Eatons Glider
 

Picked up an old Eatons glider from a yard sale recently. Upon researching this make, it seems that these were made at the Raleigh plant in Nottingham. This bike has 27 inch wheels, and I suspect that originally, it came with 650b's. The brake pads hardly reach the rims at the highest setting. I'm going with the 27's and even introducing a Biopace crankset in lieu of the original cottered crankset. Just using spare parts for now, like old tires\tubes, clamp-on downtube shifters\derailleurs. The total price is still under $10.00!

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Very cool find - I remember the gliders when they were new (spent a lot of my youth reading catalogs!)....but I don't recall a glider like that with derailleur gearing. I suspect a PO has made it into a 10-speed - it is more likely it was originally a 3-speed SA hub'd bike with 26x1 1/8 tires, chrome rims, steel fenders that matched the frame colour, etc....

Have fun - my mother had a white ladies version and it was great to ride.

Mark

+1. Almost certainly a conversion from 3 speed to 10 speed by a previous owner. Most likely 26 x 1-3/8" originally. Eaton's sourced from many companies other than Raleigh. It may even be Raleigh Canada. The serial number will tell for sure.

agreed about the 26x 1 and 3/8 but quite possibly was a 5 speed with huret allivit rear to begin with (like the one rusting in my driveway I wish would just go away)... sorry they are cool old bikes, just a raleigh sports in disguise.

I belive I can answer all the Glider question now. I get a Glider a week lol so I've seen them, they come in single speed. five speed. three speed and ten speeds.

Wow, does that bring back memories. I used to have an old 3-speed glider, same colour. Nice find!

Thanks for all the comments. The bike is my current favorite. I missed out on a Raleigh Superbe last summer so this bike kinda fills that empty spot in my heart.

I feel your pain. I had a Superbe and I locked it up to a pole and a truck had to pick that pull and hit my bike and the pole making both a writeoff. I miss that green bike.