pbpbbq

I had a little time on my hands this summer and decided I would overhaul my bike, a ‘79 Raleigh Professional. I went into this novice and come out of it only slightly more educated about how these machines work. But, it was a fun trip.

Here are the basics, including some before/after shots. I'd written out a more involved narrative about the process, but I'm not sure everyone would be into that. So, I'm going to just post it (and some additional photos) as a reply to this thread. Feel free to skip.

What I Was Working With

• Raleigh Professional MkV in gold, bought in August 2015
• Prior (maybe original) owner had replaced most, but not all, components from the original stock set:
  • SR Royal 5 170 mm cranks with 52 and 42-tooth LA-5 chainrings
  • Campagnolo Super Record rear derailleur
  • Shimano Dura Ace front derailleur
  • Dia-Comp New Gran Compe brakes front and back
  • Shimano BL-6402/600 Ultegra 600 brake levers
  • Campagnolo Record downtube shifters
  • Campagnolo Record seat-post
  • Campagnolo Record Strada headset
  • Brooks Team Professional saddle
  • Time clipless pedals
  • Cinelli 1R quill stem
  • Cinelli 64 Giro d'Italia handlebars
  • Regina Extra America 6-speed freewheel (14-15-16-17-18-19)
  • Phil Wood 2nd generation front and rear hubs
  • Phil Wood 1st generation bottom bracket
  • The rims I bought it with were older Mavic GP4s; I had those replaced with new basic Mavic clinchers in 2016
• The paint/markings were different from most MkVs I've seen online. Here's the only other similar one I've found online: https://steel-vintage.com/raleigh-pr...ke-1979-detail).

What I Did/Had Done to It

• Replaced chain (SRAM PC-870)
• Replaced quill stem draw bolt (TI-Cycles M8 150 mm w/new cone wedge)
• Replaced bottom bracket (Phil Wood, 68 x 113, +4 on the drive side)
• Replaced headset bearings
• Replaced dropout adjuster set screws
• Replaced brake and derailleur cables
• Media-blast and powder-coat frame (Pike Powder Coating, Allston, MA)
• Chased bottom bracket threads (Landry's Bicycles, Boston, MA)
• Cleaned all components, greased, reassembled

What it Looks Like Now

pbpbbq

And, not that you asked, but here are some "process" pics that show the frame as it existed before refinishing:


















Here's what our dining room looked like for most of June/July. I cleaned/serviced my wife's bike (an '86 Peugeot P-16) while I was working on my own




And, here's the original BB -- the nice PW folks tried to service it, but the axel was busted and the shell had some serious play. So, they offered me a new one at a little discount. Still, this old one was really cool and heavy:

merziac

pbpbbq

Looks and sounds like you did a great job.

Can we have some good before pics to see the paint condition?

We almost always advocate to leave paint original unless horrible but it looks to be a good PC job on this.

Any plans for livery?

merziac

I was asking as you were posting, Tx!

niliraga 

nice! the finish on this one seems much finer/thinner - more like wet paint - than what I'm used to seeing in most "after" photos from powdercoating shops.

nlerner

I’ve had Pike do three frames for me now. Excellent quality work.

USAZorro

That's going to be a sweet rider. (never been a fan of the fastback stays). A bit sad to see the original livery lost, but have agonized over the same decision multiple times, and an attempt at 100% original has always come out the loser. Enjoy the journey of the project and the rides that come at the end.

pbpbbq

I'm sort of torn on the livery. I'm handy enough in Adobe, and considered reproducing the original "Raleigh" and "Professional" wordmarks, plus the other stuff on the seatpost. But, to be perfectly honest, I'm slightly averse to doing the "nice" decals that require an additional clear coat (simply because I don't want to take this all apart and clear coat it). There seem to be a lot of vendors out there who will do the printing, but I haven't dug deep enough to see which one might be the best option for me here. So, for now, it's basically blank save for the head-badge.

pbpbbq

Totally, they were nice folks and did great work. Wish I were a richer man and could do business with them regularly (not that they're even especially pricey, just, you know).

pbpbbq

Yeah, I was sort of surprised at that -- the serial number on the BB is still clear as day! In the end, I sort of like it, especially because it preserves what was going on with the lugs.

pbpbbq

Sort of an aside, but as I was trying to find out more about the livery I saw this older post: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...nt-scheme.html

The photo link seems dead but based on the comments and the note about Greater Boston, that bike and mine could be siblings.

merziac

Cyclomondo on efbay advertises that you don't have to clear coat theirs if you don't want to.

You might consider doing the ones you can with minimal disassembly.

pbpbbq

you’re right man. I emailed the Cyclomondo dude to see if he’s ever done a Raleigh set like mine. His site shows a Carlton set that has the same down tube and seat tube letter styling, albeit with the black and white inverted.

I also saw another example of an MkV that shares my setup: https://www.bikeforums.net/18756488-post34.html