alyon4

I recently acquired a 71 Raleigh Superbe with a group of other bikes. The other bikes will be sold for far more than I paid for them after being fixed so I essentially have no costs into this bike so far. I wanted to restore the bike and eventually sell it. I was wondering what I need to do including the specific parts needed as well as the costs to restore this bike to the condition it should be while adding value to the bike. So far the tires seem more than serviceable and I know that I need the parts to fix the three speed. What other steps should I take to restore the bike ?

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3speedslow

Find some of the original Dare grips. You could get a donor bike and salvage parts from it or look online enable.

Read the web pages Shelton has on these bikes.

Andrew R Stewart 

Are you looking to restore or just rejuvenate? Fix up to resell service is to do the usual bearing overhauls, replace rubber (and what's likely to be the cloth rim strips with non rust invoking rubber ones), fresh cables and pads, clean chain. Restoring, to me, means getting original parts (either good condition used or NOS) which will take more effort, cost and time. Being a ladies bike I question the value to do a real restoration (sorry ladies but most collectors are men looking for bikes they would ride). Andy.

wahoonc

Clean it up, lube, replace any missing parts and hopefully sell it for what you have in it.

Aaron

dedhed

Be aware there are many "unusual" things with a vintage raleigh to know about. Whitworth fasteners, proprietary threading, front hub adjustment etc.

Servicing English Three Speeds

repechage

Sturmey-Archer 3 speed hubs and trigger assemblies are hard to kill.
My guess needs oil in the hub maybe the cable ( quite doable with only taking one of the cable stops apart, the stop is almost always slotted). Then an adjustment.

As stated prior, ladies bikes just don't get tons of respect in price.

nlerner

It is a matter of whether you want it to be close to original spec or just functioning. I don't see a front lamp in your pic, so that's one thing to source if you want it to be closer to original. What parts are missing in terms of gearing? Pretty much all of those parts are still available and not terribly expensive.

jjhabbs 

I have the 23 inch frame male version of this bicycle. Clean it up! Dont spend a lot of doh..low demand for that bike in a womans frame.

thumpism 

If you are near a college or hip town it improves the odds of selling a cool ladies' bike. Luck is with you in the new age of gender flexibility since a broader (so to speak) swath of the populace might find the machine desirable. I actually got such a bike for myself for the time when my men's 23" Sports is too much trouble to swing a leg over.

The bike in "running and nice" condition would be good enough to sell. To "restore" it might be more cost- or labor intensive than the projected return would justify. You are the one who has to decide this, unless you find a spec buyer who wants you to restore it and is willing to pay for that.

clubman 

Your enthusiasm that this and your other bikes will sell and make money may have to be tempered a bit. Flipping bikes and actually making an honest return after your investment and time requires skills, tools, parts, smarts and experience.

So get at it. Sheldon Brown has/had a great Raleigh page. Forget tarting the bike up with Dynos and lights and stuff that will cost money. Get the gears, brakes, bearings, wheels/tubes/tires shipshape and ride it. Then you'll know what it's worth to you.

BigChief 

It's hard to tell from this small picture, but it looks like this bike is in very good condition and only missing some original parts. Expensive original parts. My guess is the rear rack, Brooks saddle and headlamp were removed for use on a more valuable gents frame Superbe. Still, a very nice bike and worth restoring if you wanted a step through Superbe.If not, I'd sell it as is.