Folding Bikes - Raleigh Twenty Hobbyist

A recent thread mentioned R20 Hobbyists and Traditionalists as well as a suspension fork on an R20. So I thought I would post these pix of my fleet. Both were eBay finds and are 1973 vintage. I got the white one first, cleaned it, oiled it and updated the shifter, grips, brake levers, front wheel and tires. When my wife rode it she decided that it had to be her's so I just had to buy a second one. The second one got the same updating plus a suspension fork and an adjustable stem. The fork installation was a bit of a challenge, especially keeping the original fender. Both bikes are a great ride and are now the only bikes we take on vacation trips. They replaced a pair of Trek 800 MTB's.

Beautiful. I love the look of them, and your updates are not too radical. Great that you kept the original mudguards.

Both lovely examples of the breed...

Looks like you started pretty traditional with some select functional upgrades, but now you're getting into the "modified" class with that suspension fork. If you don't reign it in, "super modified" is next, and you'll be wedging in 451 wheels, a rohloff hub, a thudbuster and drop bars :D

Seriously, you have a nice couple of twennies.

I got alloy wheels and finally put on Schwalbe Big Apples on my Raleigh Twenty. It rolls quite fast. It was an eBay find, white and then later sandblasted and powdercoated black and decaled to match my full size Raleigh Superbe. I used to have the original hockey chainguard but it would no longer fit with the change of chainring size.

I like how you kept the classic look while still making key upgrades. Very nice indeed.

I do believe the upgrades will stop here since I prefer the traditional look of these great bikes. Recently bought a brown milk crate to better match the color scheme on the grocery getter. May change tires on the brown Twenty from 1.85 to 1.5. The current larger tire is a little tight inside the fender stays and tends to rub if the stays are not bent just right.

I got alloy wheels and finally put on Schwalbe Big Apples on my Raleigh Twenty. It rolls quite fast. It was an eBay find, white and then later sandblasted and powdercoated black and decaled to match my full size Raleigh Superbe. I used to have the original hockey chainguard but it would no longer fit with the change of chainring size.

Unfortunately, without pictures, I and forced to doubt it ever happened !:p

the more i see these the more i want one. has anyone ridden a dahon boardwalk d7 and a twenty? are they similar in positions? the more i ride my boardwalk the more i love the position i'm in and the more i dislike my fullsize bike. i was just curious if these are as comfy?

thanks

A Raleigh Twenty is the small brother to the full-size Raleigh Sports. With upgrading a few components, as the late great Sheldon Brown wrote, it can be "hopped up" to approach the performance of a Bike Friday, at a lower cost.

When my wife rode it she decided that it had to be her's so I just had to buy a second one.

:lol: my wife did the same exact thing with the same exact bike and I had to do the same exact thing afterwards.