gster

Good depth of field use.
Nice bike.

Ballenxj

Hmm, love old film cameras too, which one? Nice shots BTW.

ddeand 

More amazing stuff from my rebuild. I started work on the wheels of my Raleigh Sports project today and found some interesting things. The bike had the original tires and tubes (1965), but the rubber was dried out with the typical “bubblibg” on the sidewalls that are a fact of life with old tires. The bike came with a new set of tires, so those are going on. The tubes were fine, but I’ll likely replace them, too. What got me was the rim tape on the wheels. Obviously, the deterioration of the wheels has rendered the original tape useless, but I was struck by the manner the rim tape was installed. The tube stem runs through a grommet-like washer that has the rim tape threaded through a couple slots, folded back underneath, and literally stitched together. Never seen anything like this before. I hope the pics show what I’m describing. After I clean the wheels, I’ll probably try to do the rim tape exactly as it was originally, stitches and all. This is turning into a pretty fun project!



Side view od rim tape

BigChief 

Now that's taking originality to a high level. Personally, I would just lay in the new Velox and call it good. In fact, these Raleigh dual purpose rims do well with 12mm rubber strips, but I have used 13mm Velox in the past.
edit: forgot to say, Now's the time to check for any sharp spoke ends. Sometimes Raleigh wasn't especially careful about that.

markk900

With rim tape like that why bother!

I have also see that style of tape on my older 3 speeds. It is indeed pretty cool. You can see the shift in industrial practice from when labour was cheap and materials expensive to now where everything is cheap and the processes are highly automated to be even cheaper. I can never get that image from the Raleigh factory film of the guy "painting" frames by dipping them into the vat with his bare hands, then lifting them out to drip off the excess.

nlerner

One problem with that original cotton rim tape is that it holds moisture like a sponge. That’s why there’s so often lots of rust on the interior of those old steel rims.

BigChief 

This could be true. One thing I can say for certain is that the rubber strips I've been using lately work very well protecting the inner tubes. At least on my 3 speeds that are inflated to 50psi. It seems to me that these bikes don't need the extra thickness of the Velox tape.

ascherer 

My 1966 had those rim strips, in much the same condition. They were nasty. I laid down wide Velox.

ddeand 

Yup. One of the wheels was dry as a bone but covered with the deteriorated rubber of the tire while the other was wet and nessy. I haven’t started to rehab the tires yet, so I really don’t know if there’s any corrosion. Hope not! I’ll use Velox on these and will stitch them like the originals. I’ll also check the spoke ends.

johnnyspaghetti

Thats about right for a 50 year rim from my experience. I'v done that. toast.

BigChief 

Rusting doesn't stop me from saving steel rims unless it's bad enough to make it unstable or the outer surface is just too brown and ugly. I have some rims that are very clean on the outside, but have had rust on the inside. I remove the rust with either a wire brush or EvapoRust and paint the inside to replace the missing chrome plating.

oldspokes

I took this in trade today as partial payment on another bike I sold on CL. The guy asked if I could drop the bike he bought off at his house, this was sitting in his garage.

Super small frame, wrong wheels, (wheels are from a Raleigh). The rest is missing. I've probably got enough bits and pieces to complete it but its not really my size. I can use the wheels though on a Raleigh Sports frameset I've got here somewhere.

The wheels are from a Raleigh, the rear hub is dated 1952.

johnnyspaghetti

shoud i go 150mi for this at $50https://images.craigslist.org/00C0C_93zVXe2XsJy_1200x900.jpg yes https://images.craigslist.org/00C0C_...y_1200x900.jpg

markk900

If you “need” it for $50 it seems to me to be a steal ....however, check the fork since the one picture makes it look slightly bent.

BigChief 

It does have a lot going for it. 23" frame, the nicer single bolt brake levers, good looking paint. Hard to see in the photo, but the chrome parts look pretty good. Odd that it's missing all the shifting gear. Is it a Robin Hood? I always liked the Robin Hood head badge.

BigChief 

I see a coaster brake clip in the chainstay. I'm assuming that's left over from the original wheel and you have a '52 AW hub. If the shell cleans up, you have a very good deal right there. If the spokes are stainless steel, you have a home run and if that's just grime on the rims and you have good old style Raleigh pattern rims, it's a grand slam.

browngw 

Robin Hoods were a Raleigh brand also made in England. Sometimes of lesser trim they are unique and collectable although not valuable. I have a 1971 in a 23" frame and its a keeper. Most of the parts including the wheels, stems etc. will be Raleigh branded.

ddeand 

After getting the rotted tires off my project bike (see my earlier post), I spent some time working on the more messy of the two wheels. Fortunately, there was no rust or corrosion on the rims. I scraped most of the fused rubber off with a screwdriver and then used steel wool and Goo Gone to get the rest of the stuff off. Not fun, but it turned out pretty nice. I still need to clean the spokes, repack the bearings, and clean the hub. Baby steps . . . .

clubman 

That's the beauty of Dunlop Westwood rims. Even years of trapped moisture isn't enough to rust them out. I've seen or handled hundreds of them on CCMs and I've never seen one that was structurally unsound due to rust.

BigChief 

That's great. Sometimes you get a break. Nice clean solid original Westricks. Looks like this project is going to turn out beautifully.

curbtender

Picked up a Royal to get the bars for a Bridgestone project. Nice rider as is. Any opinions on the brand? I've got a few random parts to keep it looking like an English touring bike, but it won't be original. What's the general opinion on fenders, yea or neah?

oldspokes

The coaster brake arm clamp has an odd looking piece under it, sort of football shaped. I don't think its original. It looks like the clamp was too big for the tubing.

The wheels are old Raleigh, and I've got at least one older frameset that can use them. The rims are ok, not perfect but very usable. Mostly just showing some brake wear on the sides.

I picked up a Raleigh Sports a few years ago thats been hanging in the garage that's made up of many odd parts, its got a mint set of wheels that will work on this one, I can swap some wheels around and make several bikes I have here correct with these wheels.

I've got two other Robin Hoods, one a super large frame 1965 model that I've had for 40 years or more.
I've got another one from 1962, also a large frame that's missing a few original parts here and there.

I seem to find a lot of these minus their chainguards and fenders.
I've always kept an eye out for old English bikes ever since I had an old BSA as a kid. That one was a tall frame, very early 50's model but it got very used and abused in my younger days, the frame eventually failed, and it had several spokes pulled through the rims that were held in place with washers. I stripped it for its parts after the rear hub broke an axle and self destructed.
I cut the hubs out of the wheels, saved the spare bits and hung it on a wall in my father's garage back in the day. After I moved away from home I never saw it again. I'd like to find another one day but I haven't seen another bike like that since.

I remember that the BSA had a very odd headset and bottom bracket, besides the chaiinring having B-S-A in chrome, the BB and HS had no wrench flats, the HS had three slots on the top nut, and two pins facing upward on an oversized lower bearing race. The BB had only only two holes in the face of the right side cup, and the left side cup had two holes and the lock ring had a beveled chrome edge with three notches in it on the outer face. Even the lbs at the time said he never saw one like that. The bike had come here through a neighbor who moved here after WWII, he brought the bike with him when he moved here with his wife. (He was from England, his wife from PA).
He gave me the bike when I was about 10 or so. The one thing I remember well is that I was always fighting rust on that bike, it took constant cleaning and waxing to keep it from getting rusty.

BigChief 

It would be hard, but not impossible to find a tall frame pre Raleigh Birmingham made BSA. I've seen a few, but mostly you find 60s BSAs that are really Raleigh made light roadsters with budget fittings. It's always fun to be on the hunt for something. Took me years to recreate the 50s Rudge I had as a teenager.

rustymetal

How many vintage Raleigh Sports models actually came with a real leather Brooks saddle?
I've owned more than a dozen of these bikes over the years, and even bought one new in the late 70's but all have come with vinyl saddles.
Were they an option or did the local bike shops swap them out for a cheaper saddle?
It just seems funny that i see all these Raleigh Sports with Brooks leather saddles yet I've never once ran across one.

clubman 

Depends where and when you bought them. Most Superbes sold in Toronto shops came stock with vinyl but the leather saddle was an option, as were many accessories, even Dyno-hubs.