Folding Bikes - Raleigh Twenty Pump question

Hello everyone this is my first time here. I caught the R20 bug. I bought one on Ebay. Basically a "barn" find all there and rotting tires. I have about $200 into it and 3 days of work on it. I cleaned everything up and re-lubed everything. New tires(100 psi bmx) a new set of wheels( Wiennman Zac30 20x1.75) from Sunrisecyclery. I transferred the 3-speed hub over. I couldn"t use the new spokes on the back because the new stainless spokes where too long. The original 288mm spokes are alittle too long also, but I just grinded them down level .(It looks like the factory did the same thing because you could see the grinding marks on the nipples. The bike has surface rust(and pitting) on the chrome fenders But they cleaned up ok. The rear hub is stamped 1969, the bikes color is army green and the paints condition is ok. It rides nice, just a tiny bit stiff because of that plastic upper steering bushing. Is there an easy way to replace that bushing with a cup and ball bearing? I also want to know what air pump fits on the frame. Or should I just use a new style mini air pump. The brooks saddle is very comfy. I want to add a saddle bag for some tools. Which inexpensive bag I could hang underneath. I am making a practical "daily rider" Your suggestions are very much appreciated. To justify the cost I compared this bike to a Dahon Boardwalk($240) and I like the R20 much more. Plus ,I like to work on "junk" like a fool.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/red92xblue/Picture515.jpg

Plus ,I like to work on "junk" like a fool.

LOL - that sums up a few of us here my friend.

I just picked one up on ebay for £14.99. Am probably going to pick it up by car in a couple of days. I wonder what I will find since the photo wasn't overly good. At the price though, I won't be able to complain too much.

Yours looks pretty nice and unlike mine, it has a chain guard. I'm going to have to look for one of those now so I can start a restoration.

http://i2.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/fe/37/7a0a_1.JPG

@Red92Blue: Looks like a nice one you have there...
You can change out the headset for something with bearings at the top but you will need to find one with the same threading as the stem which is a classically british non-standard thing. You will probably lose the ability to quick release the bars so you can turn them 90° in the process. It might be the main nut is a little tight - perhaps loosen them both off, clean, regrease everything including the plastic to see if it improves anything.

Re Pumps - they're the sort of thing you need to hunt down at at car boot/yard sale. A nice aluminium one would fit the bill - find one that's a little over the size between the two clips on the frame, as it's the spring-compression of the handle that holds it in place there

@EvilV: You have the bug too now!
Looks like it might need some new paint but it's a real nice old one with the bent stem and white reflector

@EvilV: You have the bug too now!
Looks like it might need some new paint but it's a real nice old one with the bent stem and white reflector

I'm picking it up in Carlisle tomorrow evening, so we shall see what we shall see. I phoned the guy last night and he said his daughter used it to ride to school up until twenty years ago, and since it has stood in the garage. I understand from the listing that the chromework is in need of attention. I think I would want to keep it pretty standard, though wheels can be replaced with alloy and I will go for black seat, pedals and cables. White is far too girly. It could turn into a money pit of there is a lot of wear. I'm going to have to learn about all the quirky issues it will have vis a vis replacing BB and so on. Plenty to discover in old threads here I suppose.

On the Merc front, I'm ordering some spares from Anita while she still has them to lay down in my Merc cellar for the future. £50 gets me two chains, a rear sprocket, a new rear wheel and sturmy srf3 hub and postage, so that won't break the bank and will no doubt add another decade of riding to the fake B.

EvilV, I wish you lived in the states, I would give you all of those parts. I have three of them and two have been stripped of original parts. That bike is a none folder, and a sweet find. Lil Pix has one of those layin' around and I'm still waiting to see what magic he will perform on it:) One of the hardest things I dealt with on the twenty was the removal of the BB cups. Sometimes they can be flippin' rust welded in. I stuck a large nut and bolt (with a lock washer) through the hole and spun them till they were tight, and then grabbed a loooooong wrench (for leverage) and hoped for the best. On one of the bikes it came of rather easy, but the other took a couple of weeks. I used plenty of spray to loosen the rust and ended up using something called liquid graphite.

If you have any questions bike forums is full of info...

Welcome to the family...

R-20's: Old, simple, and sexy...

come check the progress...
http://web.mac.com/phatatude/Green_Space/Raleigh_Twenty_Blog/Raleigh_Twenty_Blog.html

Evilv - looks like you have a generator hub on there. Sweet!

EvilV, I wish you lived in the states, I would give you all of those parts. I have three of them and two have been stripped of original parts. That bike is a none folder, and a sweet find. Lil Pix has one of those layin' around and I'm still waiting to see what magic he will perform on it:) One of the hardest things I dealt with on the twenty was the removal of the BB cups. Sometimes they can be flippin' rust welded in. I stuck a large nut and bolt (with a lock washer) through the hole and spun them till they were tight, and then grabbed a loooooong wrench (for leverage) and hoped for the best. On one of the bikes it came of rather easy, but the other took a couple of weeks. I used plenty of spray to loosen the rust and ended up using something called liquid graphite.

If you have any questions bike forums is full of info...

Welcome to the family...



Thanks - a kind thought indeed. I'm sure I'll track down anything I need. Loads of people tend to strip off stuff like the chain guard when they refurbish and throw them away. We'll see how things go.

As for the techniques of fettling the parts - I know there's a ton of info on here and on Sheldon's sight. I'm not sure what will be worn out and I won't be replacing things for the sake of it. I expect it hasn't done that many miles if it has spent two decades in a garage and was used by a schoolgirl before that. It does look a bit the worse for wear and at £15 I won't be shedding any tears - LOL.


Evilv - looks like you have a generator hub on there. Sweet!

Yes - I hope it works. I know in the 1950s the Raleigh roadsters used to have a rear generator hub and a lot of them don't work any more because when people serviced the rear hub, they removed the magnet without putting a keeper on it. Apparently, as soon as you do that the magnet fails and afterwards the generator will only produce negligible power.

I have my eye on another one too - it's in a rather better state and might be had for about £45.

http://i6.ebayimg.com/01/i/001/1a/dd/6c5c_1.JPG

Ive got a few dyno hubs. Theres a rear dyno hub on my blue falcon.
its not very high geared, think its 42/18, with a 26" wheel And it gives superb light with easy pedaling. I have a normal Dynamo lamp on it, so the lights are on all the time.
I will build dyno hubs into a 20" 406 rim for my BSA 20.

http://i2.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/fe/37/7a0a_1.JPG

YaY!!!

This thing is not as terrible as I'd expected for a £15 Twenty.

Let's be clear, its pretty tatty, but it works. The oiler spout on the hub was missing, and peering in, I could see that the inner works were clogged and rusty. Turning the pedals showed that the gears were stuck and making a horrible sort of 'I haven't been oiled for twenty five years,' kind of noise. The wheel also stopped almost as soon as I stopped working the pedals, so I put in a ridiculous amount of thin oil (about 15cc) plugged the oil hole with a suitable bolt, and ran it around on the bike stand for a good few revolutions and soon, the wheel rotated for an unfeasible amount of time after being spun up to speed, showing that oil is in fact necessary in these things. Then I worked the gear changer and adjusted the cable, pumped up the flat, cracked tyres and they hold air. I checked it out for the obvious fatal dangers, like broken frame or loose nuts, freed up the rusty chain with some WD40, gave it a wipe and rode my first ever R20 a mile around the block.

It felt quite free and efficient and the gears work fine, snicking into place after a slight release of pedal pressure. This hub behaves very slightly different to the modern versions since you do need to relax pressure to get the change from #2 to #3. The hub bears the date stamp for 1969 and that is in keeping with the bent handlebar stem. It has a missing chain guard, hub oiler and a damaged cotter on the chain ring side. It is very tatty and has a small ding in the top tube, but the generator puts out seven volts AC when I spin the wheel and I think it may be worth spending a few quid on it to give it a new lease of life. It rides quite nicely, but felt a bit weird after the Merc's faster steering.

Total cost so far: £15 purchase, £10 diesel fuel.

I like that you are documenting the cost in an attempt for some transparency! ;)

Cute bike. There's no going back now!

I like that you are documenting the cost in an attempt for some transparency! ;)

Cute bike. There's no going back now!

Cute? More like a 'dog', Roughhh Rouughhh!

@Red92Blue: Looks like a nice one you have there...
You can change out the headset for something with bearings at the top but you will need to find one with the same threading as the stem which is a classically british non-standard thing. You will probably lose the ability to quick release the bars so you can turn them 90° in the process. It might be the main nut is a little tight - perhaps loosen them both off, clean, regrease everything including the plastic to see if it improves anything....

I'm confused. On my 73 R20 I replaced the headset with a Aheadset SAS 1" threadless headset (you can read more about my rebuild here (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=333630&highlight=raleigh). It works great and didn't change any of the functionality of the original design.

So can I Just replace the stock upper headset parts(plastic bushing and chrome race) with an "Aheadset SAS 1" threadless headset" and then continue to use the rest off the stock parts? Thanks

So can I Just replace the stock upper headset parts(plastic bushing and chrome race) with an "Aheadset SAS 1" threadless headset" and then continue to use the rest off the stock parts? Thanks

That's what I did and it works fine. It took some coercing to get it seated correctly (I put a 2x4 over it and gently whacked it with a hammer). I replaced both the top and bottom setup. Good luck!

is it usual for a R20 to weave? It may be that I have become too used to my quick steering little Merc, but having ridden the 39 year old bog standard, tatty arsed R20 a couple of miles, I noticed from the outset that it has a strange tendency to oscillate gently from side to side as I ride it. This takes the form of the bike swaying gently a couple of degrees either side of vertical and I observe the bars weaving slightly left and right as I correct it. Maybe it is something to do with stiffish steering, and over-correction, but it isn't an effect I'm used to. Having said that, I don't ride anything but the merc these days, so maybe it is pilot error.

Sounds like that thing has got a soul! I do not know, but a lot of peopel write about the crappy steering this could be why.

Or maybe the wheels has got a "potatochips shape"?

My similar (not R20) old bike has got the oposite problem. It is bounsing at a certain speed. Not sure if the wheels is not round or if it is the fat tyres, springy seat combined with the speed that does it. I am going to upgrade wheels and try slimmer tyres, so I`ll find out.

is it usual for a R20 to weave? It may be that I have become too used to my quick steering little Merc, but having ridden the 39 year old bog standard, tatty arsed R20 a couple of miles, I noticed from the outset that it has a strange tendency to oscillate gently from side to side as I ride it. This takes the form of the bike swaying gently a couple of degrees either side of vertical and I observe the bars weaving slightly left and right as I correct it. Maybe it is something to do with stiffish steering, and over-correction, but it isn't an effect I'm used to. Having said that, I don't ride anything but the merc these days, so maybe it is pilot error.

No this is not typical. I have never experienced this on my R20, though I rebuilt it completely. I have had mine as fast as 40 mph (down a long hill) and have never experienced any instability. If I keep my hands on the bars, it handles the same as any quality full sized bike. The steering problems people refer can be simplified into one real issue: you can't ride with no hands unless you change the rake of the fork.

For those on a budget, I did a quality rebuild and put about $600 into it (including the $100 I paid for the bike initially). I rebuilt everything on it except the bottom bracket, cranks, and rear brakes. Everything else is new.

The steering problems people refer can be simplified into one real issue: you can't ride with no hands unless you change the rake of the fork.

By changing the rake I am thinking straightening the "bend" in the fork or replace w straighter fork (I might be wrong).

What about lowering the front of the bike to change head tube angle? Asking becouse I am about to start changing the fork on an old folder, and I am thinking of maybe lowering the front.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=7906978#post7906978