cal_tyke

I joined the forum a few months ago and said that I was hoping to get hold of a vintage Raleigh touring bike as I'd aspired to one in my youth but never had the funds. Well I didn't get one, but two instead!
I found a Raleigh Gran Sport (the mid 70s model in pale blue and white) and an earlier Raleigh Super Tourer in bronze. They both appear to be in great condition, especially the Super Tourer and I'm very pleased with them.

I had a problem though with the Gran Sport after my first ride out (it could have been the first it had for quite some time). The upper gear on the Simplex (Maxi I think, presuming it's original which I think it is) derailleur broke, and it's now missing a couple of teeth. My question is whether it's possible to get hold of individual gears/cogs, and if I have to look out for a particular size/model given the derailleur it came from. Or are these items fairly generic and I can just get an acceptable replacement from my local bike shop? I'm happy to replace it myself if it doesn't require special tools, I'm reasonably practical (I are an engineer...!). Is the broken gear a regular symptom of age, or was I really unlucky? The previous owner said the bike had just returned from "a good clean up" at the shop but I seriously doubt it.

Thanks for any help. I'll post piccies of the bikes if anyone is interested to see them.

unworthy1

it's called the jockey pulley (the lower one is the tension pulley). Yes, you can get replacements and it shouldn't require special tools...but you might be better off replacing the entire derailleur. I don't know what model the "Maxi" is but a mid-70's Simplex might have been the Delrin Prestige, which is prone to breaking all over. Plenty of good quality Suntour RDs are available and of the same vintage. Yes, post pics, please.

cyclotoine

replace with a suntour pulley, they will last longer! I can offer you both a suntour and original simplex replacement, no charge.

John E

I concur that your bike would be a great candidate for a nice SunTour rear derailleur. Even the humble SunTour V would be a big improvement over the Simplex.

cal_tyke

Thanks for the excellent info, I really appreciate the fast responses.
I am game for changing the derailleur to a SunTour, and I'll keep my eyes open for one. Any recommendations on model would be great - what would consitutute a "nice" SunTour?
Thanks so much to cyclotoine for the offer of a pulley - I will gladly accept and contact you via PM. I'll fix the Simplex before I experiment with the SunTour.

I've attached a couple of photos of the newly-acquired velocipedes. I'll take some out in the daylight next time but I wanted to post something quickly because you folks responded so quickly, and it's dark here in CA!

The bars on the Super Tourer are not original (they were supplied as new with regular bars rather than "drop" handlebars - sorry I don't know the proper terms). These bars were supplied by the dealer at the first owner's request. Everything else apart from the consumables is original though I think. It has a few scrapes but is in very good shape overall I think.

The Gran Sport is also in very good shape cosmeticaly. Mechanically remains to be seen, although I took it for a maiden ride of ~25 miles and was really pleased with the handling. The pulley broke on the final hill back to my home! I'm going to restore the look to original. Hence the new white bar tape, and the black Brooks B-17 saddle waiting for me to swap out the tan Brooks Professional one you can see in the photo. I have never ridden a more comfortable saddle than the Professional before though, so I'm planning on moving it over to the Super Tourer (as I am not too keen on the bouncinesss of the one fitted..).

All the best.

unworthy1

from what I can make out you seem to have 2 Raleighs with very close to original equipment and nice condition. The RD (rear derailleur) on the GS looks like the plastic Simplex Prestige, and I'd urge you to replace it...the plastic shift levers may break soon, too (Delrin has a limited life span). Looks like the FD was already replaced with a Japanese unit. I always liked this model, seem to recall some had a Stronglight crank while some got the Nervar Star (both very nice looking, but I prefer the SL). The drop bars look to be shallow-drop radonneur style bars, hard to say from this one shot...just personal preference, if the rider likes these bars, keep 'em. The ST also looks good but if it were mine I'd lose the "safety levers" (extensions) on the brake levers and replace the stem-mounted shift levers with something else...this ones seems to have Huret RD and FD...both nice bikes, and more pics can't hurt.

cal_tyke

Thanks for the post unworthy1, very interesting info, and YES I do plan to lose the safety levers and move the shift levers. I'll post more pics. Yes I do like the bars, and I really like the way the Super Tourer rides, apart from the shifter position (who ever thought it was a good idea to bar-mount them?). They're both Worksop bikes from the serial numbers I believe.
I was planning to buy one bike, but they both came up at about the same time, and I liked both of them and thought 'what the heck'. It's cheaper than audio equipment - my other hobby.

Sixty Fiver

I would replace the Simplex groups with Suntour as then you will have a durable and worry free shifting system... besides the rear d's jockey wheel issues, the shifters are weak and also require shifter cable that has a slightly smaller end / stop than most standard cables.