheel, which contains the two sprung ratchets and screws to the hub of the wheel itself. All seemed good in this area and I noted three shims; suggesting that bearing preload is set on these rather than pre-tension on the outer retainer (which figures given the minimal thread and lack of locking mechanism)..

Everything bar the balls in order of assembly:

Once everything had been cleaned it was time for re-assembly. Since the balls had gone all over the place on disassembly I wasn't sure how many went where... so I allocated them based on ratios derived from the ID of each race - stuffing 37 into the larger 44mm ID inside race and the remaining 30 into the smaller 36mm outside race. The inner ones were done first - held in place with lashings of moly grease, before fitting the inner / ratchet assy, then the outer ball bearings and then the outer race / lock ring.

Finally the freehub assy was screwed back onto the wheel's hub; this time with lashings of copper grease in an effort to make it easier to remove next time.

All seems to spin freely / as it should; even if the axle bearings remain somewhat rough. Since doing all the work the innertube has unequiviocally confirmed that it has a leak, so that'll be coming off again for more buggering about. Worse case I'll just replace it and chop the old one up into smaller bits for other uses..


EDIT - I also replaced the broken spoke with one salvaged from the grotty hybrid donor that previously also gave up its rims so that the Raleigh could live..

 

[wafter]

As per my entry in your ride today, the bike got its first post-remedial-work outing on Tuesday and it behaved fantastically - so quiet and refined thanks to the freshly waxed chain, trued-non-rubby wheel/tyre and quiet, now-actually-functioning freewheel. I also put a bit of lubrication on the downtube shifters which made them significantly less sticky / notchy.

My DIY front mudflap is taking a bit of a hammering and repeatedly seeks to end it all by getting trapped between the tyre and guard; however I've fiddled with that a bit recently and it seems a lot better behaved as a result.

Still very much appreciating what this lovely old beater can provide

 

[Gunk]

Next purchase - water bottle cage

 

[wafter]

Next purchase - water bottle cage

Bloody right.

Actually I do have an old cage it can have; but am yet to find an obviously acceptable way of fixing it to the (boss-less) downtube..

 

[Jameshow]

Thanks to the improving weather with the changing seasons, the Routier's seen a bit more daylight recently.

Unfortunately due to its less-than-ideal storage situation over the winter as well as various mistakes that have been made on my part, it's becoming decreasingly pleasant to ride.

Since around the time the rear wheel was rebuilt last year the freewheel has been reluctant to allow the wheel to coast; causing the upper section of chain to be shunted forward and sag onto the chainstay whilst the bike is in motion but my legs aren't... In addition the chain has become very squeaky; doubtless thanks to both my mis-judged changes to the wax mixture and the fact that a good proportion of last week's ill-judged pre-pub ride took place in torrential rain..

Last week's ride was particularly unrefined and I chose to do something about the chain at least - bringing it home and giving it a bath in the revised wax solution. Upon truimphantly returning to fit the chain the next day I found the rear tyre to be flat... since I didn't have the gear to fix it (and the freewheel still needed attention) the whole wheel was removed and carted home again

The brief was simple; remove / strip / clean / re-grease / reassmble the freewheel, and sort the puncture. Of course the reality proved less straightforward than the ideal..

First-off the axle bearings proved to be both rough (a known problem) and tight (probably as a result of self-tightening since last time I didn't have the correct cone spanner to really tighten the lock nut). I tried removing the axle with the freewheel in situ; only to be reminded that it needs the freewheel to come off first.

Having purchased the correct tool last time I hopefully attempted to remove the freewheel using a breaker bar, with the wheel flat on the table.. resulting in nothing other than a nasty twinge in my chest. Having decided a lot of force needed to be applied at the tyre I set about addressing the puncture. Tube and tyre off, tube filled and systematically immersed in a bucket of water.. with no bubbles. Given the greater importance of the freewheel situation I reassembled it all and banged a load of air in it to at least allow me to fry and remove the free wheel.

Now mostly sitting on the upright wheel I applied a lot of weight to the end of the breaker bar; resulting in a load ping as one of the spokes snapped. After checking that I was indeed going in the right direction (and devoid of any better approach) I gritted my teeth and repeated the exercise with more torque - this time the loud ping signally the thread on the freewheel breaking away from that on the hub - after which point it unscrewed with no issues.

After this the axle came out; all was cleaned, re-assembled with lashings of moly grease and pre-loaded easily with my nice new Park cone spanners... the size necessary (15mm) being one I'd bought for completeness rather than necessity when ordering the size I required for the Fuji. Yay for over-thought pragmatism

For the record the axle runs on 9x 1/4" ball bearings on each side; the roughness being due (I think) to some damage to the inside of the outside bearing cups that were probably present from manufacture.

On to the freewheel with some trepidation; the internetz having taught me what to expect and crucially that the outer bearing race / retainer has a LH thread. For once I consciously exercised some mechanical sympathy and, unlike the internet monkeys with their hammers and punches, removed the outer race using two plain drill shanks clamped in padded vice to engage the two shallow holes in its external face; while applying torque with the freewheel tool and breaker bar. Miraculously it unscrewed with little fuss; remaining undamaged

View attachment 690318


The freewheel contains two sets of 3.2mm ball bearings at its inner and outer extremities; which all obligingly fell out all over the place when the unit was separated. The 67 I counted were collected with a magnet and dumped into the paraffin jar:

View attachment 690319

The outer bearing race in the freewheel seemed all good, once cleaned up:

View attachment 690324


Likewise the inner race also seemed fine. Construction of this Shimano parts seems "substantial", while a lot of machining appears to have gone into it..

View attachment 690326


Finally the base / inner section of the freewheel, which contains the two sprung ratchets and screws to the hub of the wheel itself. All seemed good in this area and I noted three shims; suggesting that bearing preload is set on these rather than pre-tension on the outer retainer (which figures given the minimal thread and lack of locking mechanism)..

View attachment 690329


Everything bar the balls in order of assembly:

View attachment 690330


Once everything had been cleaned it was time for re-assembly. Since the balls had gone all over the place on disassembly I wasn't sure how many went where... so I allocated them based on ratios derived from the ID of each race - stuffing 37 into the larger 44mm ID inside race and the remaining 30 into the smaller 36mm outside race. The inner ones were done first - held in place with lashings of moly grease, before fitting the inner / ratchet assy, then the outer ball bearings and then the outer race / lock ring.

Finally the freehub assy was screwed back onto the wheel's hub; this time with lashings of copper grease in an effort to make it easier to remove next time.

All seems to spin freely / as it should; even if the axle bearings remain somewhat rough. Since doing all the work the innertube has unequiviocally confirmed that it has a leak, so that'll be coming off again for more buggering about. Worse case I'll just replace it and chop the old one up into smaller bits for other uses..


EDIT - I also replaced the broken spoke with one salvaged from the grotty hybrid donor that previously also gave up its rims so that the Raleigh could live..

Not tempted to fit a cassette wheel?!!

 

[Jameshow]

Bloody right.

Actually I do have an old cage it can have; but am yet to find an obviously acceptable way of fixing it to the (boss-less) downtube..

No bosses that's a downer!

 

[Gunk]

Bloody right.

Actually I do have an old cage it can have; but am yet to find an obviously acceptable way of fixing it to the (boss-less) downtube..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20318906...HQw_5aGRFG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[wafter]

Not tempted to fit a cassette wheel?!!

Nah, OLD spacing is 120mm which IIRC suits 5-7sp freewheels; a cassette setup would be 8sp+ and 130mm spacing which is a act of brutality too far IMO... while any changes of this ilk would require many new parts and associated cost.

As it stands the bike only owes me about £60-odd for over a thousand miles covered and I relish the challenge of keeping it going on a budget

No bosses that's a downer!

Yup.. shame but I think despite it's pseudo-touring pretences it's only intended to pop down the shops and back. It seems to be the same frame as some of Raleigh's low-end racers from the same era; I assume they have no bosses either..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20318906...HQw_5aGRFG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Thanks - not sure that would fit a modern, bolt-on cage however..? Really I'm looking for something that will attach to the frame without damage and provide standard mounting bosses..

 

[DCBassman]

Really I'm looking for something that will attach to the frame without damage and provide standard mounting bosses..

Think I might have the answer, will try to dig out...