Grand Sports dumpster find
 

Yep, fresh from the dumpster. A friend texted this picture....
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d725e35df8.jpg
"Is it worth anything? Found it in the dumpster of my apartment building".
At first glance I thought heck yeah. Then I zoomed in and saw the extensive rust. But what the heck, middle of winter, need somethong to wrench on, if nothing else maybe I can salvage some parts.
Got the bike. Even worse looking than I thought. Rubbed and buffed with compounds and oils, and polish. Started removing considerable paint. It looked horrible.
Coronavirus weekend. Well, as the panic set in I figured what else to do but crack open a can of Rustoleum and have some fun. Two days, two coats. Then put it back together Monday and Tuesday(today). Sun was out and I wanted to test ride it. 20 miles later...its a keeper.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f218b4d27a.jpg
I added saddle and seatpost. It came with a SunTour VGT derailleur, but I like Simplex and had one in my stash. Wheels are from another bike. But original wheels will probably go back on when I get some new tires for them. Great ride. Has a short top tube so mire upright position. And the quirky rando bars are kinda fun.

That is a fine looking dumpster find.

Nice! :thumb:

shoot... now I feel a slight bit guilty for swapping out the Simplex Prestige on my Gran Sport for a SunTour Cyclone GT!
wait, wait... I'm over it now. ;)

Your Simplex is a big improvement over the cursed Prestige, though.
Glad that you saved a Gran Sport and blessed the world with a little bit more Lagoon Blue!

Steve in Peoria
(with fond memories of my old Gran Sport)

:thumb: Looks great!
Ben

That's a great looking bike you found. You're gonna love it. Welcome to the club.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f952b56258.jpg

I like the look of these old Raleighs, even as both of my own GS bikes (made a couple of years apart) feature some really bad frame craftsmanship.

I always liked the look of the cranks on these bikes, the Nervar is technically better because the guard disc doesn't push the right crankarm way out like the model 93's does.

This one was perhaps only the fourth vintage bike that I ever resurrected (out of hundreds by now). I still remember riding it into work and showing it off, looking like new and sporting a stealthy "Ultra-6" type freewheel that I made from a Dura-Ace 7s freewheel (I had to seal off the outer bearing with an O-ring since I left off the smallest, externally-threaded cog). It had a poorly-aligned fork that required two aspects of correction to both center the tire under the crown and make the bike ride straight.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...75e57c984d.jpg

I've often wondered how many of these dumpster finds are HOT bikes that perhaps the police are looking for. Many?

Cheers

I'm sure I have bought a few stolen bikes over the years. This one was fished out of the dumpster right around the first of March. I'm thinking it was thrown out by the owner moving out of his apartment. Flat rotted tires, heavy rust, probably sat outside 24/7 and not used in a long time.

One thing to consider is that some of these vintage bikes, being 50 years old, may have been through several owners and possibly changed hands via unscrupulous means at some point.
I keep receipts of all the bikes that I buy from thrift stores, and make receipts to be signed by any Craigslist sellers I buy from.

Nice.

What wheels, what size tires?

very nive! like it

Great description and my Grand Sports shares many of the attributes. Several gaps in joinery. The head lugs are really roughly brazed. The brake cable stop for the rear brake is to low. And my fork needs some tweaking, the wheel sits oddly and there is a bit of pull, though I can ride it no hands with a bit of butt english.

With all its shortcomings in construction it still has a nice ride. Floats down the road like a 531 bike should. What started out as a short shakedown ride ended up being 20 miles. And other than adjusting the saddle once, the bike was solid. Brakes, derailleurs all adjusted just the way I like them.

Oddly, in greasing the BB, I found the bike has a Stronglight BB in conjunction with the Nervar crank. Wonder how that combo came to be. Whether it cane from Raleigh that way, or was the crank replaced at some time.

Such a nice color, that Lagoon Blue. Sweet score!
How do these Gran, er Grand - Sport, er Sports :foo:, compare to a Super Course ride-wise? I would imagine very similar with an equally decent set of wheels.

lovely!
I've never seen a Gran Sport with Nervex lugs in person... very cool!

I think we need to do a Northern Illinois Retro Raleigh ride sometime. I've got an International and a Team that could show up, and Dan M. has a big Pro in blue mink and silver that would help fill out the roster.

Steve in Peoria (not really northern Illinois, but adjacent)

The one with the Nervex lugs is actually a Competition with the same color combo.
Count me in for the Raleigh ride. Great idea!
Bernie

A fantastic find. Lovely bike particularly with those colors and half chromed stays & fork.

I've measured the frame angles of both models of 23" bikes at 73-degree seat tube with a slack 71-degree head tube.
Off-road geometry in other words, outright "gravel" bikes. Also great for winding your way down from the mountains at speed.
And I definitely select a larger frame size with these, versus modern bikes (or even versus other vintage bikes having more-upright steering geometry).

Interesting, and thanks dddd .

GREAT FIND !!!

And what a job you did fixing it up !!!!

It just needed a " little" elbow grease and love

Love the color combo

Awesome job !!!!!

27" wheels. Normandy hubs/Weinmann rims. I'll probably go with Pasela tires.

Good choice. I have 25mm Paselas on mine. It is a sweet bike.

I have Pasela on 3 of my bikes !!

Love them !!!

Great bikes!

Do those have different seat tube angles, or is it just a parallax or other optical error due to the lens?

The one in front seems older, at least due to downtube script. But certainly a bevy of bicycle beauties! I really like the sky blue cables, too! I've always been a big fan of the 1969 Competition.

I think the one with Nervex is marked "Competition," not "Grand Sports."

I would be very enthusiastic about a Northern Illinois Retro Raleigh ride! Please float some dates so I can set a deadline for my older-than-me 1952 Rudge (made by Raleigh) return-to-flight build.