Used raleigh road racing bikes

[Ralfb]

good evening,
I just picked up my more than 10 year old mountainbike again to cycle to work, about 12 miles one direction, mostly on cyclepaths. I am now thinking of getting a road bike and my local bike shop has some serviced old steel framed raleigh road racing bikes for between £120 to 160. Is that worth considering, or is that too much for a more than 10 or even 20 year old bike? Or better to invest more money for a cheap new one?

Thanks for any advice
Ralf

 

[davidallenxyz]

£120 to £160 seems a bit steep to me unless you are sure that the shop's service makes them worth that much more than an eBay/Gumtree find - where similar bikes will go for around £50 is they don't have an "exotic" frame.

I have owned two older Raleigh racers in recent years. The frames are solid and will go on forever, and like any road bike they are much faster on a surfaced road than a fat-tyred mountain bike. Parts to fit an 80s era road bike (and if it has a steel frame it is probably that age or older) are still easy to get hold of.

The only downside of these bikes in my opinion is that they are pre-"ergo" bars and shifters, so you don't have as many usable positions on the handlebars and you need to reach to the downtube to shift (normally). Brakes may not be as effective as more modern items either although a fresh set of brake blocks does wonders. Smooth progress needs a little more thought than on a modern bike.

I don't think anything "new" for c. £150 would be an improvement on a well maintained older bike. Although if you can stretch your budget to a modern road bike with brifters (which can be had new for around £400) then that would be worthwhile.

 

[raleighnut]

Older Raleighs are popular (well they are round here) so the shop has latched on to that but once you've made a profit then that is likely to be the price.
What you do get though is a bike that has been given at least a service if not a bunch of new/secondhand bits to get it roadworthy and safe. Prices may seem high but you don't say which models they are, if they are Reynolds 531 frames then they are worth every penny (and more) if they're 18-20 steel then not such a bargain.
One thing is those old Raleigh frames ride nicely and are also pretty tough compared to Aluminium and Carbon fibre frames so a 20 year old bike should have another 30 or 40 years left in it with a bit of TLC (don't expect to just leave it in the garden/shed for that long and expect it to survive though, they do need riding and looking after/maintenance but there are members here with bikes from the 50s that are still going strong)
Most of mine have been built up by me from a bare frame and have cost me around the £500 mark but I've tended to go to at least 105/Deore level of components and have fitted Brooks saddles to 5 of them but they were built to keep.

 

[sidevalve]

Downtube shifting [especially if indexed] is really a piece of cake. If the rims are alloy then the brakes will be ok [again if you ride like you have more brain cells than teeth and actually bother to look infront of you - just decent riding IMHO]. Parts will be cheap if you need any but as above I would try to find a good light frame - you can find such bikes for under £100 on E Bay with the 'normal' steel frames and again as above 531 is the stuff to look for.

 

[Ralfb]

Thanks a lot, i will check what frames they are. The gear shift on the downtube is not a problem as thats how i was used it as a kid, at least it shouldnt be.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

^ +1

Downtube shifters are by decades of design where your hand falls naturally to, when you drop it off the bars, don't let that put you off. They will be by default or you can usually set them to friction shift (derailleur moves purely to the lever movement) rather than indexed (click shift into place) which generally gives you a smooth gear even if the mechanicals aren't set as just so.

Also if you do get the bike and like it as a keeper you can change to more up to date combo brake/shifter levers quite easily if you wished.

 

[AndyRM]

Definitely worth considering.

What frames/component options are there?

 

[Ralfb]

Definitely worth considering.

What frames/component options are there?

Not really sure. After all this positive comments about it i will definetely have another look. They had 3 different ones between 120 and 160, will have a chat with them what the main differences are.
Thanks a lot

 

[Ralfb]

^ +1

Downtube shifters are by decades of design where your hand falls naturally to, when you drop it off the bars, don't let that put you off. They will be by default or you can usually set them to friction shift (derailleur moves purely to the lever movement) rather than indexed (click shift into place) which generally gives you a smooth gear even if the mechanicals aren't set as just so.

Also if you do get the bike and like it as a keeper you can change to more up to date combo brake/shifter levers quite easily if you wished.

Thanks, so most important thing to check is then if the frame looks good, not being rusty? As all other parts can be more or less upgraded / exchanged if necessary?

 

[gbb]

Definately worth considering , even the cheap ones will be as strong as a tank...but may weigh the same as one as well.
Avoid anything with chrome rims and preferably get one with 700 wheels....27.1/4 tyres (decent ones anyway) for even older bikes are harder to get hold of.

IMO though, a decent condition 18-20 framed bike should be about the hundred quid mark, much cheaper if you can find one privately.
Renolds 500 a bit more, 501 ditto, 531 is worth the extra, they're usually really quite light frames.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Thanks, so most important thing to check is then if the frame looks good, not being rusty? As all other parts can be more or less upgraded / exchanged if necessary?

Pretty much yes. Look at it head on and side on too, look at the front forks: make sure there's no bends or major dents to the frame or one fork angled differently to the other: any of those would suggest a big crash and weak spots.

There was a thread on here that summed it up perfectly, cycling is very cheap & (can be) very expensive all at the same time, especially if you get the bug and want to start upgrading well worth it though.

 

[gbb]

True re upgrading, it starts to get expensive...
My 531 originally 6 speed, upgraded to new R500 wheelset, secondhand 8 speed Sora RD, FD, chainset, calipers (and not very good ones either) ...shifters were at no cost (had em in a box), various other second hand bits, cost IRO £230 and that was without having to buy shifters, factor those in and you're well on the way to buying a budget new bike.

 

[biggs682]

@Ralfb i always have a few retro road bikes for sale

will pm you what you have

 

[Ralfb]

@Ralfb i always have a few retro road bikes for sale

will pm you what you have

Thanks, looking forward to it