Raleigh Alyeska
 

Hey folks: What's the scoop on this tourer. When was it made? Decent frame? I wrote to Raleigh but they never answered me. I'm not really interested in it's value just whether it was a clunker or steed. Thanks Charlie

I googled this bike and the only relevant link was to Harris Cyclery which indicated it uses 650C tires. The reason Raleigh probably ignored you is this was most likely made by the real Raleigh company, not the US seller of Oriental built bikes under the Raleigh name.

Doc

It's a good bike... has some touring specific braze on's, etc...

if you have a lead on one, in your size and not more than 250 or 300 clams depending on condition-

Go for it!! :)

Thanks for the info guys. Put a bid on it for 205. Went for 260 or so plus 55 for S&H. Looked to be in good shape, my size, with 'newish' bar end shifters but not to be. The hunt continues. Thanks again, Charlie

Thought I'd bump this up rather than start a new thread....

If anybody's interested, there's a sweet-looking Raleigh Alyeska on Ebay at the moment (It's not mine).....

Nice heavy duty touring bike - just update the compnents a bit and you are in business. My only question would be can you convert it to 700c tires

I have a very similar Raleigh also from the early 80's. My model is the Kodiak. Looks almost identical.

I converted over to a more modern set of 700c wheels without a hitch. The cantis have plenty of adjustment for that. Also, the rear spacing is 126mm, but it can easily be spread to 130mm.

If I didn't already have 2 touring bikes, I would jump on this. (It's even my size :) )

That looks an awful lot like a subdued version of the Raleigh Kodiak which was a REAL(tm) touring bike of probably the highest spec you could get from a mass manufacturer.

Here's one on the net: http://www.mit.edu/~cforest/hobbies_...h%20Kodiak.htm

Yea, that's the only reference I could pull up when researching my bike. The bast*ard replaced the cantis with sidepulls :p

The only changes I made (besides the 700c wheels) was changing over to a cassette from a freewheel and buying some Cane Creek aero levers for more comfort/stopping power. I bought it new in 1984 for a little over $400, I believe. It really does ride smooth like a Buick.

The Alyeska was a step below the Kodiak in the Raleigh touring lineup; from top to bottom, the lineup was Portage, Kodiak, Alyeska, Wyoming.

I'm curious-- what differences do you see between the Kodiak and the Alyeska, cyclintom?

Sheldon Brown puts this info out on the Alyeska spec's:

http://sheldonbrown.com/retroraleigh...h-alyeska.html


I bought one off of Ebay myself, and I'm using it as my daily commuter, so far. Other than changing out the pedals and the saddle, its pretty much "as is." I LOVE the brown, the decals, e.t.c. I know, nothing real helpful there in terms of using it as a real touring bike. I bought it b/c I wanted to get into commuting, and I needing something tall enough for me (I'm 6' 5'').

It's Raleigh 555 tubing, which T-Mar is convinced is re-badged Reynolds 501. So, Raleigh 555 all tubes, double butted in the main tubes, hi tensile fork. Btw, the color is bordeaux, not brown, and the headtube color is rosé. Double eyelets front and rear, lowrider rack mounts on the fork blades, two water bottle braze-ons, rack eyelets on the seat stays, cantilever brakes, 41.5" wheelbase. Yeah, it's a very good tourer, and a very good commuter.

Also from Sheldon:

Raleigh Touring

Look at this Raleigh Kodiak on ebay ...
The tubing is 575T right in the photo. So now we have the 555T ... 575T controversy.
I have an Alyeska and had no idea there was a 575T
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

T-Mar your thoughts?

By the way my Alyeska is a 1986 (I think) and it has NO lowrider mounts on the stays but does have two pairs of eyelets front and rear.
I recently bought this bike and it came with a 1986 lightweights owner's manual and had the serial # written on page 3 :: 4610219

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

In regard to changing to 700C wheels...
why bother now that 27" PanaRacer Paselas come in both 1 1/8 and 1 1/4?

They do!?!?! EXcellent!

So much for the theory of small sizes sell for less $$$$
a 20" Raleigh Kodiak "like New" just sold for $500 on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Then again a "Portage" 23"
sold for $660 with extra tires etc.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I will now say that a good touring (Portage, Kodiak, Alyeska) Raleigh in nice condition for around $250 won't be found on eBay
Craigslist and Garage sales seem to be the places to look if you have lots of time available.

Upgrading Alyeska BRAKES ....
 

On upgrading an ALYESKA ... the brakes are problematic because the cants have the spring holes on the wrong side. It is virtually impossible to find a cheap brake to replace the originals. I upgraded to Paul brakes because they do not use the cant stud mount holes for their spring placement.

This is the sweetest riding bike I've ever ridden. "Buick" is very appropriate. It came with 36 spokes front and 40 spokes rear, now running 27" x 1 1/4 Paselas and it is awesome.

I have an 83 Raleigh Olympian sport tourer. Says Raleigh North America, but then below says it's actually made in Taiwan. Serial confirms Taiwan.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../Photo1364.jpg

Paint job around the lugs is not the cleanest, lug angle stampings still show, and rear chainstays are welded to the frame in a truly terrible fashion. Yes it does say Raleigh 502, but like the others said, these stickers were trying to upsell cheaper frames as Reynolds 531. Mine turned out to be: hi-ten stays and fork with double-butted (or was it single-butted?) vanilla 4130 chro-mo main tubes. Still lighter than my '77 Raleigh Grand Prix...

Touring 18 was in the 1983 catalogue also.
Alyeska was in the 1984 if I am correct.

Both were made by Huffy, who owned Raleigh at the time, if I am not mistaken.

Getting a mid 80's Alyeka later today. Looks to be in about 8/10 condition. The only things I want to change are the brake levers, kick stand and the seat. i have beautiful honey colored Brooks saddle ready as well as a lightweight kickstand and a set of new levers.http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=376933http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=376934

One day may switch to bar end shifters.
Definetly keeping the 27 inch wheels.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=377066http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=377067http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=377068

Got the bicycle cleaned up as much as I could. Absolutely hated the original handle bars and brake levers. I found an no brand set of handlebars and levers in my parts pile as well as a hi rise stem. Feels tons better. Still need to route rear brake cable. Still need water bottle cages as well and maybe some new tires. I used gold paint in the Raliegh engravings on the frame and it really made them pop.

BTW, mine doesn't ever appear to have had a kickstand attached although the original specs say it should have had one.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=378069

New tires, water bottle cages, handlebars, handlebar tape, stem, brake levers, brake cables and seat.

Feels pretty solid.

pathdoc, why don't you make your own thread instead of bumping this ten-year old one up to the top every couple days? You have a beautiful bike, you'll get more response with a new thread.

They are nice bikes- I have a "Touring 18" which is the 1983 version of the Alyeska.

One potential problem is that there is absolutely no possibility of changing to 700c wheels- the brake studs are just too high- even a 4mm difference means the pads can't be adjusted to be parallel to the brake rim. But if you're staying with 27", it's no problem.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=378489


Nearly finished. I ended up removing the front deraileur although its present in this pic as well as the 2 small chain rings so now she is a 7 speed. A rear rack and lights and she will be finished.