Howard

it was about 20 for the bike, and 60 in bits.
I think the prices must be regional and seasonal. I enjoy pulling them apart and putting them back together.
Sometimes it takes a while, but sometimes they show up for not very much, and in surprisingly good shape. This was less ...

wahoonc

I can probably beat Howard's numbers... I bought a 1970/1 Raleigh Sports Standard back in 1982 for $25 (~$60 today) and used it as my only form of transportation for 4 years and my main transportation for 4 more after that. It survived 4 years of college with my brother and is still being used in town as a beer bike. It has well over 35,000 miles on it. The fork was replaced along with the off side crank arm and pedal when my brother ran into a parked car on night when it went neutral on him. Those came from the local co-op. Everything else has been inexpensive off the shelf replacement parts. I would be surprised if the the overall operation costs exceeded a tenth of a cent a mile. I did just recently increase the value by quite a bit... I added a new bottle generator and new lights. The enjoyment of that bike has been priceless.

Aaron

bikelitelynn

Boy, do I love this thread - still working on reading through it all, though!
Just bought my second Raleigh 3-speed, and can't wait to get it up and running. My first one was bought four years ago for $15, a 1973 LTD-3, which I cleaned up (with advice from the C&V forum), installed new tubes, tires and brake pads, then brought to my LBS for a tuneup. This time, I'm hoping to do a bit more work myself. My new purchase is a 1974 Raleigh Sports, bought from the original owner (thru Craigslist) for $50, which included the owners manual, vinyl saddle bag and multi-tool.


I pumped up the rotten tires and was shocked that they actually held air for at least a week, but they will be replaced anyway. The gear shift cable will also need to be replaced, as it's starting to fray in an exposed area near the chainring. This will be something new for me to attempt, but I think I can handle it (fingers crossed!).
I plan to replace the brake pads with Kool Stop Continental salmon pads, but I'm not sure about the brake cables. They seem to work just fine in spite of sitting idle for years, but how does one know when to replace them? Should I just lube them? I think the brake cables on my LTD were replaced when it was tuned up at the LBS, but I don't remember if it was my call or theirs. I'm trying to keep costs down, but not at the expense of safety.
That's all for now. I'll continue searching this forum for tips as I work on my new old bike - such a wealth of experience and inspiration here!
Lynn

Howard

I like it ... The pic I posted earlier belongs to SWMBO (she who must be obeyed), and I discovered that for just getting around town I like the step through/ladies frame ...
So ... last night I picked up the twin of your brown 74 Sports (hub is 74-1). It's rougher than yours, but not beyond saving. I think the chrome on the rims is mostly gone :-( but I have an extra wheel :-) .

Cable replacement advise here:
https://sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer/cable.html

gna

The cables seem a bit heavier on these old Raleighs, so I'm inclined to keep using them. Spray some lube or drip some oil into the cables and work them a bit, especially the upturned cable on the rear brake--it can catch water.

markk900

Last year I picked up an almost identical bike for my sister - it too came with the bag, but no manual or tool. It did have a functioning bike lock and some pant clips though. Also that awesome original mileage counter.

I paid $75 in Canada and only put tires and tubes into it....this is a 74 based on the hub....



The frame polishes up nicely and the paint is really nice.

bikelitelynn

Photo, please! I love seeing the Before shots just as much as the Afters.
Good thing you have a spare wheel. I haven't cleaned my wheels yet, but they don't look bad at all, just dirty with a light sprinkling of pitting. The handlebars had less pitting, and after polishing with No. 7 Chrome and Metal Polish, they look brand spanking new! I'm anxious to try the No. 7 polish on the rims now. On my LTD I had used Barkeeper's Friend, since it was recommended to remove the thick black brake residue. It removed it easily and left the chrome shiny, but the No. 7 seems to add a shine and gloss. I guess it's like washing a car, compared to washing and waxing it.
I will definitely be using Sheldon Brown's step-by-step instructions for replacing the S-A cable. Without his site and this forum, I would never have the confidence to buy and fix up an old 3-speed. I don't know anyone with an interest in old bikes, so I am completely reliant on the internet. At least it's available at all times of the day and night!

wahoonc

I still have OEM brake cables on several of my Raleighs. If they work and then ends aren't frayed you might be able to pull them from the housing and add grease, otherwise use something like Phil Wood oil and dribble it in the housings. On my Twentys I almost always get new slick cables because the braking is marginal to begin with, less so on the full sized bikes.

Aaron

bikelitelynn

The front brake cable seems fine, but the rear cable is missing the crimp cap thing on the end, so the wire ends are splayed out. Any remedy, or just replace? I have Phil Wood Tenacious Oil and will use that on the front cable.

wahoonc

You can still pull the whole cable assembly free from the bike and dribble oil down the side of the cable into the housing. I only grease them if I can get the cable out of the housing. I have had some luck buying NOS cables on Ebay. The old cables are a lot heavier, but he new cables have Teflon lined housings and quite often are stainless rather than galvanized, they do slide a bit easier.

Aaron

bikelitelynn

What a beauty! The paint looks perfect. Mine has a rather large scrape through the Sports on the chain guard, unfortunately, and a few minor ones elsewhere. But I love the deep metallic brown, Coffee, to be official, and I've ordered cream tires to go with it and a coffee cup bell. I couldn't resist.
Do you remember how many miles were on the counter when you got it?

markk900

No, don't remember mileage but it was under 300mi I think. I never liked the coffee in pictures, and the bike was pretty filthy when I got it, but I was amazed once I cleaned it up....as you can tell the picture was taken in spring - when the sun came out the bike was glowing....

Cream tires - GREAT idea!

Salubrious

Sad to hear that Mark got hurt!

Mark of Bikesmith makes an excellent cotter press. Once you use it you will wonder why and how you got along without it should you ever service a cottered crank.

michael k

Ran acroos this little number at pawn shop. Shes flawless,Date code on hud is '74.Interesting it has both coaster and hand brake.

smontanaro 

My mum-in-law's bike is a Schwinn Collegiate (I think) with that handbrake in front, coaster in back setup. My wife hates coaster brakes, so even though it's been in our garage for many months now, she prefers the Xtracycle.

wahoonc

The coaster brake/hand brake combination was pretty much standard fare on the Space Riders and some Colts. I set my wife's Colt up the same way.

That is a sweet find, there are not a lot of those out there. If I ever ran across one like that it would go home with me in a heartbeat. I have standing orders for those from a lot of our petite lady friends.

Aaron

Sixty Fiver

Whenever possible, I suggest that my customers install a front brake on their coaster equipped bicycles to improve stopping power, especially under panic conditions and to reduce the load on coaster brakes during longer descents as they can overheat, cook the grease, and fade to nothing.

gna

I think michael k's comment was that it has both a coaster brake AND a handbrake on the rear wheel.

Looks very nice. I'd buy it; much better shape than the one I set up for me daughter, which incidentally, doesn't have the rear handbrake.

noglider 

Speaking of coaster brake failure, a neighbor of mine had a bomber bike, and while he was descending a big hill, his chain fell off. I offered to put a caliper brake on for him, but he refused and gave me the bike.

michael k

Sorry, my bad! That is correct.

This is the first one of these I've seen and the first raleigh I come across with 24 inch wheels.Had a feeling it;s some what rare.
The rear wheel looked to have more use than the rest of the bike and google search shows the heron chainrings on this year which led me to think the rear coaster may not have been original to the bike.

PalmettoUpstate 

Found a nice 23" Sports in the Florence, SC area several months back and my bride picked it up a few weeks back when she had a conference in Myrtle Beach.

A '74, it has all five original red Raleigh "R" nuts that were "stock" that year and is in pretty fine all-original shape.

Been so busy that I haven't really had time to go through things on it but I have rubbed a couple of treatments of Proofide into the original B-72.

Seeking input on how to best preserve this 40+ year old saddle. It's in pretty good shape but had become pretty dry from never having been treated. It's very comfortable and I'm tightening it up slowly but would like to get input about whether I'm taking the optimum approach.

wahoonc

Nice find.

Take it slow and easy on the B-72 an don't be surprised if it fails on you. We have had that happen to several B-72's that were in similar shape.

Aaron

PalmettoUpstate 

I suspected that could well be the case. Don't guess there's any good reason to re-cover it with a new leather blank; probably be more expensive - maybe way more - than just finding a good used B-72 don't you think?

wahoonc

I usually replace them with a B-66... more springs.

Aaron

PalmettoUpstate 

The Rudge had dead paint which required a careful rub out with Scratch X. I used Wolfgang paint color enhancer followed by two applications of Wolfgang paint sealant to get the color to pop. All of the old battle scars were left intact save straightening a fender stay. I used Fiebings horse saddle conditioner on the Brooks. The front hub was missing a bearing so I bought a bag of 100 grade 25 bearings from a local bearing dealer. All the small parts were hydro-sonically cleaned and then hand polished. I wiped the cable housings with a rag sprayed with carburetor cleaner and then rubbed paint sealer on them. All bearings were greased with Phil Woods finest. I filled the AS hub with Tri-Flow on my truing stand and spun & drained it until it ticked over nicely and the the fluid ran out clean. The chrome was lightly rusty so I hand polished it with chrome cleaner applied with aluminum foil.

A lot of work went into it, but I'm very satisfied with the outcome.[/QUOTE]

GB which one of the Fiebing's products did you use? I have a B-72 that's pretty "iffy" and I've already used a good bit of Proofide and it still needs to drink.