MSWANTAK-Coffee huh!In its defence( Brit spelling) the COFFEE paint looks better in person than it does in pictures(heck,it could hardly look worse-it looks like pure rust-Katrina gunk in pictures).
I know zero about Raleigh's except that the one I saw when I was a child in Philly~1956(5yo)- a black 3 speed "English Racers" were as exotic as a B-58.They were always "English Racers" then,and were uncommon and extremely cool.
1978?The date fits with my buddies memory.He says he paid $250 for it over 25 years ago.1)Yikes,could this 40 lb(I weighed it) clunker have cost $250 back then?2)Is the front of the front fender supposed to be kinda pinched in and very close to the tire?The Weimann(sic) brakes indicate it wasn't a cheapo bike.
The Philistine in me says I should have just left this pile for the landfill, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that;besides I have never owned a 3 speed-AW Sturmey Archer hub and all.3)What does AW mean?Model of hub?It really isn't worth the $35 dollars for new tires-tubes-cables and 10 hours of work I am destined to spend on it,but I can't help myself.
One last question.4)Are you supposed to stop pedaling to shift?I seem to remember something like that?Thanks.Charlie

Looks like a '78-80 model. Check the SA hub for the date stamp

Don't diss Coffee - it's a beautiful color when mint. Have a look at my '74 in the pic.

Price for the AW-equipped Sports in '78 was $130. $5 bucks more would buy you the S3C coasterbrake model.

Try rubbing the paint with Meguiars Scratch-X. Should do wonders.

-Kurt

The best thing about your find are the baskets. I scavenged a set just like it from a bike I picked up for a friend's daughter and have them on the back of my Superbe. They can hold 50 packs of Ramen noodles!

CUDAK888-thanks for the tip.80 8 is on the hub-1980 8 month-right at the end of the model?No doubt my buddy exaggerated the $$ he paid,and he probably got screwed with the installation if the rack and folding carriers-or were they standard?
USAZORRO-You are right,the rack and carriers look pretty handy.I think I will give them a dip in the citric acid.The painted stuff is actually in good shape for the most part.The citric acid dulled spotted the paint on another frame-the dulling-spotting did vanish after 24 hrs or so-strange-but I wouldn't count on it next time.
Cudak-hey-nice bike-the coffee takes on a whole different look on that bike!.I just discovered that the coffee is actually metal flaked-gold looking flakes.I think I will give Mequiars a try.I have some around here for the truck MC's.The paint has taken a bit of a beating-the Katrina grit has left many fine scratches on it.If I use progressively finer polish it might come back pretty well.This one has some rust,but it adds a bit of character to it,and there is no way this tubing will rust thru.What is it 1/8"??Kidding,but not much-it might be .80" anyway.I wonder if anyone offers touch up paint for these?There were zillions of Raleigh's sold?
I stunned at the hub-1)that it works perfectly despite 1 month of submarine duty,6 months of garbage pile duty and 26 years of neglect.2)The CHROME ON THE HUB IS PERFECT??Granted it was never scratched,but it is still a surprise.
If you have any idea on touch up paint,I would appreciate it.Thanks.Charlie

It's amazing what a good coating of grime can do to preserve matal.

Good luck on the touch-up paint. Just like the more prevalent Bronze-Green paint that Raleigh used, they didn't even offer touch-up paint back when these were new.

wow !

USAZORRO-Yes the chrome-just the Sturmey Archer hub chromewas-is-perfect-something to be said for oily grimy I guess.
You're telling me I have 2 chances on the touchup paint-slim and none?Hmmm-zero chance I am going to find brown metal flake paint in a Walmart spray can.Guess I'll just keep wax on it.Thanks.Charlie

That or convince mswantak to do his best at colormatching and start a sideline to his decal business. I'd buy a half pint of bronze-green.

Scored a free Miyata 710 (dk blue/gray w/ yellow HT & decal) today, with two kid's bikes thrown in.

The strangest thing is that this is the second free bike that I got from somebody in my neighborhood in the last 6 months that was my size (62cm)

I just got it a couple minutes ago, so I haven't checked it out thoroughly, but the Miyata triple butted cromoly are some nice frames, huh?

^^^^Hey, I remember that year's UNC team. They were on the cover of SI, undefeated, ranked #1 and they came up to C'ville... and UVA handed 'em their lunch. The Cavs were up by 30 by halftime, and it only got worse... great fun. Nothing like watching Deano whine, except maybe watching the VLF (Very Large Ferret) squeal. Yeah, beat Dook. Can't stand 'em.

Nice score on the Miyata... still got most of the group from a Miyata 1200, if interested, might part with it for the right trade...

VLF= Coach K, BTW

The SI cover curse in action. They won the national championship last year though. Made my son quite happy. They have to watch out this year if they draw Bucknell

Coach K ain't my favorite either, but model citizen when compared to the other coach K - the evil one at Texas Tech. I'm surprised his head hasn't exploded yet. I predict he'll have a massive heart attack from blowing a gasket after a blocking foul, and go out with his boots on.

Topical content - Figured out how to adjust the brakes on the 210, and acquired some nice clipless pedals for it for $5.00. Still waiting for the water bottle cages though.

Ok guys....scored a Shogun 600 and a Fuji Delray today...the Shogun really is more of the keeper, but the Fuji does have the Nitto Olymiade bars and Nitto stem as well as the nicer pedals. The Wheels on the Fuji are what seem to be the middle of the road standard for the early 80's with the araya rims and Shimano hubs (27" rims). I'll be swapping everything onto the Shogun in the form of a fixie for now while I build up El Bastardo.














Everything was sitting in a pile on the side of the road.
RJ

Yep, 80-8 stands for August 1980. Probably an '81 model by the time it got to the States.

The baskets aren't original, and the Pletscher rack is an addon as well, but a "correct" addon, for the Superbe model used the Pletscher Model C. The Pletscher rear racks were very popular addons on the Sports model.

Don't dip any of the painted parts in that acid stuff. Best to coat whatever has rust spots with a smear of Marvel Mystery Oil, and let it neutralize the rust (I must admit that I've never had frame rust that has ever grown more then it already had). Wipe any excess off after a week or so - until then, just let it dribble in a nice oily mess!

Now, the magic 3-step Meguiars process is as follows (To all other BF members: LISTEN IN FOR THESE TIPS, THEY ARE WELL WORTH IT!):

#1: Meguiars Scratch-X. Apply with semi-rough cloth, polish off with clean smooth cloth.
#2: Meguiars Polish. Apply with smooth cloth, immidiately buff off with another smooth cloth.
#3: Meguiars (or other high-quality) Carnuba Wax. Apply and polish off as you would with any other wax.

You'll be crazed happy with delight at the results. Go for it!

Yea, that grime and grease that SA hubs accumulate have a way of keeping the hub nice and clean. I've only run into one SA hub with over 20% partially deep rust - and that thing was a frozen, solid ball of rusted AW internals inside.

Take care,

-Kurt

Get this: One of my previous bike customers found a bike in the trash today, and dropped it off at my doorstep.

Guess what - it's yet another Fuji Grand Tourer! This one is silver, same small frame size as my green one, and it appears to be a later model, with hooded Dia-Compes, a partial-chrome front fork with a small polished aluminum crown, plus a few other differences. Will post a pic soon.

P.S.: Speaking of steel Nitto Olympiade handlebars, both of these Fujis have them, with Fuji stamped in place of the Nitto "N" on the right hand side. I don't care for steel bars, so I'm swapping them out for alloys. If anyone wants one or both of the Fuji-badged Nittos, I'm open to trades...

Take care,

-Kurt

Love what? The Campus Green Continental or the fact that the 24" Contis can be made to look like DL-1s?

-Kurt

Here's one I picked up a while ago - a little blue late 80's Trek 360 cro-mo racing bike. I paid $80 for it as it was clean and had a nice Sell Italia Genuine Gel Flite saddle. A pretty snappy riding entry level racing bike, it found a good new home today with a U.C. Santa Cruz co-ed.

Someone left this Pug at the yard Its was to big so it went on ebay for 80 bucks. I kept the 27x1inch wheels and tires [mint] there on the the bike in the background want to see if the ride is any different than the 700s it had on it. Says Sprint on the cross bar. This bike had three different stamped in ser# 's.


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funny. I was just cleaning up the Miyata I got yesterday, and pulled a grease-coated wasp out of the bottom bracket shell. Wonder how old it was?

How do you folks find such cool bikes?!?! All I can ever find around here are mid '90s girl-model Huffy mountain bikes. I guess I just need to hit some garage sales like crazy this Spring...

Guy gave me 10.00 bucks to take these this morning. 70's raleighs mens Grand prix ladies record

Want to part with those white fenders on the GP?

-Kurt

Sure [ Bluemels popular

Well, here's another of my mixte catches. A 1976 Motobecane in Root Beer brown. Bought this last week on Craigslist and didn't even get to re-list it before a girl came over and bought it. Turned out the Windsor Mixte I had listed didn't fit her and I told her (the hook) "I've got this other one but I haven't cleaned it up yet" She looked at it and said "How Long would it take to clean up?" Well Bossman, you know how the story ends. She took it tonight and rode it home. They (girls) love their mixtes. Here's the pics.

I closed the deal on this bike a few hours ago. Next time I am in Denver, I pick it up.

Reus

you know, I've been watching that Windsor mixte you have listed, and I'm surprized you haven't sold it yeat at what appears to be a giveaway price.

Speaking of which, I hope you hooked her good for that Moto - those don't come around very often....

I'm most of the way through that Regina. It's cleaning up very nice, but needed cables, cable housings, and a FD (Simplex cr@p). All I need do now is polish the wheels, assemble, and adjust.