Nottingham Raleigh

[Scarecrow73]

Refurb of $40 flea market find. Raleigh LTD-SC single speed. Frame, chain guard and fork original everything else is aftermarket or from parts stash. The prices for replacement 26 tpi bottom bracket parts and crankset were outrageous so I opted for a Velo Orange threadless square taper cartridge that I scored for $30 and changed to 5 speed. This is the second bike that I converted to sealed bottom bracket and I’m very pleased with the results. Bike has way cool patina but does not show too well with pic taken with phone.

 

[Nocash18]

A guy I've known for years acquired a Raleigh pretty similar to that. Looked to be late 60's maybe, but was a five speed, diamond frame, all original stuff. Long story short, I offered to rebuild it for him (him not knowing anything about bikes) to be given to his girlfriend. He wanted to do it himself and make it special.

It was promptly ruined with no regard to preservation of the bike. Tacky, gross, textured paint covered this thing. Tape poorly covering the original lettering. Overspray all over the parts left on the bike.

It broke my heart. This unfortunately isn't new when it comes to this guy. Friendly person, but seems to make everything he touches worse. I still have the crankset covered in overspray after I showed him how they were removed.

I'm assuming he lost interest... I'll be showing him a picture of your fine machine. It looks quite flawless . Maybe it will inspire him to do it over again, but with patience.

 

[Bicycle808]

That's a rad Raleigh; nice job getting it going again... it'd look slightly more awesomer with the Heron sprocket, though.... Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but those are original fenders and headset, correct?

 

[Scarecrow73]

That's a rad Raleigh; nice job getting it going again... it'd look slightly more awesomer with the Heron sprocket, though.... Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but those are original fenders and headset, correct?

I agree on the sprocket but but I could not justify the cost. Fenders are original but brackets are incorrect. Head set original (quill is of unknown make though) but I replaced the bearing cups and bearings (with Raleigh parts) When original parts are hard to find and/or too expensive I try to do my best to at least make it look as period correct as possible while being practical. Now if I could just find an inexpensive Prestube rear rack for it

 

[Scarecrow73]

A guy I've known for years acquired a Raleigh pretty similar to that. Looked to be late 60's maybe, but was a five speed, diamond frame, all original stuff. Long story short, I offered to rebuild it for him (him not knowing anything about bikes) to be given to his girlfriend. He wanted to do it himself and make it special.

It was promptly ruined with no regard to preservation of the bike. Tacky, gross, textured paint covered this thing. Tape poorly covering the original lettering. Overspray all over the parts left on the bike.

LOL... Don't be too hard on him. I was like your friend. My first builds were truly terrible. And I still have a long way to go. Many builders on this site produce works of art that far surpass what I can do.