Comment

Comment by Mike Bullis 5.5-6.5 miles on March 24, 2011 at 4:21pm

I can tell you this much, Megan. Your bike is about a 1954, give or take a year or two in either direction. The brazeon for the pulley is a tell. There is probably an oil filler cap on top of the bb shell and a threaded boss for a chaincase on the right chain stay. The fulcrum stop is steel as is the pulley. The saddle is repairable, but it will take some time. I'd definitely fix this one up and screw the cost. (It won't take that much dinero to get this one going again)

 

Like mike w. said, there is help here.

Comment by mike w. on March 24, 2011 at 3:22pm

Megan, are you able to make out the date stamped on the rear hub shell? Looks like you have a nice classic there; some fresh grease and good oil and you'll be good to go. There are some good mechanics in this group, so fire away with any questions you come up with and you're sure to get some good help. Enjoy!

Comment by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 24, 2011 at 1:55pm

+1 on the West Town Bikes suggestion.  

 

There are a few special tools that you will need to work on that bike but the most notable one would be a cotter press.  Without one of those it is going to be kind of tough to get the cranks off.  

Comment by Doug Haynes on March 24, 2011 at 1:49pm

I forgot to suggest before, West Town Bikes has build a bike classes that would, over time, allow you to rejuvenate the entire bike guided by instructors.

Comment by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 24, 2011 at 1:46pm

I Think that saddle may be salvageable but it's a touch and go maneuver.  Do a search on bikeforums.net on "reforming brooks saddle"  and see if you can find some information about soaking it in water and reforming it.  There is a process to it so do some research, don't just dunk it.

 

I've refurbished 2 Lady Sports in the last few weeks to amazingly good condition with a little bit of elbow grease.  If you know how to work on bikes it can be done and I can give you some hints.  

 

If you want to ride it you are probably going to need to at the very least disassemble all the bearings and repack them (if they aren't too pitted).  If not you are just going to end up claymore-ing the hubs and probably the bottombracket and destroying the oddball-threaded bearing cups which are kind of hard to find.  The headset will probably be bad too.  Riding with a bad headset is tough.  The headset is also a weird thread and the top threaded cone is very hard to find too.  If all the grease is dried up (probably) you might end up damaging it too if you ride around without repacking the bearings.

That's a nice bike you have there.  If you are experienced in working on bikes you can do most of the work yourself.  If you pay a mechanic to do it it'll be a bit pricey.  

 

You should start a thread in this group and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have and if you are doing it yourself I'l l'll be happy to walk you through any problems you will certainly encounter.  

Comment by Doug Haynes on March 24, 2011 at 1:27pm

For the turned bars you need to loosen the stem and turn them.  the bolt for the stem sticks out the top and you want to loosen it several turns but not remove it.  There is a wedge at the bottom of the stem that the bolt pulls up to lock it into place, occasionally it gets a bit stuck.  If the bolt does not move freely up and down and sticks up from the top of the stem after you loosen it then you may need to whack it with a mallet to knock the wedge loose.  With that loose you should be able to turn the bars; if the bars do not move then it is seized due to corrosion.  If this is the case soak the area where the stem goes into the head tube (around the large nut on the head tube).  Use real penetrating oil, NOT WD-40.  After that soaks in lock the front wheel between your legs and give a mighty twist.

 

Others would know better but to me that saddle looks to far gone to save.  Velo Orange has a line of very nice leather saddles that would look right on that bike and go for less than a Brooks would.

Comment by MeganK on March 24, 2011 at 1:16pm

I rescued a Raleigh Sport from my neighbor's attic a while back and it's sitting in a garage in the suburbs waiting to be resurrected. I've have two issues I would love some help with at the moment:

 

1. The handlebars are turned and stuck 90 degrees in the wrong direction. It was brought to Illinois on a plane (so they were turned for space reasons) and the bike hasn't been ridden since. I've been putting oil in there, unscrewing different things, using force but nothing will make them budge. These suckers have been stuck for 30 years. Any advice? Where's the secret bolt that I'm missing?

 

2. I love the look of the old saddle but it's obviously totally dehydrated, cracking and rolling up. Can I condition it back to a good shape or is this a case where I have to buy something new? I like the bike for the looks but am not looking to drop a lot of money into it or restore it to historical accuracy.

 

Here's some pictures:

Comment by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 24, 2011 at 1:40am

Thanks Mike, I'm not on a really tight schedule.  I'd really appreciate it.

 

The non-drive crank isn't that important for building any bike until it comes time to test-ride ;)

Comment by Mike Bullis 5.5-6.5 miles on March 23, 2011 at 12:10pm

If I were home, I'd grant you access to my part bins of English delights. There's one or five left crankarms in there. However, I won't be back in the Land of Lincoln for few more days.

Comment by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 23, 2011 at 9:52am

I picked up another basketcase Raleigh.  This time the bike from Glenview that has recently been on Craigy.

This one is a Tiawan-mfg, USA-assembled Licensed Raleigh copy.  
Again, very low miles before it fell into disrepair.

Anyhow it's missing the non-drive side cottered crank.  Looks to be an exact copy of the Nottingham design.  165mm 

I'm fairly impressed with the frame.  Much better built than the McHenry Nottingham-built bike with nicer lugwork and 10000% better paint.  It's a beauty actually.  Doesn't have a SA hub though :(
Without a crank it's no good though.  I guess I could pay $20 plus shipping to get an Eastman Crank from Andy up at YellowJersey but I'd rather find one used locally for around $10 if that is possible.

 

Any Ideas?

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