Smackhead Express (Two)

[Chris S]

My Raleigh Chiltern had terminal corrosion so I bought another frame from my LBS for £10. It came from a Raleigh Routier, a 10-speed road bike with 700c wheels. However it's dimensions were exactly the same as my 1989 Chiltern. Everything just swapped straight over, I didn't even have to adjust the toggle-chain.

 

[wafter]

Nice work!

What size tyres are you running? I can only just get away with 32s on mine, so if you're planning on fitting guards you might have to downsize a bit. Would be interesting to see a square, side-on shot for comparison to mine as I've never been sure if my fork's bent..

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Chain looking a little rusty

 

[Chris S]

Chain looking a little rusty

It's a combination of rust and lube. The bike was standing around for a month while I sourced a replacement frame.

 

[Chris S]

I'm using 38mm tyres with my 590mm wheels. That gives a 666mm total wheel diameter, compared to 668mm with the original 622mm wheels and 23mm tyres. Your forks don't look much different from mine.

 

[wafter]

I'm using 38mm tyres with my 590mm wheels. That gives a 666mm total wheel diameter, compared to 668mm with the original 622mm wheels and 23mm tyres. Your forks don't look much different from mine.

View attachment 727663

Ahh, cool - thanks for the pic - I'd concur that the fork looks pretty similar to mine... which is reassuring

So you're running 650B wheels...?

 

[Chris S]

Ahh, cool - thanks for the pic - I'd concur that the fork looks pretty similar to mine... which is reassuring

So you're running 650B wheels...?

650A (590mm). 650B are 584mm, they were used on old French roadsters before they were adopted by gravel bikers.

 

[wafter]

650A (590mm). 650B are 584mm, they were used on old French roadsters before they were adopted by gravel bikers.

Cheers - 650B was as close as I could get with standard wheels... surely your Chiltern didn't come with 650As? That's properly esoteric!

 

[Chris S]

surely your Chiltern didn't come with 650As? That's properly esoteric!

Yes - Raleigh used them on some Nottingham models until they stopped production in the 1990s.

 

[wafter]

Yes - Raleigh used them on some Nottingham models until they stopped production in the 1990s.

Crikey; didn't even know that was a thing - I thought 26", 27" and 700c pretty much had everything covered..

 

[dicko]

My Raleigh Chiltern had terminal corrosion so I bought another frame from my LBS for £10. It came from a Raleigh Routier, a 10-speed road bike with 700c wheels. However it's dimensions were exactly the same as my 1989 Chiltern. Everything just swapped straight over, I didn't even have to adjust the toggle-chain.

View attachment 727601

View attachment 727602

My first ‘Racing Bike’ was a Raleigh Routier.