speaking of Raleighs. I could KILL myself for wrecking one of these in the late 70s... thats a 1970 Raleigh Pro Mk II, same color and everything, was a schweeeeet riding touring bike, all campi n.r. sewups (tubulars), brooks pro saddle, etc. another one (pics cribbed from Sheldon's pages on vintage raleighs)
Raleigh Record 1980 That was my first real 10 speed, had one in a burgundy red, weighed a freaking metric ton but took me on my first century.
Ny first 10 Speed was a '74 Raleigh Grand Prix, that I bought from my sister for 75 bucks. A good bike, until it was stolen from a friends yard in 1975. I didn't buy another true road bike until I got my Rhygin in 1998, which I still ride. That picture of the Raleigh Professional reminds me of me around age 13 or so, when my neighbors had 2 or 3 Raleigh "Carlton's" in their shed, which I could access by sneaking through another back yard. I was so tempted to steal one of them, because they were the coolest bikes I had ever seen. Good thing I found Mini Bikes, or I would have gotten my ass kicked, if I had followed through with my plan! There were a few older boys in the family, and they would've beelined right to my house, as I was a known opportunist/Pain in the ass.
Your assessment of what one can do to these frames is totally incorrect. One can install a modern crank with a sealed bearing BB (check the link in my post just above). Furthermore, modern wheels, headsets, brakes, and other components are available, too. I, also, question "heavy soft steel frame". It might be an excellent riding foundation, as my BSA has turned out to be. The weight is in the components, not the frame. Good "old school" shops, like Velo Mine, can make a neat bike out what "Ridge" has. When other "modern" shops laughed at my BSA, Velo Mine enthusiastically jumped right in.
Thanks for the link ducnut. I'll check them out and see what they think. I also have a great resource with the owner of classicrendezvous as a local friend.
well, if you compare a low end 70s straight gauge plain steel frame-only with a higher end double butted chrome-moly 70's frame-only, you'll see there's a huge difference in the weight of the frame, plus the ride of the better double butted steel frames is just plain nicer, plush even. double butted 531 or equiv. forks are springy, as are 531 stays vs the heavy softer steel stays and forks used on the cheap bikes of the same era. sure, all the parts on the low end bike are also heavy junk and add up to more than half the total. now, the mid range bike frames from the later 70s are very very good, things like Ishiwata tubing and so forth were every bit as good as the high end european stuff.
But, you're basically discounting everything that is other than the best. That's like saying, in today's comparisons, "If you ride a GS, it's crap compared to a GS-A", "You ride a KLR? Ha ha ha!", or "If your bike isn't carbon fiber, it's crap". I'll gladly ride that old, soft stuff. Everything new that I've ridden is so rigid. Yes, CF damps vibration, but, it has no give. That's what I like about the old BSA; you can feel it flex and absorb. It has me seriously looking at a Surly LHT, Waterford/Gunnar, or maybe a Lynskey.
nah, there's a whole bunch in the middle. i'm just suggesting stay away from the bottom line stuff, of which yeah, there's way lots of. a mid range miyata or fuji or panasonic, or a mid range raleigh like a international or supercourse, or the equiv from any of the 100 other brands, is a much nicer frame than a Record or Grand Prix. my kid's 77 trek is a really nice frame with a sweet ride (even if too tall for me) and it was a midrange bike when new. my general rule on 70's bikes is, if they have cotterless aluminum cranks, alloy rims and stainless spokes, alloy bars, gooseneck and seatpost, they are probably worth messing with. if they don't have those things, they probably aren't.
+1. i'm sure there are plenty of folks who, for reasons real or imagined, just love their gas pipe specials. nostalgia sometimes makes 'classics' out of anything old. find a copy of eugene sloanes old bicycling book (the bible of cycling in the 70's). it's fun to read contemporary views of those bikes and parts..... i like to quote james free's advice to choose a quality pup from his classic book on retriever training- "it's just as easy to love a good one."
I might also add if they have huret or simplex derailleurs, the rest of the bits are probably equally low quality. 60's and early 70s bikes pretty much have to have at least part campi on them to be any good. mid-to-later 70s midrange bikes were usually suntour and shimano, which was generally much better than huret or simplex (especially the mid-to-better suntour shifters with mostly-to-all alloy rears). on the early suntour/shimano derailleurs, the better rears had aluminum side plates on the takeup arms, and the best ones were all aluminum (except pins and pivots, of course). ditto, the better fronts had alloy parallelogram arms (I think all fronts have chrome steel cages), and the best fronts had aluminum clamps. The mid-to-better early Suntour was revolutionary. had some features I loved like you could completely unhook the chain from the swingarm without any tools. they pioneered the angled parallelogram that all new derailleurs use.
Well then, you might want to drop by the Lynskey factory when you visit Chattanooga next month. They are made up in Ooltewah about 5 miles from my house.
I think so, or something like that. I had one of those on my old cruiser and totally wore out its upper plastic idler pulley after 20+ years... looked like a drum, wasn't a tooth left on it, hahahahah, so it couldn't shift anymore. darn. replacement part was unobtanium so now its sporting some cheap shimano altus or altera or something. same thing on the mountech suntour on my 1st year stumpjumper, wore the upper shift pulley after 20+ years, had to put a shimano on it. sigh, I liked those old suntours a lot.
Got her, yet? I could be game for next weekend. I haven't gotten too specific, yet. Someplace with a reasonable train ride into Penn Station, good access to trails and quiet backroads, and (hopefully) a decent climbing gym.
Wow I'm tired! Full weekend of racing. Crit yesterday that started dry and ended very cold and wet. Tires were sliding all over and two guys crashed out. Salvaged 8th out of 20 from pacing the first (dry) half. 120psi does not perform well on wet, potholed streets and corners... Today's race was much better and drier. I secured my first podium of the year. One guy soloed off the front with a lap to go and no one grabbed his wheel. I chased down second and passed him with about 40 yards to the finish and had someone on my wheel that pulled half a wheel on me to the line. I had a solid third though and it felt great! Felt even better to win some $$ to cover gas and entry fee.
