Originally Posted by
deux jambes
That Raleigh has been posted for sale for quite some time! Each time scrolling through Craigslist, I’d pause, and admire it, always trying to justify checking it out myself, but it’s just too tall a frame for me. The seller posted some decent enough pics of the the bike (the footbridge over the Willamette was a nice placement), but it’s great to see your own detailed close ups. What a gorgeous bike! It’s been waiting very patiently for its new rider!
Yeah, I first spotted it about a month ago and had actually been trying to talk myself out of it. I have a '74 International which I thought was basically the same bike as this. It disappeared for a while and so I thought someone else had bought it. Then Thursday night I sold a bike, which of course meant I needed to look at CL for something to fill the hook in my garage. Even after seeing that it was back I tried to talk a friend who's looking for a bike for Eroica into buying it, but he thought it was too big. It's surely the biggest bike that would fit me and really only works because of Raleigh's insistence on using 57cm top tubes for everything. Here's a pic I took with a test fitted saddle set to the height I need.
I think I might need a honey Brooks for this one. Standover...I'll need to remember to wear shoes with some tread. Reach...I'll need a shorter stem, but otherwise it's about the same as most of my 57s. Apart from the tube angles (which are slacker on this bike), this is the same size as my International, so I knew it would work for me.
The tire clearance on this bike is outstanding. Gugie and I test fitted it with 650x42s and they fit with room to spare. Last night I tried out some 27x1-1/4" tires and they fit with a good five millimeters to spare on each side. If I dimpled the chain stays I think I could use 700x42s.