Dumpstergrub@gm

Got one today for $15. Very happy.

Holiday76 what size frame is that?

-holiday76

25" i believe

Sixty Fiver

Forgive the bad pic 'cause the bike is gorgeous.

It's a 1979 SGP with a 25 inch frame that I built into an SS for a friend of mine. He loves it.



I also have all the original parts for the bike should he ever decide to turn it back into a geared bike.

terrors

Here is mine that i just finished cleaning up and overhauling. It is a 1985 made in Canada.

dedhed

My 1984 model I bought new. I've since this pic replaced the original bar tape and seat. I just bought an old schwinn super sport I may take the Brooks saddle off of for it.

mrejda

Well, got to finally put the GP through it's paces on saturday with a 18 mile ride to Mercer county park and back. Saw a variety of conditions/surfaces and I was really happy with the overall ride. First off, barcons are great! Thanks so much to Huerro for supplying me with a nicely working set. I have a lot of adjustments to make, a rear brake to put on, some links to remove from the chain. The parts are a real crate mix. Cranks/Rings are SR Super Custom and FD is a suntour mountech, both from my miyata. I hated the rings originally because there was a huge space between the outer and middle ring. When I put them back together I realized the big ring was on backwards on the miyata and so it didn't seat right. The RD is a suntour seven from a junk fuji I salvaged. Bars and stem are new nitto and the wrap is my first attempt (salsa classico). Obviously I need a more appropriate seat and saddle bag, if anyone has any suggestion or can help out I would appreciate it. I'd love a black B17 or pro but I can't spend that much right now.
Unfortunely the sun wouldn't come out when I made it over to the lake by my house for the pics...I'll do some better ones when I finalize the build a bit more. Thanks for all the help on the boards!

miyagisan

My first (and current) road bike (83')

redneckwes

emptgrave,

Nice score!

The Gazelle built GP's seem to be the hardest to find. Save, everything, please don't hack anything off if you make it a fixie. Raleigh built Grand Prix's in Holland, Canada, and at the Carlton plant in addition to Nottingham.

You can fit a square taper crank with a #5 spindle, but you may or may not have to deal with a Raleigh threaded BB. Other than that, clean, repack and adjust.

emptgrave

Don't worry. Not a fixie. I want to make it a very functional version of what it is. I would like to see the crank and rear derailer upgraded - Maybe the wheels.

redneckwes

My '81 Nottingham machine as the B/17 Imperial test bike.

redneckwes

Watch for a thrift store $10 10-speed with alloy wheels, cheapest way to the most bang-for-your-buck upgrade.

Derailleurs, I like Suntour VX, for a commuter, the Simplex is too fragile. After '77 the GP came stock with Suntour.

emptgrave

I don't mean to sound completely naive. How would I search for this on ebay or on the web? Is there a specific model?
When you talk about getting the alloys from the thriftshop, I assume suntour mounts on shimano??
I know I am sounding like a complete novice, but that is what I am.

Thanks!!

redneckwes

Pretty much any 27" Alloy wheels will work, from a 70's era 10-speed. I like Maillard hubs, but Sunshine, and Shimano are good too. Look for a bike with a 5 or 6 speed cluster, it's more likely to fit your spacing.

Suntour in the 70's and 80's made some of the smoothest, most reliable friction derailleurs ever produced. Plus, they were inexpensive and came on nearly everything. If you are going to replace the Simplex, look for old Suntour. If you can find a cheap bike to donate wheels and Suntour shifters, you will be all set.
Most mid range 70's Shimano derailleurs are clunky and ugly compared to what Suntour was making.

cudak888 

Completely different then the U.S. '85 GP. Interestingly enough, even though I perceive a bolt-on hanger, I also note that it has braze-ons for a front rack on the fork. Curious.

-Kurt

clipped

Here's my regular winter ride and great all round bike. Sort of ironic that a bike with no sealed bearings is my commuter of choice for snowy conditions, but the 27" wheels cut through the wet snow we have here much better than my mountain bike. Fun bike.

Takara

You can use 700C wheels, too. You'll need to adjust the brake pads down by 4mm.

j. hughes

I have a Super Grand Prix that now has been cleaned up and converted to a single-speed with new handlebar tape, no "dork disk" and is looking for a Brooks saddle. It's my commuter, about-town, fun bike.

I will also be picking up the darker blue Grand Prix next week.

If anyone knows anything about possible years of these, let me know.
The serial from the SGP is WD0oo4994 (the small oos are there to indicate that they don't have a slash through them as the first 0 does)

Thanks!

redneckwes

redneckwes

W= Worksop, aka.. Carlton
D= March
0=if it's a Super GP, would indicate 1980 most likely.

I have an "N" a "R" and a "W", Last one I want to find is a G.

j. hughes

Thanks, I had seen a couple of Serial DBs but the extra 0 was throwing me off. 1980. Now I know.
I'll check this thread again with the serial of the GP as soon as I get it.

mrejda

PM me and I'll try to outline some of the issues you might have to deal with. But read through Sheldon Brown's Older Raliegh articles and digest.

Chimera21

I've just picked one of these up off of Craigslist (you can see it here - https://fortlauderdale.craigslist.org/bik/667048323.html) for more than anyone else seems to pay for it, but I figure $25+shipping equals about $100, so whatever. And have you looked at the Fort Lauderdale bikes section of Craigslist? Seriously scary.

Anyhow, the very nice gentleman I bought it from was the original owner and adapted it to his own needs, you can see he's stuck flat bars on there and switched out the levers.

I'd like to replace the bars, brakes and wheels and clean everything up to be nice and functional (Yes, I'm aware those things are going to be more than the bike is worth, I'm fixing it to ride, not to flip, so I guess it's worth it. =). Where can I find parts that fit? I'm sure there are a wide variety of places, but I have never done any sort of 'advanced' work on my bikes (I can change a tire and tube, adjust seats/bars, and lube everything. That's all. I suck.) so a search for 'drop bars' totally overwhelms me.

Any ideas? Links? Give me some specific stuff to look for, and I can do the rest myself - I am resourceful, just a bit out of my depth at the moment.

mark.

I've been trying to find out about this bike with little luck. I've read through Sheldon Brown's articles on the Raleigh Grand Prix but very little relates to my '86 Canadian.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/raleigh26.html
Most of the other postings out there are about earlier models ('70s and before) and the closest I can find are the USA models, but they are not the same.

I'm cleaning up this bike and 'converting' it into a single speed with a flip flop hub. It's just a project or hobby. Aside from the partial disassembly and cleaning of my Paramount, this is the first bike I've built up so please be kind to a newbie!
Here are pictures of the bike. I will update it as I work on it.
https://picasaweb.google.com/mfjull/1...eat=directlink

A couple things I've run into so far...
The bottom bracket seems a bit weird. The bottom bracket itself (i.e. the part of the frame that holds the 'bottom bracket') is 70mm. It's definitely NOT the 'regular' 68mm or the 'oversized' 73mm. We're tempted to think it's the common 'Italian 70mm' but the threading is English (regular threading for the adjustable cup and 'reverse' threading for the fixed cup).... I think anyway - let me know if I'm wrong! You can see the original 'cup and cone' bottom bracket disassembled in the pictures. The only markings on all these pieces is '5S' on the spindle / axle, or what others call a 'spindle #5' (an S5 is what Sheldon recommends as a 'fix' the old Raleighs, so I wonder if this bottom bracket was put in later... but judging by the dirt and wearing I assume it is original). I was hoping to replace the bottom bracket with something like a Shimano U54 but I'm not convinced it will fit. I wonder if I should just replace the same 'cup and cone' parts instead - that, I think, would ensure a good chainline.

The rear spacing of the frame is 130mm which is quite a bit wider than the flip flop wheel / hub I have (120mm). Just with my hand, though, I can squeeze the frame to snug, but I have a sense that spacers might be better - there's plenty of room on the hub axle (it's not quick release).

I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions, and as I work on it I'll share what I learn.

Sheldon also mentions that some old Raleighs have narrower front forks than the modern 'normal' of 100mm. Mine are 96mm and the fork fits on with a bit of effort or 'spring.'

Also, the Sun Tour AR II rear derailleur is all cleaned up if anyone is looking for one. The front is available too, but I haven't cleaned it up yet.

Sixty Fiver

mark - Canadian production of Raleighs started in 1978 and the AR parts, decals, and 5 speed freewheel put the bike as being an early 80's model (if not a 1980).. your 70 mm bottom bracket and 5S spindle indicate you have a 26 tpi bottom bracket and not a modern / standard 68mm with 24 tpi threading.

Raleigh bottom brackets do have small variances between them as QC in this era was not all it could be.

Your bike is one of those confused models that has a Nottingham badge and a made in Canada sticker...

The spacing should be 126mm to accomodate the 5 speed so that means it's been spread by a few mm... because the frame is steel it can be cold set for a 120 mm hub... using a 5 mm spacer on both sides should not have a profound effect on chainline if you are running a mono-speed and the only way to tell is to set things up. Running your chain ring on the inside of the spider can correct small chain line issues

If the existing cups and bb spindle are in good condition you can re-use them and I would replace the caged bearings with loose balls to improve performance and reduce the possibility of those cages coming apart.

You should have the frame checked for alignment as this extra 4mm could indicate that something is askew.

I have always like the Grand Prix, especially the older ones with their cottered cranks, Carlton forks, Wright's saddles, crappy Simplex gear (which always gets replaced with Suntour), Atom pedals, and SA steel rims... they have a certain charm about them that is akin to the Peugeot UO8.

Later models are nicer in that they are cotterless and much easier to upgrade and the Suntour groups of the early 80's are very well made and ultra reliable.

They make for cheap reliable transportation.

top506

Dutch-made GP as it came from the dump:



and the top tube dent.....



...that removed all qualms about selling it like this:



let the record show that no kittens were injured in this conversion. I culled the GB bars and stem and replaced them with other cast-offs. Nothing was hacked, and all the parts now live happily on other bikes.
Top