gna

I replaced the calipers with Tektro 800 sets on both my bike and my wife's bike. My bike had a set of decent forged levers, but hers had those awful self adjusting brakes, so I replaced them with some older forged Raleigh levers from a scapped sports. I got a scrapped late '70s sports once and it came with Weinneman levers. That's what my Twenty has, too. I suppose you could try those or something like them.

dweenk

Well, I bought the bike about an hour ago. Most of what I feared was rust turned out to be dirt. The saddle is in very good shape - worth what I paid for the whole bike. All of the gears work (although a bit stiffly), and I am able to stop from 6 mph in about 30 feet. The AW hub is dated 1973. I haven't tried the lights yet. Some photos follow.


I must say, I'm quite happy no one heeded my call for intervention.

Now I need to find a green Raleigh Sports chainguard. Does anyone know where the serial number is located?

noglider 

The frame looks much older than 1973. The rear wheel might be a replacement.

What is that logo on the rear fender? I can't read it.

I like the bike and especially the tail light.

dweenk

It reads:
Alain Mertens (at the top)
Tel (?02) 5??67
BRAINEL??LEUD

dweenk

noglider,

I just noticed that the front hub has a clip covering an oil port - that does seem older than 1973. The pedals look old but have reflectors. WTF?

Velocivixen

@dweenk - whohoo! What a beauty and a fantastic platform for a project. I hope you'll start a thread detailing your work. That's really nice. Is it that "Bronze Green" that's extra special?

nlerner

Also, that crankset is the three-brace style that would have come on a later 1970s Sports. Plus, you have a locking fork, a la Superbe! I think the Sports models with a locking fork might have been made in the 1950s (assuming the fork and frame match, which looks like they do).

dweenk

Thank you Most Gracious Lady. I have been following your Phillips thread with much interest, and I do commend you for your diligence.

I almost didn't reply to the seller because I have too many bikes at this time, but I had a hunch that this one was good. I must say that I really like this bike. I just have to find a chainguard to match it though, and discover its true age (rear hub and front hub seem years apart at this time). My wife has a birthday in February, so I need to get it clean (at least) before then.

When I really start a refurb I will take your advice about a new thread.

Narhay

Maybe this one. Vintage Raleigh Bicycle Chainguard Sport Hockey Stick British Dark Green | eBay

dweenk

Thanks Narhay, but I'd like to find the year of my bike before jumping on that. The "Raleigh Sports" decal on the down tube is very plain script. i would like to find a guard that was a match. I love this thread.

gna

+1

You can see the boss for a chaincase in the last picture. It is probably an older frame or it may be from Europe. The crank looks newer, though, as do the pedals.

The saddle is great, lights are very nice.

Edit: I looked at Kurt's Headbadge site and the decals look like late '50s, early '60s. Who knows, though?

Velocivixen

May I introduce Prince Phillip , the patina lad with attitude. (I tried calling the bike Princess Phillipa, but just didn't roll off the tongue quite right).

Brakes are great in the front, bad in the back - worse than I think they should be. Oh well. I'll tell more on my thread, but for now here it is. I believe it to be 1955, in part because the SA AG dyne-three rear hub says "8 55" AND because the rear light was only made, or at least advertised '53, '54, '55.



I bought the vinyl bag today from an older guy who redoes old Schwinns. He bought it new off eBay & it's from a Raleigh made Huffy, and he never installed it. It resembles the bags in the 1955 bike catalog for Phillips, so thought it would be appropriate.

Bandera

Well done!

Be careful w/ the stem so high. Is there a minimum insertion line? Beware.

PS
Since most Portland drivers are on the Right side of the road consider re-locating the taillight to the Left side at some point.
edit: Nevermind you have a modern battery taillight. Leave OEM be!

-Bandera

gster

Nice looking bike.

markk900

The original pedals on my wife's 1955/6 Standard have reflectors....so don't let that make you believe it isn't older than the hub indicates.

Serial number should be on seat tube top lug. Will definitely help the mystery.

I tend to agree the rear wheel and shifter have been replaced - notice there is the typical 70s fully enclosed shift cable with the chain stay cable stop instead of the expected pully. Shifter is consistent with 70s as well. However grips, oil port front wheel, chaincase boss, etc all point to an older bike. All explained if the rear wheel and shifter were replaced in the 70s.

markk900

Nicely done @Velocivixen! Now for the ride report.....

Salubrious

@Velocivixen- how much in the way of threads do you have exposed on the nuts on the cotter pins? I can't tell from the photos (nice work BTW) but the cotter pin seems to be sticking out further than I would expect. If the nuts are driven on far enough that some of the thread of the pin is exposed then I would say you are good to go. But if the thread is even with the top of the nut I would consider filing the cotter pins a bit.

desconhecido 

36 spoke front and rear and a 70s (probably) chain ring. But, the brakes are not those goofy self-adjusters but neither are they the terminated on both ends "soldered" brake cables. That is, the brake end terminates in a clamp bolt. (I've just become familiar with the "soldered" cables).

The forks still have the herons rather than the "R" decals so the frame's earlier than 73, according to headbadge Sports decal guide. Also, the fork has pin striping. I think I can see pump pegs, but not sure.

My wag is the frame is late 60s (pinstriping, herons on the forks, bolt-clamp terminated cables, other decal details, from what we can see) but the wheels and crank (and maybe some other parts) are from a 73 or 74. I don't know what to make out of the fork lock nor the chaincase braze-on. I'd never seen the braze-on before the other day, have no idea if that feature survived into the late 60s.

Velocivixen

Hi There. The stem is 7.5" tall and I've left 2.5" below the lock nut. Should I leave more in there?



@Salubrious - the threads from the ends of the pin are in the center of the nut. In other words, there is more room for the nut to be screwed on more. So you're saying I should have more of the threads at the end of the cotter pin engaged by the nut? If so I may just take to the bike coop. I don't have the tools to file (not sure what's needed) and don't have a way to make positively sure they're filed equally. I guess I could just get cotter pins that are filed down more.

dweenk

Thanks Markk990,
Should I be looking for a hockey stick chainguard with a brace for the boss, or an enclosed chain case? I'll check out the seat lug for numbers later today and report back.

dweenk

Very nice VV. You could be Queen of the next tweed ride on Prince Phillip.

noglider 

Indeed you will be. Until they find you're married, when the guys hear you did all the work yourself, they'll all swarm around you.

arex

That's awesome.

Bandera

That a tall one.
The stem from my '70's Superbe is ~6 1/2" and installed w/ ~3" inserted (gee it's cold out in the garage).

Once more, good work.

-Bandera

dweenk

Additional infoOk, I found the serial number.. The paint is thick, but the number appears to be 1624904. According to Sheldon Brown and Kurt Kaminer, that would date the manufacture of the frame to 1970, although it could have been built up for sale as late as 1973. Maybe the hub is original then. I also found a clamp on the down tube that has no purpose. I took a photo of it.

After looking a chain guards on ebay, I see that the clamp is the down tube attachment for the chain guard. The original must have been the hockey stick style.