70s Raleigh Sprite 'Upgrades'
 

I've got a mid 70s Raleigh Sprite 10 speed that I picked up off the Craigslists- and I'm looking to make it into more of a "commuter" than anything I've got. I've also got 2 other donor Schwinns (a 70s Suburban and an 84-ish step-through World Sport).

My secret plan for world domination is to replace a great majority of the heavy steel parts on the Raleigh with stuff off the donor bikes.

I have zero experience with this, but I am aware it's going to take a bit of doing (more than I'm actually imagining).

However...

As far as I can tell, installing things like the wheels, brakes, brake levers, shift levers and the derailleurs are just a matter of "replace and re-cable" (which I'm going to have to learn about). But the big problem is going to be replacing the chain rings and/or the BB. At the very least the small chainring is bent and will either need to be straightened or replaced. What I'd like to do is replace the whole thing with the Suntour/Sugino setup from the World Sport.

I want to keep the totality of the project under $100- and right now I'm around $80.

What do I need to do at this point?

Oh... and pics are forthcoming-

Pix!!!

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/8156/6mar10001.jpg

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/1925/6mar10003.jpg

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/3858/6mar10026.jpg

I dont think I would bother with the chainrings, that bike looks great the way it is. Just do the simple stuff like the tires and cables, if the wheels are the same size and you want aluminum ones on than that would work, but replacing the chainring isnt going to make that thing a lightweight IMO.

Do either of the Schwinns have cottered bottom brackets? Similar bolt patterns on the chainrings? To replace that crank with an aluminum one will take a new spindle. There are some on Ebay now that fit Raleighs for about $15. Straightening chainrings is tedious but probably the easiest option. Sometimes you can get chainrings off Ebay pretty cheap but they aren't guaranteed to be straight.
For the complete rundown on Raleigh bottom brackets, see Sheldon Brown's RetroRaleighs website.
For $80 that's a fine bike.

Methinks world domination has to start with a better frame. But if you insist on conversion, get the crankset first and then raid an LBS to test fit some square taper axles to get the right spacing. You'll have to keep the BB of course and some axles don't fit those cups.

I hate to say it but the only way that bike will ever feel "sprite" is to go fixed gear. I'd even get a standard 46 tooth Raleigh Heron crank for it. Somehow all that steel and gaspipe inertia magically translates into power and momentum.

Or did I smoke too much in the 70's?

Steel rings can be straightened, hammers and vice grips work well...:eek::thumb::roflmao2:

I believe that year of Sprite still has the 26tpi threading on the bottom bracket. It can be retapped to a standard thread.

Aaron :)

Before I get going here, thank you very much for everyone's advice and suggestions...


Hmmm... I think that means I'll need to come up with another secret plan for world domination... not only that whole "better frame" thing, but I just blabbed it out all over the intArwebz, so that "secret" thing is kind of out the window as well...

:D

This is going to be the first real time that I'm doing a "build" of any sort. The Sprite frame is cool in that it's not something "better." I'm really not going to have a lot of regrets about pulling apart a beater Suburban and a "girl's" World Sport. I *think* I've got decent parts to start something here. If I butcher it... it's not like I'm wrecking a 30s Paramount.

This is going to be the first real time that I'm doing a "build" of any sort. ... it's not like I'm wrecking a 30s Paramount.[/QUOTE]

Agreed...knock yourself out and have fun with it. Watch it mutate over time. All builds are good builds especially the first. My favourite pastime is daydream builds in my head...frames, rims, bars and bit's...large fun.

Post pics!

The big problem with the chainrings is the little chainring is bent- every once in a while the chain gets caught between the big and little ring, as it's turning you can see the bend.

I realize the Raleigh will never be "lightweight," but even stock, it's about the same weight as my Stumpjumper and lighter than my High Sierra.

So far I've done the wheels and pedals from the World Sport, the back brakes from the Suburban are attached, but I still have to cable. There's also a problem with the front fender- I think a rivet broke- whatever holds the fender to the bracket that attaches to the fork- there's an empty hole there and it rattles.

Speaking of weight-

Comparing the weight of the Raleigh brakes with the DiaCompe "Schwinn Approved" brakes... seriously, the aluminum DiaCompes are about half the weight. I was out in the garage messing with it tonite- got the grips and brake levers off the Suburban- that was a chore. I'm realizing that the Weinmann levers are substantially lighter than the Raleigh levers. As I'm looking at things and getting ready to remove the shifters from the World Sport- I thought of just using the WS stem... I can only imagine the weight difference there... Just in what I'm looking at- it's a pound or so difference, not including the stem and shifters or derailleurs.

Neither of the Schwinns have cottered cranks- the Suburban has the forged Ashtabula cranks and the WS has Sugino cotterless aluminum cranks.

I'd looked at the bolt patterns- as I'd read about the differences in the way Raleigh did things... the WS has 5 bolts (modern looking) and the Sprite has 3 bolts.

In what I'm gathering- it looks like straightening the chainring is going to be the easiest option. Of course, I haven't done any other reading about it... :)

It's interesting how things kind of develop. I've had a mountain bike with thumbshifters for about 20 years. When I started riding again, that's how I learned it. When I got the Suburban- someone had replaced the stem shifter with a thumbshifter. It was just how I was used to shifting. Getting on the Sprite was interesting- I hated the shifters- I had to move my hands to shift. I didn't dig that at all. I'm going to install the thumbshifter onto the bars of the Sprite (if it'll do the 6 speeds, otherwise I'll have to find some Deore shifters) and use the Suntour stems from the WS...

Another thing- I'm liking the shape of the Suburban bars better than the Sprint's. I actually got the Suburban solely with the intent of taking the bars from it and using them on one of my mountain bikes... so now I'm in a quandry...

So I've done a bit of tinkering with it today...

I've pulled off all the stuff from the WS and the Suburban. I'd decided to try the stem from the WS and the bars from the Suburban as well as the Weinmann levers and the we'll see if the Suntour Mighty Shifter thumbshifter will do the 6 speed freewheel...

I did get the front fender fixed- I had to drill through the plate- but I had trouble getting through the weld- so then I had to enlarge the hole in the fender. I've got everything sort of on to the Sprite frame- So I think I'm part of the way there...

"Schwinn Approved" DiaCompe side pulls on the front and back:

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/8512/9mar10008.jpg

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/6439/9mar10016.jpg


I opted to use the aluminum stem from the World Sport- took the Suntour shifters with it- even though, right now, I'm only planning on using the left one temporarily.

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/8702/9mar10015.jpg

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/8638/9mar10009.jpg



I decided to go with the bars from the Suburban rather than the Raleigh bars.


Schwinn:

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/2792/9mar10014.jpg


Raleigh:

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/158/6mar10010.jpg




And Suntour AR front and rear derailleurs...

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/9944/9mar10010.jpg

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1639/9mar10013.jpg

I'm in love with the Suntour AR derailers - they're great pieces.

OK, so everything is sorta together- the cables are attached, I re-used the brake cables from the Suburban and used the ribbed cable sheath from the Raleigh. I reused the cables for the World Sport and was able to use the sheath from the World Sport except for one reach of cable- from the downtube cable stay to the FD. The WS has a cable guide on the BB, so it's bare cable from where it leaves the clamp on cable stop up on the downtube. The Raleigh has a cable stop and then a cable stop built onto the Huret FD. I took that length of sheathing and bent it to stop at the cable guide on the SunTour FD.

I'm pretty stoked- the brakes clamp down when I squeeze them. Both derailleurs move when I move their levers.

Now I have issues.

(like I didn't before...)

First- I don't know how to get the chainrings off to straighten the bent one. I removed the cap on the cotter bolt and tried tapping it out- I checked the Sheldon Brown tutorial- and... well... I'm afraid to clock the crap out of it with a hammer. I'll totally do it if I need to, and I will clobber it like Ben Grimm.

Secondly- grease. I think both hubs need lubing. I also think the BB needs lubing.

In the case of the wheels... they turn, but they don't seem to turn as freely as I would think they would. Same thing with the cranks. I picked up the WS frame to snag the front reflector off it- bumped the cranks and watched them spin around 10+ times. I get a couple of revolutions of spin on the Raleigh when I try to spin them. I don't have tools, I don't have experience- Of course I've had a couple of beers and after watching a couple of the YouTube tutorials- it looks totally doable...


Do I dare try attempting to straighten the chainring with it attached?

Do I dare try disassembling the wheel hubs?

Or is this stuff best left to the professionals? (or at least someone with tools?)

This isn't really the forum to properly describe all the choices you can make to straighten the rings. Maybe you can try it on the bike but I think the crankset should be removed. Then you use a vise, rubber mallet and some hardwood doweling to tap it back into shape. There's many little tricks to wrenching that will frustrate you to no end until you learn the techniques and own the correct tools. Read some repair manuals...Glenns, Richards, many of them out there even in the libraries. Or become a shop rat. Find an LBS with a mechanic who's not too jaded and enjoys talking to the owner as he's working on the bike.

For example, your Raleigh bottom bracket will be a challenge without the correct bottom bracket wrench. A really huge adjustable spanner will work if you're good and lucky. Ideally you'll want a lockring tool. Cotter pin removal can also be a black art without a cotter pin press...try a c-clamp and a 15 mm socket. If you mi**** the cotter with the BFH you will regret it.

Hubs? Get the tools. Get the best tools you can afford I should say. You'll pay more money to a shop to repack your wheels than it will to buy the cone wrenches now. Everytime you have to fix something you'll buy one more tool.

First steps on the journey.

OK, I saw what this guy did, and it makes me a little less anxious to try removing the cotter pins.

http://oldbikeblog.blogspot.com/2008...otters_17.html

If I have the time tonite, we'll give it a shot.

I hate being *this* close and still being so far...

Patience, grasshopper. Looks like you've got all the right parts and a nice upgrade going on. The hubs will be pretty easy, just take them apart somewhere where the ball bearings won't go bouncing all over the floor. Better to grease everything than grind it up and have to replace it and then grease it too. I grease every bike I get. Once you get in the habit it's easy.

I can tell you, I had a miserable time getting the cotters off of my '72 Sports. Tried the hammer thing; succeeded only in dinging up the chainguard and the BB lockring. The cotters bent and mushroomed, but did not budge. Then I tried the C-clamp method, and there was simply no way to get enough torque on the handle to do any good. I didn't want to drill them out, because that's a skill I've never learned. Finally, I just hoisted the whole frame (stripped except for the cranks) up onto my neighbor's workbench - which was a bit awkward, but manageable - and used a vice in lieu of the C-clamp. It took a little effort, but in relatively short order they popped out. In short, having just gone through the same process you're dealing with now, I will say that it wasn't especially easy but it was do-able.

Thanks for sharing your experience- It's good to hear of people having trouble- otherwise you just see people that have had no problems doing this and then thinking 'I'm the only one having a problem with this..."

Last night I popped off the nuts and squirted some TriFlow into the area around the cotter pin- when I checked it later, the TriFlow had worked its way through to the other side. I don't know if I'm going to get the opportunity to touch the bike until Sunday afternoon, but that's a couple more days for the TriFlow to work in there...

How do I know what size cone wrench to get?

Usually the cone wrenches come in a pack with several sizes. The good Park kind is only $10 or $12.
If you do the C-clamp thing, try torquing the clamp down as tight as it'll go and then tapping on it with a hammer

Oh Crap.
 

"Gee Davey, Mom's not gonna like that..."

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZTt7ivF2m-...-goliath_l.jpg



OK... I decided to try the hammer the pin out method.

My result.

With one mighty whack of the hammer, I noticed the cotter tip was dented. So, of course, I decided that another mighty whack of the hammer was in order. The cotter bent over. When I tried to straighten it- it broke off. So my next idea was an old screwdriver, holding it with some vise grips and whacking that with the hammer. I've managed to dent the crank arm, damage a sprocket tooth and break the little pants leg deflector on the outside of the chainwheel.

Astreamofobscenities.

beauty of a bike. Thanks for the link!

Do not continue with any of those methods.

Your best course of action is as follows:

#1A: Get this tool: http://bikesmithdesign.com/CotterPress/index.html, and skip step 1B (read his article about crank cotters too).
#1B: Take a C-clamp, put a short (1/2 to 1" should do) piece of steel tube where the cotter will fall through. Place any sort of rod type extension in the cotter hole where the cotter broke off. Tighten. Should push the pin out. Repeat on the other side w/o the rod extension (presumably, the pin on the opposite side is intact).
#2: Remove crankset. Keep only as reference if you want to buy an identical replacement, which should be relatively cheap. If you don't mind making your life 10 times easier though, don't get the original crankset and follow step number...
#3: My personal preference would be to locate one of those "5" square-taper spindles (or an Italian 70mm spindle), and replace the cottered spindle with it. Pair it with a nice, cotterless crankset, such as a Sugino Maxy or Mighty:

http://www.jaysmarine.com/spriteBB.jpg

Take care,

-Kurt