What with my lap pool being closed with the Covid, I dusted off my old bike and have really been getting into riding it. It runs great! I bought this 1973 Raleigh Supercourse TT in 1980, but it was still new in the box, unassembled. I have made some changes over the years. I replaced the crank after I bent it with a Sugino LT. I soon replaced the rims, originally it came with sew-ups, with 700 C's after my first flat. I changed the handlebars to a more hybrid type because I was concerned that hunching over all the time might injure my back. It was getting a bit stiff.
The rest of the bike is stock, and I'm thinking I would like to do something about that. I love the bike, but the derailleurs really do suck. They are plastic Simplex. I'm used to them, but they skip and are not precise. The brakes are Weinmann Centerpulls, and they work fine. My question to the forum is what would be a good derailleur set for this model? Would new components fit? Should I be looking for used or NOS? If I change the deralleurs, do I have to change the chain, sprocket and cluster? Should I change the chain anyway because it's really, really old? And of course, should I change none of those things and keep it as stock as possible? I still have the old handlebars and brake levers in storage.
I know these are a lot of questions, but there aren't a ton of places to ask them and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My ride.
After servicing.
I mean, there aren’t any cracks that I could see
The painted name is mighty faded
The front actually works better than I thought it would
Can just barely make out “T.T.”
When this b17 was new, they had only been making them for less than 80 years!
My hand was getting numb on long rides so I got these ergonomic grips that work pretty well