http://raleightwenty.webs.com/



You know of my affection for these bikes and with the recent acquisition of a Phillip's 20 (which I will be building up for my mother in law) we have five of them in our family and a Raleigh Saffron which is a 20 inch wheeled lady's bike.

Excluding my super modified P20, our other 20's are mostly stock although I have upgraded the rims on mine and my wife's pair, upgraded the brakes, and adjusted the gearing by swapping in larger rear cogs. On this, the 20 likes an even / odd combination to get the right chain tension as the dropout is short and even pairings of cogs and chain wheels can cause issues. Your stock cog is probably a 15 tooth which is there to give it the same gearing as a conventional Raleigh Sports 3 speed which is also geared too high for anything but flat riding.

One of the joys of owning a 20 is that you will get to know what pootling is all about... they were never intended to be raced but rather, ridden at a more moderate pace.

Once you figure out the setting of the hub you should be able to forget about it and as for handling... the bike is so stable that you can take corners at speed in a more upright position than you are used to.

On the other hand... this bike is a little racier even though it was built up to work as a touring bike and has no issues with rain or poor braking.


1973 Phillip's 20 (super modified)

My other 20... am thinking of putting on some studded Marathons for wintery riding as these bikes are extremely stable and the IGH id perfect for wet and cold weather.