cudak888 

Thank you!

I find it very hard to take any other bike out with this one around. Even though I have IGH bikes that are lighter than this, they can't match the '51 for panache.

-Kurt

BigChief 

Wow, lovely bike and so well done. A real pleasure for me to see bikes like this. What we need now is a leather bag shaped to fit around the springs of the B66 like you see in the old catalog pictures. I used the same approach as you, only with a canvas bag soft enough to conform to the shape of the B66.

noglider 

That's a class act. You say you ride it a lot? Great. What kinds of trips?

cudak888 

Believe it or not, that crappy little bag (it's not that great - the edges aren't stiff enough to keep things absolutely secure) comes on Panama Jack edition Huffy beach cruisers. Mine was a yard sale find.

I'm partial to it over the larger bags as it's not such a huge visual zit behind the saddle (and I don't run into it when pedaling) but the straps are too long, and I haven't made new holes for it. Yet. Not so much fun to take it off or put it on.

Shorter trips than I'd like. It basically does the same job as your Florida Rudge as a do-all sort of neighborhood runabout. Thing is, I try to make sure this one is always ready to go and easy to access. Between convenience and looks, it winds up getting used more than anything else. Makes it effortless to zoom out of the Batcave* and get stuff done.

-Kurt

*Come to think of it, this Raleigh wouldn't have been out of place in The Batman (1943)...

cudak888 

Question: I was going to pick up two Specialized 26x1-3/8" tubes to replenish my stock, and noticed that the boxes reflect the conventional rubber-lined Schrader valves (as does Google Images search).



Should I disregard the box art and go for them anyway?

-Kurt

Ferrouscious 

We switched over to QBP's tubes for the less common sizes about a month ago (costs a bit less). If you are replenishing stock, I would say get the tubes even if they aren't fully threaded. Just out of curiousity, I checked the Specialized website to see if they mentioned the fully threaded stem for any of the Schrader tubes, and they surprisingly did not.

ThermionicScott 

Yep!

cudak888 

Excellent; will pick up a pair tomorrow.

-Kurt

ThermionicScott 

If they've pulled a switcheroo in the time since I bought the one I have, let me know...

cudak888 

So far, the Schwalbes have performed admirably and they've inspired me to do something else on the '51: Find out what has been plaguing the front headlamp.

It didn't take long to find a few issues. Besides the dried-out insulation, there was a small solid wire just twisted around the bulb socket holder as the power contact to the switch assembly. Not ideal.



A bit of soldering and new wires later:



Much better.





FYI, haven't had a chance to stop by a shop with Specialized tubes. Picked up some generics in the meantime just to have on the road.

-Kurt

Salubrious

A handsome machine sir!

Lyotard made a chrome steel version of their iconic 460, the latter of which the Sylvan Touring is a sort of copy. That chrome version is more rare than the alloy versions, but looks the part on a bike such as this.

cudak888 

Thank you!

I'm not much of a fan of Lyotard pedals in general (or the 460's penchant for cracking their shafts: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-danger-2.html), but the MKS set was chosen only because they were the only half-suitable pedals I had spare when I split a rubber block.

The rubber-block platforms I'd installed weren't original in the first place, so I chose to go with reliability over trying to find another block.

If I could dig up a wide enough set of original Raleigh rubber blocks, I'd probably swap - but I'd want to cinch the blocks from rotating if so.

-Kurt

Salubrious

I read that thread just now- never heard of that before. I think he just had bad luck; The 460 has been my favorite pedal since the mid 1970s. Certainly hearing this isn't great news, but if this were really a problem (like the Pivo death stem or the like) I think we would have heard about it prior to this! Lyotard was making that pedal for decades with almost no change in the design. As it is I've been running the steel variant (which, other than being chrome steel looks exactly like the alloy 460) for the last 12 years on my Raleigh Superbe. It may be that the steel version is an entirely different beast; other than lubrication I've not had them apart. But they are rare- I've only seen two pair ever. Many people think Lyotards are really cheap and some of them are but they did make some of the easiest spinning pedals made anywhere.

fishboy316

Man, I Totally LOVE it!

cudak888 

Seems like he's not the only one, but the whole three-piece shaft and raceway thing has just never appealed to me. I do have another model of steel Lyotards (don't remember which) on my '61 Paramount though, and they've put up with a fair amount of abuse.

Still wouldn't want to put them on the '51 though. If anything de-thrones the MKS pedals, they'll be Raleigh rubberblocks.

-Kurt

BigChief 

It's hard to find those early Raleigh pedals with the flared quill end plates. In all my years of hunting and collecting parts for English roadsters, the only pair I have ever found came on my 51 Rudge. They are one of those things I'm always on the lookout for.

Salubrious

I might have a set of those if you're interested. Can't say what shape the blocks are in, but FWIW I've bought new blocks that I've managed to fit on them off eBay. They didn't look original but unless closely examined they looked the part.

BigChief 

I don't think the blocks are important. It's the shape of the end plates that give them that distinctive look. From what I can tell from catalog images, Raleigh used that same pedal design from sometime in the 1930s to the mid 50s. Unfortunately, people replaced many of the old pedals instead of rebuilding them.
Did a quick ebay search. Yikes...70 bucks...but that's them.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-195...cAAOSwKhhdpgLL

cudak888 

I think I actually did pick up a set of these once, but - and I'm relying on some really fuzzy memory here - they were narrower than usual. Ladies' pedals, possibly? Don't really remember. I have an all-original '51 ladies Sports in the shed that has a set on it in similar condition to the eBay pedals; I'll have to measure the width.

The pedals I had on the '51 prior to the MKS Sylvan Tourings were from the 1960's at least. They did not have the end plates and were also on the narrow side - but at least the end plates didn't catch my 12W shoes.

So even if I did find Raleigh rubberblocks, they'd still have to pass a few rideability checks before I could even convince myself. I'd probably have replacement rubber blocks 3D printed with extended end tabs to index against the end plates. It wouldn't be entirely original, but at least my feet won't roll forward while riding.

-Kurt