crazzywolfie

well i have never owned a folding bike so i don't know much about them. i don't even know how to fold it at this point in time. i was cleaning out a family members back yard and i came across 2 fairly unique bikes among the many that where there. i definitively would like to clean them both up since they both look complete. maybe use one to cruise around town. i was just hoping to find more info on them. they both seem to be Raleigh. one is a twenty and the other is a folder? any info would be good info for me at this point in time. thanks.

keke

Lotsa peeps on this forum will absolutely love you! Some will be green with envy!

crazzywolfie

thats good to hear. makes me glad i saved them both from heading to the scrap yard. i know if i was not there helping they would have gone with the rest of the scrap bikes. pretty much all the other bike were newer cheap mountain bikes. these were hiding in the corner. i think i like the brown one a bit more because it has the light and the generator but it is going to be a bit more work to get rolling. the green one on the other hand i think just needs air in the tires and make sure everything works and i would bike into the sunset

MadCityCyclist

I don't know too much about Raleighs, but those are definitely vintage folders. They use the old-style cottered cranks which were real popular in the 70s. And they don't make cranksets like that anymore, either.

It looks like they are both folders with 20 inch wheels.

If you can keep them together you'll have a pair of his & her folders. When you air up the tires and take them for a ride for the first time, don't get too far away from the home because old tires have a tendency to blow out pretty easily.

Dynocoaster 

Goodsite for info
https://raleightwenty.webs.com/

crazzywolfie

thanks for the link
ya. i figured they were pretty old. i am also certain they have 20 inch wheels. if i had been smart i would have grabbed a couple extra sets of tires for it. scrapped quite a few tires that looked almost brand new. i took a whole bunch of aggressive 26 inch tire for my mountain bikes but never thought about grabbing some for the new bikes but we were in a bit of a rush. could have also made more money if we could have had a bit more time. 2 truck loads of bikes to the scrap yard only earned us $170.

BassNotBass

Congrats on having two of these just fall into your lap... yes I'm one of the envious ones.

LittlePixel

They are definitely both Raleigh Twenties - Both are folding models so technically (in the UK at least) they'd be Stowaways, rather than Shoppers (the non-folding version) but it's all the same frame geometry. It actually looks like you have a English and a North American one as the green one seems to have the smaller US Market ISO 406 size wheels, while the brown one seems to have the English (rarer) 451 size.

They look they'd come up real nice with a bit of steel wool on the chrome and decent service. Congrats to you on a great find.

crazzywolfie

thanks. you are correct about the one being English. it is painted on the rear fender. i also think most of the chrome should clean up with some steel wool and wd 40.

Vampy

Keep them together, they make much more sense as a lovely old couple. Restore and go!

Diode100

steel wool on chrome ??

EM42

the first upgrades i'd do on those are fresh tires/tubes and relace new rims from steel to alloy ones those alone would totally improve the ride.

have you ridden them enough yet where you could give us feedback on what you think about them? the Brown one with bigger wheels is the one I'd suggest you ride. It will probably feel more like a full size bike the the green one with a smaller/fatter wheel.

although both of them have 20" tyres they are not interchangeable one is 406mm bead diameter[green one] and the brown one 451mm. Its called ISO tyre size description is more accurate as most bike sales staff don't know and gets confused what you want when you say I need a 20" tire but its bigger diameter.

and please: don't repaint them ! just an advice

hope you have fun riding them steel frames they're pretty much bomb proof compared to the aluminium junk of most bikes today.

crazzywolfie

thanks. i have not had a chance to take them for a ride yet. i think i am going to try to keep the steel rims. i think i am going to just leave the paint alone. they look fairly good as is. the last bike i sandblasted is still sitting in the basement but someone painted over factory paint and it looked like crap.
is it a bad thing?

tds101 

Chrome Bike Polish

crazzywolfie

so steel wool and metal polish or aluminum foil and water?

tds101 

I guess,...I gave away my rust bucket so I can't test it out for you. And the old iron horse bike I had was a MAJOR rust bucket!!!

crazzywolfie

i got lots of rusty chrome stuff i could test on.

tds101 

I await your test results!!!

crazzywolfie

i finally got to take the green bike out for a bit of a tour. had to change the front tire. it decided to leak when i filled it but it was not original rims or tire. it first ride on it went fairly good but i think it needs a new shifter cable and i know it needs a new rear brake cable. i also noticed the one pedal or possibly the crank arms might be bent. otherwise it was not too bad. i also notice the green bike is also from England. the brown bike on the other hand seems like it is going to require a bit of work. i filled the tires and they seemed to hold air but i now think i understand what everyone is saying about the tires. they are small. also sounds like the bearings in the rear hub and steering need to be greased. plus the chain needs to be put in oil to free itself up.

Diode100

you have a mountain of work and expenditure on your hands - sell one bike to finance the refurbishment of the other.

my money would be on keeping the brown one, so dont spend any more money on the green one, just put it on ebay / craigslist.

crazzywolfie

i don't see much point in selling the green bike. there is one on kijiji for $150 and it looks in a lot better shape than mine. i think i would just sooner fix up some of the crappy mountain bikes i have and sell them to put towards restoring these bikes.

tds101 

I agree with you. Keep them both and let the restoration begin!!!

shipwreck

Those are great, I would LOVE to find one, much less two raleigh folders. Mostly because of the cool factor, but also because they are a really solid bike.

here is a link to the late great Sheldon Browns bike. Also some general info, but mostly because his were so neat, I think at least.
https://sheldonbrown.com/raleigh-twenty.html

If I had two like this, I would keep one fairly original, and the other I would go nuts on, totaly custom.
The Classic and vintage forum might be able to provide some anwers if you have any technical questions, and this site helped me when I first started out restoring old english bicycles. https://www.oldroads.com/ The forums there are not as robust as this site, but there are some tips.

Nice find!

Oh, and avoid repainting if you can. They will keep value better with the original, even if its a little rough.

crazzywolfie

thanks. i had found that Sheldon Brown page while i was searching plus i was fairly familiar with his website from when i was learning to lace and straighten rims. as of right now i am just going to work on getting everything greased and cleaned up then i will decide what to do with them. i don't think i really want to do any crazy with them. i think i just want to leave them as is. i got another old school 3 speed that i can go all out on.

social suicide

Do they have a lottery in Canada? You'll need to win it! I've got over $900 in my twenty and I'm still not done. The only thing that can save you from Raleigh addiction is finding a Moulton F frame. Good Luck!