Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ash L. on April 5, 2011 at 8:55am

Hey James, let me know when you complete the 44cm one. I'd love to give it a shot.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 5, 2011 at 9:15am

It's pretty much done except for needing a crank, pedal(s), and a kickstand.  It's just the crank I'm really waiting on.  Someone over in the British Bikes group might have one or I'll just have to break down and buy one from YellowJersey.

 

I should take a picture of the bike and post it.  I think it looks even nicer than this bike.  It's a pretty Red color with nicer paint and a tan matress sprung saddle similar to this one (but not an actual Brooks).  

 

If you are really interested in it and in a hurry I could cannibalize the 21" for the crank as it doesn't seem to be garnering much interest on C-list.  I would like to keep the English pedals with the English bike and I'm not sure the kickstand will work with the smaller bike as the bottom bracket might be a touch lower.

 

I am reluctant to put REALLY nice pedals on the bike if I can't find a matching one for the one I have since I'm not sure anyone would appreciate the extra cost in the resale but something like these would be best.  I have those on my own 3-speed Raleigh.

 

Since I can't ride it without a crank/pedal on one side I haven't had a chance to test-ride it or break it in after the heavy overhaul but other than that it is ready to go.

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Permalink Reply by Carl on April 5, 2011 at 9:21am

Ha! I'll be riding an identical bike (borrowed) on the May tweed ride. I did a double-take, to make sure my friend wasn't selling hers!

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Permalink Reply by Ash L. on April 5, 2011 at 9:50am

If you want to add the crank to it and put on a set of tester pedals, I might buy it without pedals since I'd probably upgrade from the plastic original ones to metal ones with better grip anyway. I'm right down the street by Palmer Square so just let me know when works for you.

Shoot me a PM with your info.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 5, 2011 at 10:30am

I just tried to swap cranks just now and found out that the British-made spindle is .822" and the Taiwan-made spindle is .830"  so it doesn't quite fit.  Yowzers, never run into this before on a cottered crank!

 

If I end up finding another Brit-made one or the Indian-made version from Yellow-jersey and it isn't .830" I'll have to take it to a machine shop to increase the diameter of the bore .008" which isn't much but I don't want to alter the part I have until I know I can find another one or what I am going to do for sure.

 

I might just decide it is better to with a whole new Bottom-bracket and a crankset for it which might not be a bad idea either since I'm pretty sure it is a standard 24tpi threading instead of the wonky Raleigh 26tpi  oddball threading.  That'll shed a pound or two from the weight running an alloy crank over the plain steel crank and chainring.  This bike has a plane-jane chainring up front and not the super-sexy looking heron-carved one of the Brit Raleighs so nothing is lost by going to alloy and everything is to be gained.

 

I'll have to do some research and it won't be ready for a few days at least at this rate :(  I did mention that I didn't have the bike totally finished.  Sorry about that.

 

I'll let you know here if anything changes and try and post a picture of the bike at least so see if you are still interested.

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Permalink Reply by Ash L. on April 5, 2011 at 10:38am

No rush at all. I'm looking to unload my Schwinn Sprint after I get another mixte so take your time.

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Permalink Reply by Bradford Smith on April 5, 2011 at 3:03pm

I ran into the different crank/spindle size issue when looking for a crank in the bin at Working Bikes.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 5, 2011 at 3:26pm

I think I'm just going to go with a square-taper spindle in the existing cups and then put an alloy crank on it.  

 

Trying to find a crank to fit or having to mill the English-Raleigh to fit is going to be too much of a PITA. The alloy crank will make the bike lighter and better anyhow.

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Permalink Reply by rose7047 on May 7, 2015 at 1:43am

Is this bike still for sale?

thanks

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on May 7, 2015 at 6:55am

Also, this is a great example of why we should not include links to Craigslist ads unless you are going to also duplicate the information in your post. A month or four years go by and the ad is long gone, but the post still (obviously) has historical interest. Now it has some nice pictures and some old conversation, but also a lot of un-needed mystery.

Like, say what is this price that is "a bit on the high end"? The bike may be long gone, but even years from now someone may be interested in what a bike like that was selling for back in 2011 or whatever, or what a restorer thought perhaps s/he could get for it back then.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on May 9, 2015 at 4:47pm

I'm sorry but this bike sold 4 years ago.  I think I sold it for around $250 but my memory isn't 100% these days on figures.  I'd have to dig out my 2011 records to be sure. A year or so ago she brought it back to me for a complete tune up.  She had been riding the heck out of it and was very happy with it and wanted it brought back to the near showroom condition again as it was when she bought it.

Rose, this particular bike and color is not too uncommon.  I see them every once in a while on Craigslist still.  A few pop up every year in the greater chicagoland area.  I could restore it for you if you were to find one. 

At the moment I do have this bike for sale, but it is a much later Raleigh model and not built in England.  I believe it is built in Japan, or at least with a Japanese-made frame and maybe assembled somewhere like Taiwan.  

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/5018122129.html

3-speed Raleigh Sports 3-speed - $200 (Logan Square)

1980 19" Raleigh Sports 3 speed Step-Through 

This is a made in Japan (Akisu frame, see photo of fork) Raleigh 3-speed "lady" Sports. The frame size is 19"/48.5cm 

This bike has been completely disassembled to the frame. It was then completely cleaned, part by part, before being reassembled with all new bearings and grease, cables, housings, brake pads, even fancy cork grips that have been lovingly shellacked. 

The 3-speed hub, is a genuine Sturmey Archer and is dated 1980. It has been fully disassembled and cleaned, before being completely rebuilt with new bearings, grease, and oil. This is a service that I charge $50 for in itself, in addition to a full rebuild restoration on a bike. 

I am a big fan of the Nottingham-built Raleigh Sports, but this frame rides much nicer than the hi-ten (gas pipe) frames of the old English 3-speeds. I'm not a metallurgist or a frame-builder but this frame rides like a dream. This doesn't feel like a typical slammed-together 1020 frame from Nottingham. Perhaps the Japanese just do a better job with everything, there is a sticker on the frame that says Raleigh High Carbon Tubing, but nothing more to give me a clue about it other than the fork steer tube has Akisu stamped right on it. The Japanese do tend to do everything a little bit better and more methodically. 

The saddle is a Brooks but it not made of leather. It's a hard rubberized material unlike any of the vinyl mattress saddles I've seen on a Raleigh sports. It's padded under this hard rubber. It's fairly comfy for a non-leather saddle, and looks to be every bit as weatherproof as a modern Cambium Brooks. 

The cranks are cottered and have been serviced with the bottom bracket. They should give trouble-free service like when this crank and bottom bracket were new 45 years ago. The chainwheel unfortunately does not have the heron-head cranks cut into them like the Nottingham-built Raleighs, but is bright and shiny. 

The handlebars do not have smooth shiny chrome on them. It is crinkly. There is no sign of rust on them, but the chrome has an odd crinkly finish instead of the shiny bright chrome one would typically see on a bike of this type. There is no rust to speak of anywhere on this bike. The paint is in great shape, with only a few chips here and there. The lugs have a pretty gold accent painted into them which really makes the metallic paint look nice. This isn't a dip-painted frame like the English ones. It's a nice spray job although there are a few small spots where the blue is a little stained, I think were grease sat on it for years when it was in a shed somewhere. This bike looks like it didn't spend any time stored outdoors. No rust to speak of. The rims are shiny and nice too. Tires are not new but in great shape and look like they were replaced not too long before I purchased this bike to restore. They have almost no wear on them and are not cracking. They are easily good for a couple thousand miles before they might need to be replaced with something modern like the excellent Michelin World Tours with the reflective stripe in 26 x 1-3/8" size. 

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on May 10, 2015 at 5:58am

Every once in a while I will see a Step-through Raleigh Sports in this paint color pop up on Craigslist. Right now there is one Diamond-frame Sports for sale there, but if you kept an eye on the site every day I would daresay you could find one with this paint color within a few months.  

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/bik/5006093266.html

976 Raleigh Sports 21.5 Inch (~54cm) - $350

The price on these might be all over the map.  They could be $40 or $240. (even more for good examples of the "men's" diamond frames as so many of them have been used up instead of stored in a shed with few miles.)  A lot of folks think they can sell them for top dollar right out of the back shed without any work done on them or a just being washed up and some oil dropped on them here and there.  Some have been kept up over the years in riding condition, but most will need a LOT of work before they can be ridden without riding them right into the ground in short order.

At the very least a bike that hasn't been ridden for 30-35 years will need to have a "heavy tune up" which means every bearing on the bike needs to be taken apart, cleaned completely of the dried-up wax that used to be grease, and then regreased and rebuilt, often with new bearing balls.  Sometimes the headsets have rusted and will need to be replaced.  This bearing work includes the bottom bracket.  Those requires special tools to remove and replace the crank cotters and I fear a lot of modern shops don't have cotter presses to do this properly and they fall back on the "hammer method" instead.  ick.

Then the bike will definitely need new brake pads and usually tires at the very least, probably new cables & housings as well, and many people prefer new inner tubes too.  Add in some nice cork grips, new pedals (many of the older ones are not rebuildable and are usually clapped-out)  and a few other touches and the cost of parts may be more than the labor.

This all adds up.  Even if you can find a bike that is selling for $40-50 this tune up with new parts will probably run you at least $150 in parts and labor to do it right at a bike shop.  So one needs to think about that.  

I always go all the way by stripping the bike down to the frame, detail cleaning every piece, removing any rust, polishing, waxing, and assembling everything from the ground up. This also includes doing a full tear-down of the rear hub, detail cleaning all the parts, and rebuilding with fresh bearings as well.  I will charge $50 just for this when folks want me do to this for them.   Many (if not most) shops won't touch the 3-speed hubs in a heavy tune-up and that is an extra cost if they even will work on them past adding a little new oil and hoping for the best.   They are pretty tough units and often will work OK.  They do work a lot better and sound better after a full rebuild and will be good to go for another 30 years with a couple drops of oil every few months or even once a year or so.

The difference is whether one wants to ride an old clunker or a bike that is a vintage rider in nearly as good of shape mechanically as it was when it was brand new.  It's all in how much a customer wants to spend. 

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