Originally Posted by
TruF
Hi,
A friend just gave me the bike she got as a high school graduation present back in the 70's - a Raleigh Grand Prix. I know that this isn't considered a real collectible bike, but I've been thinking about getting an old steel frame bike for a while now, and think it will be perfect for running errands, going into town, etc. It's got a lot of personality, has a bit of rust and needs new brake pads and probably some other stuff. So I'm just here to introduce myself and warn you that I'll soon be peppering you with questions about fixing up older steel frame bikes. I'll not want to "restore" it or sink lots of money into it, but it would be fun to give it some TLC.
Thanks in advance for your patience and help!
TruF, nice to see you again! You'll find some familiar faces and names here, that you may already know.
Your Grand Prix sounds very interesting, looking forward to more info.
You probably should start with new brake pads. If your rims are shiny chrome, or are chrome that was shiny, or a fridge magnet sticks to them strongly, you have original-style steel rims. You should probably get red Kool-stop pads, the kind for Campy Nuovo Record brake shoes, which are very similar to your Weinmann center-pulls. Two ways to buy them: Pads only, in which case you have to figure out how to get out the old ones and get in the new ones. It's tricky, but ... see what you think. The other way is to order a set with brake shoes or with built in brake bolts that will just bolt on to your brake calipers. Cost versus trickiness. I think both of them are available on the Harris Cyclery web site.
If you do this and the brakes pull and release well, and the tires hold air, you can take him out in traffic and play a while.
I've always liked the green and black ones.