second life for Raleigh "Super Record"
 

My son returned from college and left a 1980's vintage Raleigh Super Record in the garage. He picked this bike up in a pawn shop at low cost, and it served him well as a beater campus bike.

I tried to find any info on this particular Raleigh model. From what I have found, it is a low end, but well built frame. I decided to clean it up since overall it is in good shape and has a nice chrome front fork.

I used spare bike parts in my shop and replaced:

- steel seat post with Promax alloy post and added Brooks B-17 seat

- steel handle bars with Nitto alloy bars

- suicide brake levers with Diacompe set

- stem shift levers with Shimano downtube levers

- original steel wheels for a spare wheelset with older Campagnolo Athena hubs and Weinmann clincher rims.

- Raleigh crankset with Shimano 600

I kept the original head set/stem, bottom bracket, centerpull brakes, and derailleurs.

A new set of cables, new grease for all bearings and some elbow grease for cleanup, it was ready to ride.

The pictures show the final product. It weighs a shade under 27 pounds. I use this bike for local errands around town. It provides a nice solid ride. The frame is a bit heavy, but I love the classic Raleigh lines, and the headbadge looks good with a Brooks B-17 in the background!

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...h/IMG_2037.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...h/IMG_2038.jpg

Nicely done!

Neal

That's one more reason why people love Raleighs: Eye candy. :thumb:

Nice bike. Great color combo and the saddle is a nice touch.

It's a prime candidate for some good quality fenders and a nice rack, IMO. Hammered honjo's or VO fenders would look nice for sure.

Of course, it's totally fine as is, but if it is an errand bike, may as well get it set up for the duty.

If you ever tire of it, the bike looks like my size - keep me in mind :)

Very nice bike. Although I don't own one, I love the Raleigh's.

That one belongs in the two-tone thread. Looks great to me!

t_c, Very tastfully done... I've a couple of spare 600 cranksets, but didn't think they'd look that well on my Raleigh, I was wrong as the 600s look good on everything.

Brad

Here's a hint how yours would look with fenders and a rack:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...isc/rra004.jpg

Very well done. Bike looks wonderful. +1 on the fenders.