Well, some women still act like that, but they're all 60 now. :(

But then, so are we (or verging on it) - which means they still look good. Trust me, as you age, your tasted in women gets older.

Syke
Deranged Few M/C

Heheh; it HAS to, if you plan on getting anything besides laughed at.

What really hurts is when you notice hot chicks have started being really friendly, and realize it's because they don't perceive you as a predatory threat anymore. :cry:

I found this one for 5 bucks.

I swapped the steel cotter cranks with a latter Sakae Alloy double and the wheels with 27" alloy with a 6 speed FW instead of the 5 speed Fw.
Kept everything for some reason.
The Red "R" nuts on the wheel s and the cotters are cool so I might swap back the Crank just for that touch.

The bike seems strong and well made but not well finished. close inspection of the lugs shows some splatter , paint drip and all around slop of a Mass produced bike. It has charm though

There's another, positive, side to it: The realization that while a 20-something is awful nice to look at, she's usually not worth talking to. The older you get, the more your expectations for intelligent conversation rise. If I'm going to be predatory, I'm going to save my efforts for someone attractive in her 40's - they know what they're doing, and overall the company is a lot more enjoyable.

Boy, has this thread gotten off of Raleigh Sprites. I assume no one's discovered that catalog picture yet? Boy, I hope somebody does, someday, or I may be wondering if I don't have a 35 year old memory of something that doesn't exist.

Syke
Deranged Few M/C

I still have very good memories of mine. It was very much a bike that was superb at nothing, but rather good at covering all the bases. It was a good commuter (at the time, I didn't own a car), decently good at doing distance as long as you weren't dreaming about more than 50 miles at a stretch, I could occasionally put drop bars, rat traps/toes clips and straps in place of the rubber pedals, swap the seat and do a club time trial or two (after all, it was a Record, and nobody in the club was running anything 531 with sew-ups at the time - my Gitane was the first), and it looked good at the local coffee house on a Friday night.

If you could only afford one bicycle back then, it was a wonderful compromise. In retrospect, I suppose I was running like a lot of Brits did back in the 50's. Being a compulsive consuming American, however, that kind of parsimony just couldn't last . . . . .

Syke
Deranged Few M/C

I've got a Sprite 27 five speed in Brown that I bought for five bucks Canadian at a for charity bike sale. I changed the tires and thats it. This bike now pulls the kids trailer and it great for going to the library or any other errands what with the rack on the back. I love this bike and the Brooks it came with.

There's a Raleigh 27 at my local bike kitchen.
The paint is coffee, but it so faded that it makes it look much much older than it is.
It's a really cool looking bike, might make a nice $35 beater.

I noticed that most of the Sprite in this post have a kickstand attached to the two chainstays. I've got a similar Sprite w/a similar kickstand attachment and have heard that such a set up can put undue stress on the frame--sometimes resulting in a frame failing. Is this true? If so, is there anyway I can estimate the strength of my frame at the attachment point to determine if it is weak there? I want to repaint mine but don't wanto endure the cost if the frame isn't going to hold up.