So I'm gonna check out a late 70's/early 80's (not sure yet) raleigh tomorrow night, and wondered what you guys think of the bike as a potential first fixed gear project. Basically, I'm hoping for a fixed beater I can have fun riding, while not worrying about it's (assured) theft here in nyc. Thoughts? Assuming the bike is in fairly decent shape, and somewhat light, should I go for it? It's $50, which is fine with me, as a start.

Do you know what the model is? I'm pretty sure that Raleigh had a very wide range of quality in their line. My fix is a 1978 Raleigh made from Reynolds 531 with campy dropouts and it is an absolutely great bike. I got it for $15 at a garage sale. Try to find out the model and what kind of tubing it's made from.

I have built up two different older Raleighs, into very nice 'beater' fixies. A Sportif, which was from like 79-81 (as near as I could determine), and a Team USA replica from 83. Both were solid Reynolds frames and the Sportif was actually nicer for a conversion, being without downtube shifter braze-ons and a rear deraileur hanger.

I am no bike snob and $50 is great for any steel lightweight bike as far as I am concerned.

agreed... i have an old Raleigh Competition as my beater fixie, and although its not the lightest thing in the world, its a solid ride. it was also an easy conversion; kept the cranks (removed the large ring) and slapped on a new fixed rear wheel... removed the rest and it was ready to go. The chainline was perfect and everything.

I'm not sure what model it is, but I'm gonna check it out tonight. Thanks for the feedback! I'll let you know how it went.

UPDATE: So I found the bike online (or at least matched the picture from the original ad.) It's a Raleigh Record Ace from late 70's, early 80's. What do you guys think now? Worth it, for $50, and then conversion?

If it's a RRA, then it's totally worth it. It's a high quality 531 frame, outfitted with decent parts at the time and Campy dropouts.

On the other hand, be sure you're not getting the Raleigh Record which was Raleigh's cheapest "10-speed" and was heavy as all get out.

Any idea on how to be sure? Thanks for the speedy reply earlier!

As far as I know, the RRA will always say RRA on the top tube whereas the Record will say Raleigh Record. Also, I can't seem to find anything RRA past the early 70's, but that doesn't mean much. You might checkout retroraleighs.com and compare the bike you looked at with the Raleigh Records in the catalogs.

-Trevor, one-time owner of a 1977 Raleigh Record and guy who really should be doing better things with his time

I would add that you should be prepared to do a Raleigh conversion. So if the bike is in working condition, you'll be straight. But if you need to replace parts it's going to be a little more of a hassle because Raleigh used Raleigh standard sizes. Here's some more info: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/raleigh26.html

Awesome, thanks for all the info. I'm gonna leave soon to check it out. (and this is a fine use of your time, if i don't say so myself. haha)

How did it turn out? I bought a used Raleigh Olympian off craigslist and have since replaced almost everything from the original (except stem and headset). I had to replace the crankset and bb since they were all attached (the chainrings) and the bb was too long for my chain to line up properly. It kinda sucked that I couldn't just remove my outer chain ring. But now it all works pretty well.

I don't know how much it weighs but it's considerably lighter than when I first bought it. I know the Olympian was supposed to be a sh*t bike when it came out and I probably spent way more on it than than the frame probably merited but I like mine just fine right now.

So I show up at her apartment and it's a a plain Raleigh Record! Naturally, I was disappointed, and tell her that I will pass. She offers it to me for $30, and says she needs it out of her place, she's moving tomorrow. So I took it. I rode it back to my neighborhood (after i pumped up the tires.) It rides pretty decently for being out of commission for so long. The brakes are good, shifting is smooth, and the wheels are in good shape (aside from a tiny ding on the front rim.) The pedals and saddle need replacing, but otherwise it's in fine shape.

So here's my question. Do I clean it up, replace a few small parts and sell it, or do I bother trying to fix it up (no pun intended.) I'm okay with the frame weight. It's heavy, but not so much as to bother me. The bb is okay, as is the headset and stem.

It looks like I can remove the outside chainring, and leave the crank as it is for fixed purposes.

Thoughts?

Are you converting to fixed? If so, you might want to look into chain alignment before you remove any chain rings. I bought a pre-built flip/flop from Trackstar -- $140 for Mavic CX-22, Suzue hub, cog, lockring, freewheel (which I don't use) -- which lined up with the original geared setup of my Olympian. If only I stayed content with having two chain rings I could have ended there. But once I decided to replace my cranks, I went wholehog.

If the bike fits you and you want to ride fixed, i don't see any reason why a decent steel, lugged frame for $30 wouldn't be worth your while.

I've been meaning to check out trackstar, my friend got some parts there just the other day.

I'm sort of leaning towards converting it to fixed (it would be my first one, and so I don't mind if it's not the best looking on the road.)

That being said, I don't want to take apart a perfectly working raleigh, only to discover that converting will be too much of a pain.

It shouldn't be a problem at all to convert. Take your bike by Trackstar and have them check it out. They're nice and helpful. Or you could always try BikeWorks as well (though they're busier and closed on Wed and Sun).

Good luck.

Great! I'll ride on over to trackstar today or tomorrow and have them check it out.

It's pretty beefy, but if that doesn't bother you, the stuff you'll be fitting on will be fairly routine. You'll want a fixed rear wheel (27" would be a proper match for the front or you could go with a front/rear 700c and ditch the steel rimmed front in the process--nice if you intend to keep a brake up there). Apart from that, you should be all set. The Record does come with Weinmann center-pull brakes which some people swear by.

If you want to swap out pedals, that should be straight forward too. I think anything else will put you in Raleigh-land, but if you buy new 700c wheels, those can always move to any frame you might upgrade to. Do it, if you hate it you can upgrade.

Thanks for the advice bostontrevor. I think I'm gonna go with the 700cc rear. I'll definitely wanna swap out the pedals, but the original bb and crank should be okay, though I have to see how the chainline lines up with the new rear wheel.