Old Raleigh Gran Sport recommendations
Hi all,
The bike collection grew again last week as I purchased anold Raleigh road bike that was going begging.
From what I can tell, the new addition is (well, at leastthe frame is..) a Raleigh Gran Sport of 1962 vintage. The serial number is AG 54688 N, so lookingat the Sheldon Brown ‘how old is my Raleigh’ I deduce that it’s a 1962!?!...It appears to have originally been SunsetYellow with a black head tube however, the ’62 catalogue seems to suggest thatit should be a white head tube.It hasbeen over painted in a bronze colour at some point, but a lot of that ischipped or worn off.It also has tracesof the large ‘chap on a racer’ decal on the seat tube rather than a white band,and it have an early Raleigh head tube badge.Any thoughts/clarifications on year gratefully received.
The bike is a ‘bitsa’ bike as it stands and has none of theoriginal equipment on it. It has been well used and abused over the years andall the good stuff has been robbed from it. Here’s a list of what I’ve found so far… It seems to have a differentfront fork, it’s running a single chain ring and a 5 speed block at the backwith shifting courtesy of a Simplex derailleur, a pair of Huret down tube shifters(one obviously not connected to anything), a mishmash of brakes – WeinmannLevers, Weinmann 730 side pull calliper on the front and a no name side pull calliperon the back. Both wheels are shot/buckled, the rear hub is a Maillard hub but Ihaven’t cleaned the front one yet to see what that is.
As far as I can think I have a couple of options as to whatto do with it….
- Restore using as many original bits as I can(Campy mechs etc) to as near factory as I can get without spending silly money.
- Restore into a 10 speed bike again but using a suitablevaguely period groupset and components - what would be suitable?
- Restore what I have and leave it as a 5 speed asits currently set up
- Convert to a single speed
- Or part out and sell the various bits on
Answers/advice on a postcard!!
I’ll get some photos of the beast this weekend and get someup on here for you all to admire.