1974-ish Raleigh Gran Sport Clubman project
 

Hey everyone, thought you might like a look at this. I bought this Raleigh Gran Sport on Craigslist here in NYC back in December, but just got around to finishing it up. I've always wanted one of these "lagoon blue" frames--really attractive to me. When I picked up the bike it was grungy and had obviously been in a crash at some point way back, as evidenced by the scuffed bars, hoods, pedal and saddle, but it seemed otherwise sound. It was all original down to the toe straps with the exception of the rear derailleur. I'm not sure exactly what year it is. It's a 1973 serial, but supposedly this color wasn't offered in '73. I'm guessing a '74 with a frame built in '73

Here's a "before" shot:
http://i.imgur.com/EVJ74pp.jpg
More before photos here: Raleigh Gran Sport - as found - Album on Imgur

After some thought (and encouragement from RHM) I decided to put the stock wheels, derailleurs and shifters aside for now and build it up as a clubman. I built a set of wheels using a Sturmey Archer alloy shell 3-speed hub, and put the bike together. I have taken it out for a couple short shakedowns and I'm happy to report that all's well. I'm very happy with it. Photos below! Let me know if you have any questions.

http://i.imgur.com/1RNzH5d.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/eqQlkRN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/eWFbFCN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/1wuZO0c.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/PGlY5JA.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qXkHHVs.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XRQSgdo.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/tHCDNSb.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WYt4Pu5.jpg

Gorgeous...very nice...enjoy!

A blue British Bicycle with an SA hub, what's not to like? Beautiful!

That's a very nice path racer clubman cruiser!

Question about the rear spacing, does the SA hub match or come close to the spacing of this Decades bike ?

I have plans to do the same thing, quite the encouraging photos I might add !

I love it! Beautiful! My questions are...Did you use a longer axle on the SA hub and where did you find those cool fenders?

What size tires there?

Whoa, that is a NICE looking rig!,,,,BD


I've got one of the white with blue Grand Sports, and I've mocked it up several times only to tear it down and hang the frame up on the ceiling in the garage. This bike might get me off my butt and I'll finally build it! :lol:

I am guessing tires are 27 x 1 1/4? The tires on my World Voyageur were 1 1/4, and looked about the same in pictures.,,,,BD

Gorgeous bike!! That is a head turner for sure, great job!! :thumb:

Looks like a great clubman path racer for gliding around the park and going to-and-fro in the city.

Does the saddle emit vintage oderiferous emanations?

Stellar work! Very fetching.

Whose doesn't?

Saddle sniffer! Caught.

The hub spacing was too narrow for the drops. I removed the locknuts and replaced them with regular width Sturmey Archer nuts, that plus the anti-rotation washers made it close enough.

Nope, same axle, and see above. The fenders are from Velo Orange. I believe they are around $60 new. I had these hanging around from a previous project. I think they work waaaay better on this bike.

700c x 32mm Panaracer Pasealas, on Velocity Twin Hollow rims. This is an odd rim. Rivendell was blowing them out for $25 each, so I figured I'd try them. They're single wall but have a hooked rim. They're pretty vintage-looking. Brake reach was fine with the stock brakes.

Yeah, just like your sister!

The stock wheels were 27", but I converted to 700c. These tires are 700c x 32mm.

It's not the emanations. It's the burning in my eyes that's always the problem.

Well done!

always thought that era's GS' horizontal DOs w/o derailleur hangers and relax geometry would work better off some sort of single speed drive train 'aesthetically and practically'.
3 spd hub clubman configuration is, indeed, genius. and looking just gorgeous and elegant.
oh and especially like the functional location of the shifter. never seen its location there before.

GS blue lagoon w white stripe FTW.

Thanks! Eventually I'd like to run the shift cable over the top tube via a fulcrum clip and a pulley, then down along the seatstay to the axle. Old school. I like the aesthetic of the trigger shifter, but maybe I'll switch to one of the newer bar ends also. I had one of those before and they're very nice. The way it is now works well, though, so I'm not going to make any changes right away.

I question the placement of the rear brake housing running under the stem and front cable stop, won't that cause a nasty wear spot?

Love that color. Really nicely done.

Eventually, but I didn't have a better idea. It's always a problem to route the rear brake cable when the brazeons are on the right. Running it behind the head tube puts a kink in it (and rubs on the other side of the head tube). Sucks either way, but I think it's functionally better this way.

(edit: and no way am I doing the rear brake on the right!)

I much prefer the rear on the left also but I just let the housing be wild in front of the front brake housing stop.

you mean a regular bar ends shifter works for the internal gear hub too? didn't know that.