Salubrious

Hey I gotta question. You know those gold warp-around stickers that Raleigh was using in the 1970s? When did they first start using those? I am seeing a rod-brake model for sale that is claimed to be from the 1950s, but it has some of those stickers on it and I am thinking that there is no way its that old. The frame looks very nice, good paint and decals, plus two of those gold wrap-around thingys on the seat tube. I'm thinking its been redone or else its from somewhere other than the UK- India perhaps?

arex

Me, too. I have a bit of "patina" I'd like to clean up.

arex

This is the mockup of my Raleigh Sports. I wound up using a Shimano spindle instead of the very-grumbly original, especially when I found the Thailand reproduction crank was kind of crappy. 700c Sun rims, 700x37 Continental Eco Contact Plus tires.

arex

fixed1313

Liking the look of this one................ lets see some more.

noglider 

michael k, can we see more pictures of that saddle on the Space Rider? It's interesting.

noglider 

arex, that's interesting. What are the complete plans? Keep us posted!

arex

1. 1974 Raleigh Sports frame and fork, with headset and bottom bracket, and that's all. The headset cleaned up well. Leaving the paint alone, since it's not in bad shape except for "patina". Replaced the very rough Raleigh spindle with a 73mm Shimano and 6mm ball bearings, per Sheldon Brown. That worked out perfectly. Cold-set the fork and the rear dropout to accommodate newer hubs.
2. 700c Sun rims, laced by a LBS to a new S-A AW hub in back and a NOS Maillard hub up front. I originally intended to rebuild an old AW hub, but for what gathering together all the sundry bits and pieces (cable, shifter, clamps, indicator chain, etc.) would cost, I could buy a complete new AW kit. Besides, I was never able to get the old ('72) hub I got to shift, no matter how much I soaked it or in what. I'll tear it apart eventually to fix it, but I wanted to move on with this project. Don't know yet what size of sprocket I'm going to use yet.
3. 700x37 Conti Eco Contact Plus tires, which were the largest I could fit. Cheap, durable, and made for heavier loads (like me). I think I read somewhere that they have a lower profile, which is probably why these fit but the 700x37 Schwalbe Marathons I originally had did not. A shame, cuz I really like the Marathons I have on my MTB commuter.
4. Lasco SS crank, 170mm, 42t chainring. I had to move the ring to the inside of the spider for a better chainline. I was originally going to use a repro Raleigh crank (from Thailand), but when I received it, it didn't appear to be very well-made and the left crank hit the frame. Besides, the original cottered spindle was very grumbly, no matter how much I polished it.
5. Old SR stem, Nitto moustache bar, old Shimano 600 brake levers, S-A bar-end shifter (not shown). I'm going to use brown Newbaum's cloth tape, with finishing wraps of linen twine, and finish it with shellac. That'll probably be the last thing I do.
6. New Tektro 559 brakes. These were very nearly too long, I should've waited until I had rolling wheels before ordering them. Kool-Stop salmon&black pads. Jagwire cables.
7. Lightly-used Brooks B17 saddle, 400mm Vavert alloy seatpost (inexpensive, adequate). I didn't know how the bike was going to fit me, so I got the longest cheap seatpost I could find. In retrospect, it didn't need to be so long, but it's light enough to not matter.
8. Don't know what pedals I'll use yet.

It's not set in stone, but I do have a rough plan I'm working off of. I just wanted to put together a bike to have fun building and riding. Even with the Raleigh frame, it's not very heavy.

Narhay

I'm thinking...the darker brown Brooks B17 or B66 and matching leather stitched handgrips. I considered the honey but someone who parks their bike next to me at work has one and the colour just doesn't look natural. Thoughts on either saddle? The B66 is definitely more of a cruiser style but the B17 has a sportier, touring side to it. B17 would require a new seatpost whereas the B66 could re-use the seatpost. I'm not particularly attached to the clamp on seatpost style so it isn't much of concern.

auchencrow

I think I would opt for the sprung B66 on this.
Any luck locating a chain guard?

Narhay

I purchased the chain guard I linked in my thread. I went to pick my mail up just now but it does not seem to be delivered. However, I received the wiring, headset bracket and replacement bulbs to begin my refurbish of the sturmey headlight and tail light. I should have that completed by next weekend.

JBC353

+1 on the B66

gster

The routing of the back brake cable through the welded eyelets makes me think that this is a Canadian built bike. I have 2 Superbes, one Canadian with eyelets, one English without.

Narhay

You are correct. It is a Canadian market Raleigh. There is a sticker near the bb on the seat tube stating made in Canada.

gna

I think they added brazeones for brakecable routing in 1974, not just in Canada:

https://www.theheadbadge.com/

Sixty Fiver

Production in Canada started in 1978 and this was when Raleigh switched to using an alloy stem instead of the classic steel stem... the Superbes and the DL1 were still manufactured in England while other models were produced here.

Many of the parts still came from England but it was enough to allow a Made in Canada sticker.

Canada had some rather repressive import duties which increased the price of Raleighs and other imports compared to our domestically produced CCM bicycles.

Sekine also started producing bicycles in Manitoba to meet demand and to overcome shipping issues from Japan... they really made nice quality bicycles for all too short a time.

Procycle also manufactured Peugeots under license here for a good period of time.

gna

If that's the one I'm thinking of, it's a early '70s model. The pictures aren't really good enough to tell, but from what I see, not 1950s.
Four gold bands were added to Sports models in 1965-1968, then went down to 2 in 1968-1972. https://www.theheadbadge.com/ . I'm assuming DL-1s were about the same.
The pedals with reflectors are a giveaway, too.

gster

Here's mine. Not a show bike but one of two "everyday" bikes.
The other is a Dunelt.

Salubrious

Yes they are. Sounds like you are looking at the same craigslist page

gna

I thought the price was way too high. It's come down, but still too high for a '70s DL-1.

noglider 

Sixty Fiver, thank you for this thread, once again.

Sixty Fiver

It has been a group effort...

arex

FWIW, my frame has a decal down by the BB that says (paraphrasing) "Designed in England - Assembled in America", and has the same brake cable eyelets shown.

arex

No kidding...this thread is what made me decide to build up a Raleigh.

Amesja

FWIW Canida is in "America" -North America to be exact. So is Mexico. It's just not in the USA.

USA does not technically equal "America" although a lot of USAians seem to think that the two are the same thing.