1986 Raleigh Tech 460 Makeover
 

I suspect this is a fairly dumb question, but I'm just re-entering cycling after 20 yrs of being away (I'm fity-ish).
I have the subj bike that I'd like to convert to a more upright 'comfortable' bike but retaining some of the original benefits of original components and am wondering if its feasible or economical to do.

I'm thinking:
Slightly bigger tires (and wheels?)
Straight handlebars
Comfort seat

I don't have a lot of money to spend on a new bike and this one's in great shape, other than needing some tuning.

Does this make sense economically?

You could do bigger tires, as long as it clears the fork and the chainstays in the back. As for bigger wheels, if you mean like going from a 26" wheel to a 27" (or whatever the case may be), that's probably not the best idea. Straight handlebars are doable, if you want more of an upright feel, might want risers. And a comfort seat is no problem. I like my Nashbar seat, I run on my cruiser. Pretty darn cheap, and is oh so comfortable :)

Thanks, I hadn't thought about a riser, but makes sense to get the bar in the riding position I want.
On the tires, I was just looking at something fatter (current tires are 27 x 1 1/8)..and I figured would need new rims to accomodate wider tires, assuming sufficient clearances, etc...

Can you post a photo of the bike? Might give people a better idea of what could/should be done. I'm thinking one of those shock absorbing seat posts might be good too. Something like the $19.99 "Ascent 252 Suspension Seatpost" at Performance - needs to fit your seat tube tho of course.

Sorry, no scanner and can't find an image to link.
The technium 460 was an aluminum 'state of the art' lightweight touring bike starting I think in about 1984 through late 80's . It's not a very rigid frame, but for my purposes, it's good enough and the right price :o .
I'll follow up the seat suggestions, but am wondering about tires. Can I put a wider tire on the same wheels, assuming clearances are ok, etc? Where I'd ride, the roads just aren't suited for a very narrow smooth racing tire..

Trying to link a picture from an ebay ad..ebay ad

Yeah, you could put flats/risers on that. You might want a longer stem if you want that upright position. If you do run flats/drops, make sure you get cantelever brake lever's, those will work w/ those brakes. If you do run bigger tires, make sure your brakes can clear them.

OK thanks, guys...that should get me started. Think I'll hold off on the tires thing until I conquer the handlebars and seat.

Thanks all for REALLY helpful advise.

Great site, btw!

You can't go bigger wheels - the bike has 27" wheels, the largest common diameter ever made (630mm). And it doesn't look like there's much room under the brake caliper for a fatter tire.

Putting a new seat on the bike will be easy enough. A new stem and bar are easy. You'll also need cantilever-compatible brake levers - most newer levers are designed for v-brakes which require more cable pull, and these levers won't work well with calipers; cantilever brakes used on older mountain bikes had similar cable pull to caliper brakes, so those levers will work with caliper brakes. You may also want to get on-bar shifting to go with your flat bars. It looks like the bike has down-tube shifters. You'll need to get cable stops to mount on the shifter bosses. A 1986 bike probably has 6-speed indexed shifting, and you can find old grip shifters for 6-speed every so often (I got one at my LBS last fall to put on a friend's bike, but it wasn't very compatible with the derailler, still works not-too-badly though). Probably easier for you to just go with friction thumbshifters, like the ones that Rivendell sells. You can also get cable stops there. Their thumbshifters come with cable housing.

Shifters
cable stops for down-tube shifter braze-ons
cable stops for if the down-tube doesn't have shifter braze-ons (although I think it does, based on the not-so-good picture).

http://i3.ebayimg.com/01/i/05/d0/f2/6c_1.JPG

Here's the Gitane that I made comfortable:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...68014369ZkhXGG

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...68014369LpNOlK

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...68014369vcvaOw

I kept the downtube shifters. I'll be 58 on Sunday, but I can still manage to bend over far enough to shift it. :rolleyes:

Hey, tim and dirt...thanks for the replies and great pics...The schwinn link was worth the trip :D


I THINK I'm following you , time, but am wondering if on-bar shifters are necessary? Seems like I'd be ok shifting on the riser, or do straight/ drop bars prevent that?

I realized my last post made NO sense and after horsing around a little this weekend, I have a plan.

I put on new 1 1/4 inch tires that I think will be good enough for me, and I think I'll want to do the handlebars, riser, brakes and maybe shifters next.

Can I safely assume that any risers and bars I buy will fit?