sjanzeir

So, now that I came home to visit in Amman after four years, I finally got a chance to pull my old do-everything Raleigh Flyer (ca. about 1991, if the online scans of period catalogs are anything to go by) out of storage where it sat for at least a decade and a half. Here are some pics I snapped today:





















As you can tell by all the dust, crud, and seeping lubricants - and the resultant stickiness - I did not take proper care of this bike, partly because I was young and stupid, and partly because I was young and poor. Even though this was Raleigh's cheapest, entry-level roadie, I actually had to borrow some cash from my aunt to make the dealer's asking price, which was about the equivalent of US$300 in 1995 dollars (about $500 in 2019).

Though it's a rather nice frame - if cheap gas-pipe, as some on here like to dismiss this sort of thing - my biggest concern is the dropouts. After I took off the rear wheel, I could see and feel what may either be wear or compression of the metal where the axle locknuts sit. The dropouts seem to be made of cheap, thin carbon steel.

As expected, pivoting mechanicals - both Sachs Huret derailleurs, shifters, Weinmann brakes, and brake levers - are very sticky, but they do work. I was able to run the (very sticky, very cruddy) chain through all seven sprockets with the (also very sticky) rear derailleur; the front derailleur was movable, but not enough to shift the chain between chain rings with the force of my hand on the plastic shifter alone, so I just left it be, lest I break the shifter.

The brake calipers seem to work, but it does take some significant force at the levers to get them to touch the rims.

The cup-and-cone, square taper (couldn't tell if it's ISOor JIS) bottom bracket and both hubs spin smoothly, with no signs of grinding or binding. The tires are shot, of course.

The Raleigh-branded saddle would need to be replaced - or at least reupholsteted, but it was a cheap saddle to begin with.

I measured a 70mm bottom bracket housing - nothing that couldn't be cured with a BB refacing and/or some reasonably priced Shimano UN unit or another.

I'd be really surprised if that early-90s computer powered up with just a change of battery.

So, there you have it. I know that I'm the one who ultimately has to answer these questions, but I'd like to get some more informed opinions on what to do with this. I'm not sure if the condition of the dropouts is enough reason to condemn the entire frame - and the entire bike, for that matter - but I do feel that there still is some life left in there somewhere, and some enjoyment to be had here.

So what do you say?
Dump? (which I really don't want to do)
Clean, adjust, tire up and ride as is? (Could work, but isn't really satisfying)
Partial or full-on upgrade (new wheels, cartridge bottom bracket, bar tape, pedals... etc. i.e. lots of $$$, far more than the bike is actually worth)?

noobinsf 

It sounds like you know your way around bikes already, and you know the frame is not really worth upgrades. If you're into that sort of thing, clean it up and reminisce about how that bike felt when you rode it back then. You say it's not satisfying as option #2 , but I think you'll surprise yourself with how rewarding it will feel to get it back to show condition with your own hands. Good luck!

merziac

Take your time, get it running, apply elbow grease and patience, tires, lube and clean, see if you get back there.

dweenk

That bike is covered in very fine dust. Has it been through a haboob?

sjanzeir

Extremely rare in the northern part of the country, but the fineddust gets to build up over the years. The storage room it was in has slatted grilles for a door and window, which could keep the rainwater out but let the cold and dust in.

Tiny1990

I say tear it down clean and grease and new cables. The paint looks to be in good shape under the sandstorm dust. Id get new tires too just for piece of mind.

ryansu

I vote for giving the old war horse a good clean, some new grease on the pivot points and if the tires are safe take it for a spin down memory lane and see if it stirs you, if so do a rebuild and enjoy it a second time around and if not maybe some kid who can't ask his aunt for a loan would love to have it for a song

Those Raleigh branded DT shifters are very cool btw.

sjanzeir

Oh, this thing used to feel great. And it was far, far better to ride than any of the Chinese/Indian $## knockoffs that I could've (and, for a while) suffered my way around on. Though cheap, the so-called "Guaranteed high-tensile 18-23 steel" frame felt solid enough to inspire long-haul confidence while having that springy all-day-long feel. A big part of why I liked my (now sold) 4130 chromoly Dahon Speed is because it so closely mirrored that "old steel" feel and took me back to a different time.

sjanzeir

That's starting to look more and more like the plan. But I'm not sure if those old single wall rims will hold up - they're bent way out of shape. They're the very first items that I'll need to address.

merziac

Make it so.

sjanzeir

Oh, the tires are too far gone - just hopeless. And so are the brake blocks. So those will be the first things to go. Thing is, right now I'm having a hard time justifying new quality blocks to run with these old steel rims, so I might go with chinesium blocks at first just to get me a few spins around the block at first, and then decide what to do about it from there.

Aside from a couple of chafes, the paintwork is actually in surprisingly good shape. My "dream build", so to speak, would have me refinish the thing in British racing green with black everything, but that's just some far off dream at this point.

sjanzeir

There's one more immediately pressing issue: transporting the bike to Saudi Arabia with me. My wife, our housekeeper and I are about to drive 900 miles back to Jeddah in our old Benz next week, and with the baggage we've got, it's going to be interesting to try to coax a bike frame and two 700c wheels into the loaded sedan!

I talked to Saudi customs driving into Jordan, and they said I won't be charged anything for the bike on the way back, so, at least that won't be any trouble.

harlond

I look forward to the pictures!

sjanzeir

They were an absolute joy to use as well. Unlike with today's clickety-clack, lawsuit-proof indexed shifters, shifting gears with precision and by feel alone was a real skill that I had to learn with the factory five-speed freewheel, and further refine after I swapped that out for a seven-speed.

hen there was adjusting the front derailleur for as little travel at the left shifter as possible, while making sure the chain never rubbed the cage in high-7 or low-1 gears.

Those were the fix-don't-replace days. Different times.

squirtdad

Roof Rack time ??

hokiefyd 

I usually take a pretty conservative perspective to situations like this. Approach the bike with respect, and let it sort of open up to you as you start to clean it. I'd begin by cleaning and lubricating. I wouldn't replace any components yet. Not because I think the tires and brakes are good or even serviceable, but it sometimes takes time to decide what direction you want to go, or what direction the bike nudges you in. If the tires will physically hold air, and if you can get the brake calipers themselves to work smoothly (after re-cabling), you can adjust the brakes so the pads at least contact the rims and that should get it into a condition where you can ride it up the road or in a parking lot. Not at 20 mph or anything, but just taking your time and feeling it out.

In the mean time, you can decide if you want to replace the wheels with 622s (I presume it has 630s on it now) and, if you do, whether or not you'll need different brake calipers to reach (probably not, but it's possible). Once you have a direction on that, you'll know what you'll need in terms of new parts. Fortunately, drivetrain parts are pretty cheap -- you can buy a used vintage derailleur pair (like '90s Shimano 105 or RSX, just as an example) and, if you decide you can't get the original derailleurs working correctly, this would be a relatively easy upgrade.

I know just where you are. I still have my first "real" bike, a 1994ish Asian-framed MTB that took me hundreds or thousands of miles around town, to high school, etc. I think I'm going to rebuild it this winter. It absolutely won't make financial sense, but it'll bring a tremendous amount of satisfaction to get it on the road and in really nice shape again.

sjanzeir

Good thing is this thing had 622s from day one, so new tires won't be an issue if I decide to keep using the same old rims:





What would like to do, though, is find me a basic, affordable pair of alloy double walls. This €52 Taylor-built set will allow me to just use the same old freewheel, but I will have to rebuild the rear axle with 120-125mm OLD spacers for it to fit. I recall that in 1996 I had already cold-set the frame (forced it apart, really) to get enough clearance for a longer OLD for the seven-speed freewheel to clear.

Hudson308 

Looks to me like that bike should clean right up, and you sound like you know what you're doing. Give it a good bath, replace the consumables and ride it. Maybe slip some cyclocross tires on it while you're at it.

hokiefyd 

Yeah, alloy rims will be nicer in the long run. One plus, though, is you could replace the tires soon to get it going, and then swap them to new wheels if/when you eventually do that. Nice project -- keep us posted with pictures!

John E

I think we pretty much have consensus here. Get some sort of roof or bumper rack and bring it back home to clean up and fix up. Since you can do most of the work yourself, the project should not be that expensive -- tires, brake shoes (KoolStop salmon), brake cables and housings, etc. These old basic road bikes can be very practical and surprisingly fun to ride. (My lowly Peugeot UO-8 gets as much as use as all of my other, nicer bikes combined.)

sjanzeir

Well, we're all loaded up and ready to leave Amman, Jordan for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Problem is, I'm going to have to unload all this s**t and load it up again at the Saudi border crossing! This is going to be exciting.

Classtime 

Hey!
We didn't get a picture after you washed that baby. It looks great from here. (Cleaner than your car which is always ticklish.) I've got brake blocks that work well from 84 so if I were you, I'd use as much of the original bits as possible and those rims will shine up like only chrome can. Upgrade later if ever.

sjanzeir

Oh, the Old Lady has been going through the repair garage gauntlet over the past few days. Jordan being Old Benz Country, I could get (almost) all the used OE spare parts I needed for cheap, with cheap repair rates to boot. Amman also had a day's worth of rain last week, and I never got around to giving Her Highness the good wash she deserved.

sjanzeir

Damn! This thing actually ran a freehub and cassette!



Now I do recall having upgraded my hubs way back in summer 1996 or thereabouts, but I sure as hell don't remember that it was this thatI upgraded to!

I do remember, though, that some primitive bike shop moron in Irbid, Jordan, where we lived at the time, damaged my factory five-speed freewheel trying to unscrew it from the factory hub. In all probability, it was for this - swapping the new hubs into the old spokes - that he tried unscrewing freewheel using the modified input shaft if an automotive transmission, causing cracks in the stator piece where a typical freewheel key tool would go!

I'm extremely hazy as to the dates and times, but I do remember that detail very well, especially having been very upset about it. To the surprise of both of us, the original freewheel still worked smoothly despite the damage.

I also remember having kept the originals. I looked for them around the house and in our storage room, but to no avail. I'm going to need to look much harder the next time I'm home in Amman.

Anyways, water under the bridge.

Here she is, in good company:





Sorry about the messy man-cave; it's (almost) all because of her:

squirtdad

nice feline repair assistant