gbalke

I just completed my first project, rebuilding a Raleigh Sports 3 speed from a frame set I found on e-Bay.
After stripping the frame of all mechanicals, I had it sand blasted and powder coated a semi-gloss black.
Once I had that done, it just a matter of rebuilding from the ground up. I added a few "esentials" such as a Brooks B17 saddle in Honey, matching leather grips, a saddle bag of unknown origin, a chrome frame pump and a set of rat trap pedals with clips and straps.

I've added a few pictures, before, during and after. Considering this is my first attempt to rebuild a bike, I think it turned out fairly well.

Eagle Kammback

Looks good!!

txvintage

Looks sharp. It's amazing what a honey Brookes can add to your efforts.

Only suggestion I can come up with is RIDE that puppy! She looks like a great around town bike.

stringbreaker

Why semi gloss black and not gloss? Did they come that way? Just curious the bike looks amazing and I really like the bars are they comfortable?

kpug505

Fantastic job! Looks like tons of fun.

gbalke

The powder coater who does parts for the company I work for did the work for me. I originally wanted a gloss black. He suggested the semi-gloss as it actually hides imperfections such as dings and dents in the frame and fenders better than a gloss paint. It's the reflective nature of the semi-gloss. Most of the parts he powder coats for his customers are in this exact color.

As far as the bars being comfortable, I've yet to ride the bike having just finished it this afternoon. I still need to work out a few bugs with the rear brakes. I installed a set of Raleigh self adjusting brake levers from a 74 Sports that I had and I'm not getting the brakes to release as they should.

CharlesC

Very nice rebuild!
What kind of HB grips did you use?

gbalke

I bought the leather handle bar grips from Bike Nashbar. They're a close enough match to the Brooks saddle.

Sixty Fiver

gbalke - That bike looks awesome.

steppinthefunk 

Very nice!

Old Fat Guy

Very nice, I love the ride of the old Raleigh 3 speeds, but I have to ask, what do you have into it, excluding the saddle?

roseskunk

nicely done. i've been tempted to try that with one of mine, but i'm too lazy. or they just don't need it. maybe if i find one that's really rough. you can't beat these bikes for riding around town. personally i'd go with the original upright bars, though they do look good flipped. nice.

gbalke

Let's see:

a 74 Raleigh Sports I bought from e-bay, that was actually too tall for me: $80. I stripped this bike of all mechanical, fenders, chain guard and wheels. I still have the frame which I plan to recycle thru e-bay.

a 70's Sports frame set in the correct size, from e-bay: $30

hand grips from Bike Nashbar: less than $10

the Honey B-17, again from e-bay: $50 [great deal, barely used saddle, that I actually bought for a totally different project bike. But it looks so good on the Raleigh!]

sand blasting and powder coating the frame: zip, nodda, zilch!! It pays to be the guy sending products to the powder coating vendor!!

pedals were another e-bay find. The seller sent me two left hand pedals. After I clued him in to what he did, he sent the matching right hand pedals at no charge, along with three sets of toe clips. So basically, this is my "FREE" pair.

HSean

Thats a nice one, heres mine I found in the trash the other day, I cleaned it up and replaced the dead rims with identical ones, this ones very old yet it looks like it just came off the assembly line, well the seats one I had around, i'll order a brooks or something sometime.

gbalke

If you'd be interested, I have a Brooks B-72 that I won't be using and could part with it. Semd me a PM with your e-mail address and I can send you several pictures.

Gary