uncle uncle

I have a basically stock 1977 Raleigh Grand Prix, which was once was a gold/bronze color, but now is kinda a p00p brown. Aka, the paint is pretty challenged. I have a bike path near me which crisscrosses a converted railroad track-to-hiking trail. To get to the path, I have the option to take some gravel roads. So, I basically want to make a bad weather bike that I can take on gravel and paved roads and loose old railroad track gravel stuff. Can I swap out and replace some of the parts on this bike and make something that would be fun to ride? I have some single wall Araya 27 X 1 1/4" alloy wheels that I could throw on it. Should I have double walls for this kind of riding? Are the weinmann center pulls going to be sufficient? Fenders? Any advice on tires? Am I crazy?

Captain Blight

Well, how much do you weigh? Araya made some pretty good rims, but I also folded an Araya in half at walking speed once. Shoot, I dunno.

If you go to 700C the centerpulls should still reach (maybe) and you dramatically improve your tire choice options.

uncle uncle

I weigh 170 lbs. I was kinda worried that the stamped rear drop outs might not hold out, but if I ruined it I wouldn't be out a lot. I have the 27" rims, so I'm probably going to go with them, just wondered if anyone had tire suggestions.

jdefran

For 27" I think most may recommend Panaracer Pasela.

big chainring 

Kenda and or Sunlite makes a 27x1 3/8 hybrid tire thats sorta knobby that would probably fit your bike. I am building something similar with a Motobecane Grand Touring frame. Using the Kenda tires, upright bars, maybe some fenders.

peter_d

I bought a 70 something Raleigh Grand Prix frame and fork recently. I just needed the fork but the frame seems pretty solidly made, i'm sure the dropouts won't be an issue. The stem will be a standard size so you could swap out the handlebars for a set of mtn bike risers, that would give you a bit more stability on trails. You can buy Tektro brake levers pretty cheaply which will still work with your centerpulls. Just make sure the brake straddle cables and pads are in good shape. Velo-Orange sell both if not). 1 1/4" Paselas will take pretty much any kind of trail.

Sidney Porter

Kenda k161 cross tires may work. They make a 27x1 3/8. They are inexpensive. They seem to get decent reviews.

uncle uncle

Kenda K161's look like they would work and fit with my low budget build plan. I saw in the "gravel grinders" thread that someone else used a 70's Raleigh Grand Prix for their project, so I am not alone. The bike has to be completely rebuilt, so hopefully I can strip her down at the coop this weekend.