Bought a Raleigh Folder
 

After lurking around and soaking up info for a month, I picked up a Raleigh Folder today. Its almost all original, I think just the seat, rack and pedals aren't. The Sturmey Archer shifts great, and I was surprised at how quick the bike is.

I can't find a year on the hub, anyone know another way to date the bike?

Thanks to everyone on the forum for all the info and sharing of experience. Its been a great help.

I got a little camera happy and took quite a few pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/grahamdh/Raleighfolder

gonna modify it?

Yeah for sure. I'm gonna just do a few things at first, probably a Brooks, maybe new wheels. Eventually I'd like it to be a gunmetal urban assault style, but that's a ways out I think. Right now I'm just going to enjoy it in its native form.

ahh ok good luck with it i hope its a success :D

Looks like you scored a real nice one!

Welcome to the Fold ... :)

R-20's : What's old is new again...

Phatatude- Ride em' till the wheels fall off, or your jewels go numb...

Soon to be new posts...
http://web.mac.com/phatatude/Green_S...enty_Blog.html

That's a nice looking scoot. Pootle & Prosper!

Nice with the whitewalls. I'm sure you and her will be very happy together!

lol you talk about it like its a marriage :D

The *incredibly smart and tolerant* citizens of Oregon passed a constitutional amendment defining "marriage" as a union of one man and one woman, thus protecting us from the evils of bike marriage. But we're totally going to go for a "civil union".

Ha!

lol nice speech :D

Gdh81, it looks like you are up around Portland? One of my R-20s came from the Seattle area. Coastal areas seem to be the places to find wm here in the states. Does yours have 406 or 451 sized tires on it? Oh, What A Bike, that purple non folder you found on the other post would be like GOLD over here in the states. I have never heard of one being on this side of the pond.

How having an R-20 is like a marriage... (I said like marriage not "like a woman " :) )
-They both can keep your pockets empty
-If your in the saddle too long, your crotch might hurt :)
-ya gotta work with em to get em just right.
-a lot of things just dont make sense...

R-20's : Bringin' fokes together

*cough*

Wasn't Whatabike, was moi. I also nearly bought a ruby red one today; lovely deep rich colour.

Oops... :)

Still an awesome find... What did it cost?

Uh.. Sammyboy, didnt we just talk about how many projects you have going right now ? :) How you are a good project starter, and not the best at finishing? :)
(I hope I dont sound like your wife :) )

Yeah I'm about 10 minutes south of Portland, in the 'burbs.

They're 406s.

I also like that non-folder, if I could find one over here I'd be all over it. This bike will never get folded again unless I have to take the frame in for work or something.

If your not going to fold it much, do the Hex Bolt convertion... Not hard at all, and as Lil Pix says, it will keep you from someone stealing your original key. That is another of the R-20's strengths though. If you had to, you could ride it without the locking key in place... What a nicely designed bike...

gdh81, keep me posted on what you plan to do, and just about anything you need to know about the R-20 is on this forum somewhere...


R-20's : And then came the rest of the folders...

I should be adding some entries soon so keep an eye out...
http://web.mac.com/phatatude/Green_S...enty_Blog.html

Folders : "That's right, it'll fit just about anywhere. Even in the tight places..." :)

I didn't BUY it, I just found it for others to buy! It's too far away, and I don't have time or money.

Well I've got a small amount of surface rust, a little here and there. The only spot that concerns me is a tiny bit on the underside of the joint. So the first thing I want to do is take care of that and do some rust-proofing. I've done simple stuff on bikes before, ie tires, brake adjustments and chain maintenance, but anything more than that is beyond my current knowledge level.

So I don't know if I should just do some patch work, or do the whole- what's the terminology for rustoleum and painting which will inspire envy in all those who witness the glory that will be this 20? Badassification?

if the rust is so bad you would have to patch it up and re spray the bike, if its just spots just sand down all your bike and sand down the rust and then re-spray the bike with rust -proof paint, hope ive helpped

I just recieved my 20 off of ebay from Mill Valley, Ca. Mine is cherry also. Very little surface rust, nothing that a Brillo/SOS pad and some elbow grease can't fix. I found the date on the rear hub next to the "S" on the Sturmey Archer stamp. It's a 72. The seller said it was in storage for about 20 yrs. So I'm in the process of overhauling the bearings. I was careful to not do too much on the rear hub. I cleaned and re-greased the right side, but pretty much just added grease to the left side. I did'nt want to fool with it until I know what I'm doing. But after a good washing it looks almost new. Sheldon Browns' link to Sturmey Archer hubs will be a great help. Also checking out the Links of what other people have done to theirs will be helpful too.

good luck with it :D

Scoatw, what color is yours?
And Sammyboy, I was just messin' around with ya :) ...

Its a green one. With the gold,black, and white bands.

Found the date on the hub, June '72. Also found a bit more rust under the joint. I'll have to do something this week and just get it done.

So now I have to decide how I want to do it. I'm thinking either a full restore and keeping the color or going to a British racing green, or a minimalist bike with maybe a brushed steel look.

I want to modify mine also. But I decided I'm going to take it slow. At first I wanted to go all out and modify everything. New paint, new crank, rims, fork, the whole shebang. But after cleaning it, I decided for now to just keep the paint, cause I hate to ruin that ol' time look. (For now). I will definitely convert the front end as soon as I can figure how to do it without altering it too much. And I've got my eye on the SRAM Spectro 7 or 8 for the rear. If and when I do switch to aluminum rims, I'll keep the originals as they are. This is a long term project. And after seeing what others have done to theirs I want mine to look just as sweet.....As far as any bad spots on the paint, which mine doesn't have. Check out the framepainters link and learn the best way to do it.