ostste

Hey all,

Brand new to riding, coming from a background of riding the cheapo department store bikes. Wife and I are looking at road bikes or hybrids, and I realized I had my dad's old 1976 Raleigh Competition laying around (Reynolds 531, Weinmann brakes, Brooks seat). All in all it's in great condition, no rust whatsoever, paint is fairly decent with the decals pretty worn out.

So a few questions (remember, as far as biking goes I pretty much just know the difference between mountain/hybrid/road haha):

1. I'm 6'4, the frame (if I'm measuring correctly) is 23.5". Is this thing too small for me? My dad was a few inches shorter than I am.
2. Is this bike worth fixing? Just from a quick Google, people seem to regard it and it sells for $600+ on ebay.
3. Would this be a difficult bike as a beginner? I know I've never seen the gear shifters (I'm assuming I have the terminology wrong here) on the middle of the frame and not the handles.
4. Is any part of this fix within my scope, or should I bring it down the road to the nearest bike shop? As far as repairs, what can I expect from a bike that probably hasn't been ridden in 10+ years? Tires are warped, I'm assuming brakes(?), maybe the seat (it isn't in bad condition, just the leather is cracked/peeling).

That's about all I can think of now. Sorry for the novel, just really excited to potentially get this thing up and road-ready. I can snap some pics if that would help. Thanks for your advice!

cb400bill

1. Too small
2. Yes.
3. We learned to ride them back in the day. You'd be fine.
4a. If you're mechanically inclined, no problem. If you're not, that's why we are here.
4b. Tires, or wheels, are warped? Likely need to re-grease all the bearings. Dried out grease doesn't lubricate anything.

ostste

1. What size would be appropriate for me? I was told a Giant XL would be my size, but that seems to be around 24inches. Just curious for when I start looking around

4b. Tires are stiff/flat and appear to want to stay that way even if I were to inflate them. As far as I can tell, the wheels/rims are in good condition.

Any idea what price I could be looking at if I took this into a store? Or should I tackle as much as possible on my own? Pics are being uploaded now.

Thanks!

gugie 

Pictures, please!

We're a very visual group.

francophile 

at 6'4 you should probably be looking in the 61cm-64cm range (~ 24"-25") measured from center of crank to the top of the top tube, depending on your inseam, the frame geometry and personal preference, really. I have a couple of friends that ride with the top tube on their taint at standover and I can't handle that, I want to at least be able to lift up the front tire 4"-6" when standing over (again, I may be an oddball, I just don't want to get "sacked").

If your Raleigh wasn't slightly too large for me (sounds like a 60cm), I'd offer to trade you a bike in your size. The only bike I have over 60cm right now is not quite as desirable as your Raleigh. FWIW, if you can find a shop to actually work on vintage, be careful: Don't let them talk you into replacing anything on the bike (except pads/tubes/tires), and expect to spend $150-$200 for a full overhaul, including: re-bearing/re-pack of the hubs, headset, BB, pedals, truing the wheels, new rubber, shift and brake cables. It can get expensive quick and on a bike you're not planning to ride, if you can't personally fix it correctly, you're better off selling to someone who can, then using the money towards a bike you can immediately ride w/o any monetary investment.

francophile 

PS - on price, if it's not ready to ride and not maintained, I'd probably be in the $125-$175 range on the bike for initial sale price **IF** there are no dents, dings, kickstand crush on the chainstays, major rust spots, etc. with the faded decals. I'd like to walk out the door with it for $125 on a local sale, but there's probably someone out there who'd pay $225 for it if you sat and re-listed a few times on CL, this all depending on your local bike market. If you are in a city that loves vintage, you could be at the high end of that, else the opposite would put you on the low end. I'm sure several people here would probably pay $125 + ship any day of the week.

ostste

Uploaded to original post, trying to rotate them now haha.

ostste

Thank you for the detailed response! The bike has at least some sentimental value, so even getting it road-ready and giving it to my brother who is a bit shorter than me might be an option. Which bikes should I be looking at in my price range for a decent hybrid or road bike?

ostste

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

D1andonlyDman

That Raliegh Competition is probably right for someone who's about 5'11 to 6'1.

The good news is, they are well regarded bikes, and in some demand among those of us who like older bikes. That ~$600ish estimate assumes a bike that's clearly in more rideable condition than your Competition is. In the shape it's presently in, it's probably worth ~$300ish, maybe slightly more - but I'd need good detailed pictures and/or a physical inspection to really know . A store would offer you less, but I'd guess a C&V enthusiast who wanted one would value it at at least $300 with the assumption that they'd need to make some investment and some work to make it ride-worthy. If I were you, I'd really try to find someone who was into bikes, but a few inches shorter than you, and suggest a sort of a swap. See what they could offer you in a bike that's in the 25" or 62 - 63 cm vicinity size-wise.

One thing you might wish to do is let folks on this forum know where you're located, and one of us who's nearby and in the range where that bike might fit them might take up the challenge - Many a collector might have some nice bikes that are too big for them. If you were in San Diego, I'd be interested in this sort of arrangement, except the bike is still too big for me. I suspect that you'd probably prefer something newer, with a more modern drivetrain.

Edit: I see you posted a link to some pictures. I might slightly increase my estimate of value. Certainly it needs new rubber, and re-packing the bearings, but it might not need much else.

ostste

I'm guessing you're right about the newer, modern drivetrain.

Pics are now above, or see Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

And I'm in Iowa

francophile 

It'd be interesting to see how badly the kickstand was wrenched down and how mangled the chainstays are. A shot of the bottom where the clamp meets the two stays would be worthwhile.

gugie 

@bikemig! This your size buddy? Maybe this is your 650b conversion bike. I know a guy...
@ostste, that's probably a bit earlier than a '76. Flip it upside down, there should be a serial number stamped on the bottom bracket. Post here, we'll decode for you.

bikemig 

Funny, yeah too large. The bike looks to be a refugee from Boston by the looks of the bike sticker; nice bike.

bikemig 

If it fits your brother, it's nice bike and well worth restoring. It will need to be overhauled, though.

The bad news is that IA is not a great state to be selling a vintage bike. The good news is that it is a great state if you're buying a vintage bike.

This bike might fetch $300 on CL in IA but you'd have to fix it up and you will probably have to be patient. There is a market for vintage bikes but it's thin.

ostste

The only thing I could find was H1837. Here

A quick google makes me think maybe it's actually a 1973?

ostste

Not entirely sure what I was going for, so I took a few. Hopefully it's in one of these...!

francophile 

I guess I should offer up 2¢ on my price quote above if I didn't make it clear earlier. In as-is shape, I'm thinking $125-$175 for fast-to-moderate sale, $225 for a bit slower sale. I agree with ready-to-ride at $300, I'd list at $350 after putting about $100 into consumables and general refurb and wouldn't want to sell after a full refurb for less than $300.

Am I wrong, or is that a 1977? (Serial 771837? Edit: huh, maybe it is an "H", not a 7. Gunk makes it hard to see)

The rear stays (what the kickstand clamps onto) don't look too squished, but I see the kickstand broke which may have put undue pressure in different spots. On a black bike it's tough to say without removing it completely, which may not be advised. Those Greenfield style clamping kickstand a can really f'ing mangle tubes, some of the apes mounting them in the shops did s number, and too many people sat on bikes with the kickstand on causing considerable damage.

gugie 

Correctamundo. You probably found (St.) Sheldon Brown's site. The lack of chrome on the rear stays made me think it wasn't a 1976 model.

ostste

For that price, I think I'd consider hanging onto it and getting something new to get my foot in the door, and as I get more involved and invested, a couple hundred bucks to patch it up will be well worth it (to me).

Also, I went back out and looked, and it doesn't appear squished to me, but like you said it's probably hard to tell until you take the hardware off.

ostste

Yep! I appreciate the help Gugie!

ostste

Complete newbie question... is there any informative site or youtube series I could watch to learn more about everything from the bikes themselves, the parts, the gear, the repairs, and all the other ins-and-outs?

Thanks

gugie 

Clean it up, adjust the saddle so it looks parallel to the top tube, and put it on eBay. A certain Peter Weigle uses this particular model and often, same year to do fantastic 650b conversions, driving up the price for a reasonably nice frame that happens to have perfect geometry to put a wide tire of slightly smaller diameter, modify the fork rake, and modernize the braze on bits.

eschlwc

sheldonbrown.com

francophile 

RJ is my main reference to starters to learn newbie repair, in-depth: https://www.youtube.com/user/shyflirt1?

He is a little utilitarian at times but he breaks it down fairly well and tackles a lot of vintage.