Past Projects: 1973 Raleigh Record

Working on old bikes, there are times that you want to just take the damn thing to the top of the tallest parking garage in town and throw it off.  Other times, the planets seem to align and it's almost as if the bike rebuilds itself.  When I look back at the restoration of this 1973 Raleigh Record road bike, it's hard to believe how quickly, easily, and inexpensively this bike went from a beat-up old barn find to an immaculate eye-catcher.  What's more, I even had the wherewithal to take some before-and-after pictures to document the bicycle's transformation.  I've put these pictures side-by-side to better illustrate the difference.

My uncle gifted me this bike in the fall of 2010, right around the same time that my cousin Zac told me that he was wanting a bike for his commute to and from work.  What a fortunate coincidence, I thought.  So I loaded it up, brought it home, and took it apart.  I decided to rebuild this bike the same way that I had my 1972 Raleigh Record.  This included conversion of the cotter-based bottom bracket to a square-taper cartridge, which had been a major expense on my old '72 Record, as I had to use a costly press-fit bottom bracket.  For this project, however, I was able to use an inexpensive threaded Shimano cartridge.  And I picked up a sexy Sugino crankset off of eBay to replace the old cotter cranks.  Next came a new aluminum wheelset with a new freewheel, rubber, and tubes.  Then the bike got a new saddle, bar tape, cables and housing, and chain.  As usual, everything got a thorough cleaning and degreasing before the components went back onto the frame.

I took the 'before' pictures of this bike on the 5th of August, and took the 'after' pictures 11 days later.  Pretty astonishingly quick project, considering that I was working on my doctorate dissertation at the time and also had a month-old baby boy as an audience/distraction.  In fact, I brought him out to the shop with me so that he could watch me work.  I explained all of the steps to him while I went along as if I were training him.  Good stuff.

Zac tells me that he still rides this rig to work on a regular basis, and also takes it out for recreational trips.  It's been nearly two years since I finished this project and delivered the bike to him, and yet I just recently had a mutual friend of ours tell me how impressed he was with this machine.  I'm definitely proud of how the bike turned out, but I'm even happier that the bike is appreciated, well cared for, and ridden regularly.  But then, I've been riding with Zac most of my life, so I knew it would be.

On the Auction Block: 1972 Raleigh Record

UPDATE:  THIS BIKE HAS BEEN SOLD

Price:  $250, Size:  56 cm

 
With a heavy heart, I've decided to sell my 1972 Raleigh Record road bike.  This rig has served me faithfully for commuting and recreational rides for years, but with my latest project finished, it's not getting much use and it deserves better than to collect dust in my garage.  I bought what was left of this bike circa 2007-2008.  I really wish that I would've had the presence of mind to snap some pictures of this bike as soon as I brought it home, because I quickly realized that it wasn't even worth the gas needed to haul it to the dump.  But I stubbornly pressed on with the restoration anyways.  I'm glad I did; this has been a great bike.  I worked on it continually - adding, rebuilding, and altering things here and there - until it came to its current state a couple years ago.

Here is a comprehensive list of the major changes and replacements that brought this bike back to life.  The old wheels were in piss poor shape, so they were recycled.  In their place, I bolted on a set of brand new wheels with Alex rims and a cheap Falcon freewheel (I've found that I like the Falcon freewheels better than the Shimano freewheels because they're well built and simple, whereas Shimano always tries to church things up).  I also slapped some new rim strips, tubes, and rubber onto the wheels.  The biggest investment for this rebuild was the drivetrain.  I ripped out the shitty old cotter cranks and axle a while back and had a Phil Wood press-fit bottom bracket installed, along with a lightly used Sugino crankset.  And since there was no way I was putting the old rusty pedals on my sweet new cranks, I added some shiny new MKS Sylvan road pedals.  The original leather saddle on the bike had completely disintegrated, so I replaced it with a Brooks CR-3 vinyl saddle.  It's not as fancy as a nice leather saddle, but it's super comfortable, looks pretty nice, and I don't have to fuss over it like I do the leather saddles that are on a couple of our other bikes.  And of course the bars were retaped - several times now - and the cables and housing were all ripped out and rerun.

I can't stress enough how well dialed in this machine is.  It's comfortable, fluid, and shifts smoothly.  I should note that the hubs should probably be repacked sometime soon and it may need new rubber sometime in the next couple years depending on how heavily it's used.  I left the frame in the state that it was in when I bought it, so it's pretty beat up.  I thought that might be a bit of a theft-deterrent.  But while there are a number of chips and scratches, there's no observable rust.  Oh, and those halfsy toe clips in the pictures don't come with the bike.  Those are all mine.

The frame size is 56 cm.  I'm about 5'8" and the bike is definitely a little big for me.  I guess I'd recommend it for someone 5'9"-6' or thereabouts.

I'm asking $250 for this bike.  I'd like to get more out of it, since this doesn't come close to covering the cost for the parts that I put into it, but I just don't think it would be reasonable to ask any more than that for an old bike.  So if you're interested, shoot me an email at cyclelikeastringer@gmail.com and we'll set up a test ride.

Stringer Fleet: 1979 Raleigh Record

Despite the elegance and style of Ginger's 1972 Raleigh Sports, it is a relatively heavy bicycle with a limited gear range.  For long trips, windy conditions, or when she just feels like riding a more lightweight bicycle, she also has a 1979 Raleigh Record road bike.  This bike is set up as a twelve-speed and has an alloy frame and aluminum wheels, crankset, handlebars, etc.



My father had this bike collecting dust in his garage.  So when I told him I was considering starting another project for Ginger, he offered it to me as a gift.  The bike was in exceptionally good mechanical and cosmetic condition, so it was a speedy and inexpensive rebuild.  The frame is slightly too small for Ginger, so I added a longer seatpost and an upward-angled stem, both of which seemed to make the bike a bit more comfortable for her.  I ran chrome-colored cable housing for both the brake and shift cables, which added a bit of flash.  I also opted for cyclocross tires over traditional road tires, allowing the bike to easily hit the Katy Trail.  Recent additions include a set of rear pannier-style wire baskets and a Nashbar Bedford Vintage Saddle.  Initially, I taped the bars in white, which looked fantastic but the tape dirtied and started looking kind of gross after only a few months.  When she couldn't stand the look of the not-so-white tape anymore, I re-taped the bars in black.

Overall, I've been pretty impressed with this bike.  With the exception of a couple of incidents that were totally my fault, this machine has taken Ginger to and from her destinations without fail.  It's not quite as head-turning as her Sports, but it's awfully chic nonetheless.  I'm not sure that I could ever pull off riding a lavender-colored bicycle, but when my wife is in the saddle, it's an exquisite sight.