DQRider 

I'll be watching your build with keen interest. I'm especially curious as to how you are going to treat the finish - that one looks like it needs full restoration, but I've seen those frame tubes come back from the dead before. They're kind of like... Zombikes.

nlerner

Nice find, @BigChief! I haven't done much with recent my DL-1 acquisition other than to clean out and fiddle with the surprise 5-speed hub to see if I can get it to work. No luck so far! De-rusting the fenders is likely next.

BigChief 

I hope you get the S5 hub working. I think it would be perfection on a roadster. Tough to find. When they do come along people want a fortune for them.
The next couple of days I'll be treating this bike with penetrating oil, then I'll get it on the rack for disassembly. Looks like I'll have a lot of paint work to do. I'm not very experienced at this. Expect me to be here asking a bunch of questions

SirMike1983 

1948 Raleigh Dawn Tourist. The summer has officially arrived.

DQRider 

Very evocative. I'm looking for a picnic setup just out-of-frame. Love it!

gster

Excellent score!

PCPero

Hi, You can buy this brazen tubes ready to fit in any well sorted shop around your area, I presume. You need two of them, crimping them by using a side cutter by activating your fine motor skills. Some days ago I was wondering about using the zester cable, which is made of Teflon and so self greasing. Fixing it the same way like the others. With this you are possibly walking on Pioneer's trail, and I'm hoping to hear your success? Regards, Peter

michaelz28

...black reflector ..

BigChief 

Had some time to work on the 72 DL-1 today. Again, I dodged the stuck cotter pin bullet. Both came out cleanly and are reusable. Considering all the rust, I was concerned about what I would find in the bottom bracket. Got lucky again. The adjustable cup and spindle are in perfect condition. Only rust worried me. I could tell by the pristine condition of the rubber pedal blocks that this bike had seen lots of neglect, but little riding. Soaking the fixed cup with penetrating oil for a while. Once I have the forks off I'll get to work removing it. I'll lay the frame on my work bench with the seat post against the wall. I have a block of wood in front of a bolted down bench vise that will keep the frame from rotating clockwise as I put, what I assume will be massive torque on the fixed cup. Glad I have Mark's bottom bracket tool for this job.
BTW, the spindle is Part number 08GC. It is a good 1/8" longer than the 16GC spindle in a Sports frame. The cups are identical.

PalmettoUpstate 

I have tried it with the copper 3/32 tubing and I'll test it tomorrow to see if it took. Crimped it after applying epoxy along the cable. Had to use a rotary tool to grind it down a little in order to make it fit inside the housing.

JohnDThompson 

Baby got new shoes:

nlerner

Nice, JT! I like those tires a lot though I sold the one bike that had them last month.

I started on the tear down of my '70 DL-1 yesterday. Nothing has been too terribly stuck so far except for the stem. I'll have at that again today.

smontanaro 

Saw these early 50's Raleigh Lentons on Chicago CL. The ladies' model looks like it has a S-A three-speed hub with a two cog setup driven by a Campy Velox derailleur. The mens' model looks like a plain three-speed. The ladies' bike is Reynolds 531, I assume straight gauge. Not sure about the tubing decal on the mens' model.

1951 Raleigh lady's w/Campagnolo (6 spd)

Gasbag

I haven't checked Chicago Craigslist for awhile. I snoozed and I loozed. I really don't need anymore bikes at the moment, but a matched pair of Lentons********** Yep, I could have found some room for them.

BigChief 

Wow, goes to show, there's still great bikes out there.

nlerner

My 1970 DL-1 project has achieved a state of extreme teardown:



Everything came apart without too much struggle; the cotters, however, were a casualty:



The bright bits seem to be cleaning up nicely so far. The finish on the frame and fork will end up looking pretty good. The fenders--or mostly the rear fender--will need some serious attention.

noglider 

Neal, for my incessant curiosity, what does the frameset weigh?

BigChief 

Mine is down to the frame also. Unfortunately, this bike is a bit past the point of pleasant patination. I'll do my best to touch up and blend the repairs. I'm hoping for a repaired, but respectable appearance. We'll see. @noglider I don't have an accurate way to weigh the frame...sorry.

nlerner

Tom, according to my hanging digital scale, frame alone weighs 6.9 lbs and fork weighs 2.25 lbs, so we're definitely not talking light weight here!

noglider 

Very heavy by modern standards, though I've weighed a few steel framesets, and if I remember right, they average about 6.6 pounds. The heavy frameset adds only 2.5 pounds to the bike, but heavy framed-bikes do feel heavy, for whatever reason.

nlerner

And lighter-framed bikes do feel light, for whatever reason.

DQRider 

@noglider makes an excellent point here. I've given this a lot of thought, and recently some experimentation. What I have concluded is that the lighter frames flex and rebound more like a spring, and as a result feel more "lively" than the heavier, more solid frames do. The lighter frames feel sort of delicate by comparison, one winces when hitting a larger bump or pothole for instance. Not so the old gaspipe frames. That "dead" feeling comes from transferring whatever shock the wheels and tires do not soak up and dissipate, without deflecting as much.

Of course, this theory comes from sampling only two each of chrome-moly vs high tensile steel. I have yet to ride a high-end Reynolds or Columbus frame.

Number_6

I won't be getting it, it's too far for me- but where is New Hudson in the BSA scheme of things?

New Hudson Bicycle England 3 Speed

BigChief 

I'm afraid I can't rescue the rear fender from my '72 DL-1. The metal is very thin around the reflector. I wasn't going to be able to make the fenders look nice anyway. They have more than surface rust. The steel is pitted badly. I have the touch up done on the frame. I'll post some pics in a week or so after I compound the the repairs in. I use gloss paint for touch ups because it's easier to dull a gloss that to bring one up. Most of the repairs will blend in except for the left chain stay. So the bike won't have fenders or a chain guard for a while. While I wait for the paint to harden I'll open up the SA hub. It freewheels and the pawls click nicely, but pull on the indicator chain and...nothing. Froze solid. Should still be a cool bike. Maybe I should get cream colored tires for a path racer look.

noglider 

I just saw a high school or college age woman ride an old Raleigh Sports to the High Falls Food Coop (in the country). Maybe it was her grandmother's bike. I wonder if she knows what a treasure it is. Some young people like the styling of these old bikes. It warmed my heart.