I tell myself that I was not looking for an n+1. My Manhattan apartment already has more bikes than we can manage. So what happened? I was home recovering from a bit of surgery, innocently reading a forum or two when a chromed 1970 Raleigh Pro Mk.1 frame/fork in my size appeared. One thing leads to another...


My overall plan is to migrate my rando-esque setup from my International to this frame, set up the International as an upright townie/commuter and give my 1966 Sports that's my current commuter to my son in Brooklyn. I'm not exactly sure how I want the International set up. I'm leaning towards internal gearing and North Roadish bars, fenders, chain guard and rack(s). What say ye? I'll be proceeding slowly as I'm still not supposed to do much lifting etc. for a few more weeks so please share your ideas and experiences, I'd like to hear 'em.

My idea is that you send it to me. You don't have room for it.

That's a gorgeous bike!!! Looks like you've got the perfect wheels and tires on it too, IMHO. I'm thinking 1x9 with track bars?

Gorgeous bike. Original chrome or rechromed at some point?

Nice, can't wait to see what you do with it.

Thanks! Most likely chromed by a previous owner. Very nice job, too.

I've used the Velorange chain guard. It worked out good. It requires that the drive side bottom bracket cup be removed to put the bracket on. This will cause a 1mm shift to the bottom bracket. I also went from a double chain ring to a single and ended up flipping the bottom bracket spindle.

Such a nice bike in Manhattan?

I've looked at that chain guard, thanks for the info. Any pics? And yes, this is a great bike for Manhattan. Wide tires, easy angles and long wheelbase - all-rounder for the win. A short wheelbase tight frame like my Mercian on the other hand, is far less suited. I lived on LI for decades and I actually ride more now that I'm in Manhattan. Go figure.

Sorry for the delay in posting. This is the only pic I have of the chainguard. It was a picture of the bike that I zoomed in to show just the chain guard. You still cannot see the mounting details, however, if you go to Velorange's website you will.

The chainguard is polished aluminum. It would be possible to sand it so that it has a softer look or paint it.

This is for my wife's bike and she wanted some shiny features on it.

Kinda loving how this early Pro was cheerfully built with clearances, fender eyes and cable hangers - none of that gung-ho minimalism of the later series. Now I'm hankering for a 24" of these ...

Very cool find congrats !! However the OP loses style points for posting heron in title of thread .. I clicked thinking this was a Rivendell Heron

A Raleigh is always a Heron well before any other.

depending on parts stash you could set it up 1x? with as thumb shifter on the north roadish bars and then if you really want to go IGH after that you can.

We thought you meant something else.

[MENTION=61707]squirtdad[/MENTION] Over the weekend I was an hour or so too late on a nice 700c with Nexus 8 which would have rendered that idea moot but to get it up for trials, what you describe is a very likely scenario.

By about 100+ years...

Thanks! Looks good. Which size is that, 44 or 48, do you recall?

I thought Raleigh, but for some reason, when I saw Heron, I thought it might be 50's or earlier Raleigh. Can't resist looking at nice Raleigh's. Aw heck, I can resist looking at most bikes posted here, which is why I hang around.

The Velo Orange chain guard is for 44t and below. There is a 44t chain ring on there in the picture. I had to do a little cutting to fit the mixte frame. I was also thinking of using a wider range cassette, but there were a few reasons that I ending up sticking with the 14-28 cassette. The biggest issue is that it looked goofy (in my eye) with the chain on one of the larger cogs in the rear and the chain being visible above the chain guard. I moved the chainguard northward to cover the chain on the big cog and it didn't look right either. The other reason that I went back to the 28t big cog is that the bike wasn't intended for serious hills. She rides mostly paved bike trails and locally on Long Island so it doesn't get too steep. I'll use the wide range cassette for another project without a chain guard.

Exactly

Very nice frame. That will be a fun build and look great when it is done. I almost bought that when I saw it for sale on CR , but for whatever reason I decided to go a different direction. I am glad it is going to be loved and ridden once again. The previous owner had it built up nicely and I am sure it will return to its former glory. Joe. joesvintageroadbikes.wordpress

Welcome to the chromed Mk 1 club. Nice score.

Ah, well thanks for not grabbing it first! It's going to get lots of good use. Stay tuned.

Andy

Thanks, [MENTION=8935]horatio[/MENTION]. It's rather a small club, but a cool one. I like the looks of yours.

The basic outlines...

that is very pretty

That is a nice looking, classy bike.

There will be a Rivendell Heron posted up soon. Stay tuned .....