I highly recommend getting the steel pulley wheels and the fulcrum stops. They are well worth the money, especially if you ride the bike regularly. The plastic ones do fine, but over time will deteriorate and break with no warning. I replace all of mine as a matter of course.

Aaron :)

I ran into the toughest enemy in the process of restoring my '73 Raleigh Superbe, which is rust! I am doing OA bath for the bike but some components turn out to be really rusty that they corrorded? damaged the paint already. I really need you experts to help here. Those pictures below are how the chain guard looks right now. My fenders look the same as well. You should be able to get an idea.


The beginning of the OA bath process
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/7326/img1047v.jpg
After OA bath, the front...it is supposed to be a green Superbe chainguard!
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/9305/img1054ek.jpg

You can see the original paint on the back side. But still it's in pretty bad shape
http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/8731/img1055g.jpg

What should I do? I looked around eBay but can't find anything there. I was hoping to keep it original but seems like I have to go to anothere route now. Probably have to send these parts in for sand blasting, powdercoating? Maybe you know somewhere I can find replacement for them? Need help..I am lost.

Just experienced this same problem and solved it.
My local LBS taught me how to address it. Into the backroom we went, over-inflated the tire, grabbed a Park Tire Seating tool and pulled the tire up into it's seat. He told me I could do the same thing by pinching the overinfladed tire in a bench vise. Left the tire over-inflated for a few days just to insure the tire keeps it's shape. Cool day, learned something new!

Hmm, I always did it by underinflating it. I'll try Steve's technique next time. (Steve is velognome's super-mechanic.)

And frame builder:innocent:

Ah ha! So that's where that bike ended up. Nice find! Well worth the trip.

Figures Park makes a tire seating tool ... I don't have that or a bench vise, but I'm glad the WD-40 + overinflating trick worked!

I only tried OA on painted steel once (a fender) and the results were mixed. It removed the rust but also the box striping. It left a whitish haze which improved a little after I slathered it with lithium grease.

But your results look different - looks like the rust is not gone. Two thoughts: 1) perhaps you did not use a strong enough or long enough OA soak? 2) did you let it air dry after the OA soak? in my experience that caused light "flash rust" to form, which had to be WD40/steelwooled off. (if you use steel wool, be careful on the decals.) I got better results by rinsing and towel drying immediately upon removal from the OA. I also followed someone's advice to rinse with a little baking soda before pain water, to stop the OA's acid action.

Last thought, it looks like the decals changed color. Be careful, I don't know if further OA might put the decals at risk ... I have no experience doing OA on decals, maybe others know more about this. Best of luck.

Oh splendid !

I have a few English 3 speed, all steel in the stable.

A Raleigh rescued from a Garden for future restoration

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=185741

A Hercules which i'm currently trying to sort into a decent shape and eventually kit out as a fulyl racked grocery getter bought from a friend

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=185742


And another Hercules I cleaned up for my girlfriend as a commuter..

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=185743


There are some beautiful machines on display in this thread. Marvellous stuff !

Hi, I'm in London, UK and a newbie here. Although used to renovating folders for my own use and sale (the commuter market is strong) in my spare time, I'm now moving into C&V as increased leisure time allows. The enthusiasm, knowledge and thoughtful & generous advice posted here is truly inspirational. WTG guys & gals! Just venturing into the world of Hercules and Elswick Rod-braked classics...hmmmm! :-)

I'm currently seeking a Rod Braked Hercules myself and see my life vastly improving should I happen upon one ! :)

New to Forum
 

Hello everyone. I'm a newbie to this forum too. I just spent the last two nights reading all 51 pages of this thread and feel like I hit the lottery! What a great thread! It's a bit awkward because I feel like many of you are old friends now (since I've been following your post for the past year) but you don't know me yet. Regardless, (irregardless, if you’re from Alabama where I grew up :>) I'm especially thankful for having found a great group of guys that have an interest in vintage bikes like myself.

Sometimes I enjoy wrenching on these great bikes almost as much as riding them. I just finished my first Raleigh rehab last week, a green 1965 Sprite, which I converted to an AW hub from the original 5 speed Hewitt derailleur. The paint was pretty good, so I serviced the BB, head tube, and wheel bearings. I cleaned the wheels and handlebars with brass wool and waxed the frame and fenders. It came out really nice. I hope to put up a few pics as soon as the snow and ice storm passes and I can take some photos.

For quite some time, I've been watching Craig’s List hoping to find a DL-1 Tourist. It's been months and months. There just doesn't seem to be any of these in the Atlanta area. I had almost resigned myself to buying one somewhere else and having it shipped. Last week, quite unexpectedly, someone posted an ad on CL that simply said "Raleigh Bikes for sale". Inside the ad it mentioned they had three older Raleigh's for sale. There were no pictures or any details mentioned. I sent a reply and asked what the model names were and if any of them had rod brakes. Didn't hear anything back for two days, so I figured whatever they had was already sold or had previously been used as a boat anchor and had the rust to prove it. Just in case, I sent another email and asked if they received my first email and told them I was really looking for a Raleigh Tourist and asked again what they had. On the third day I got a reply back which said "Sorry for the late reply, but I was in a minor auto accident and haven't had a chance to respond. In fact, I have two of the Tourist, a gentleman’s and a ladies model. Since you seem to be the most persistent, I will let you see them first". You could have blown me over with a feather. I couldn't believe my luck. I hastily arranged to meet with them as soon as possible.

I drove over to their home in a very nice, upscale neighborhood and took a look at the bikes. Much to my surprise, they had a DL-1 and a DL-1L that were in unbelievable great shape. I quickly paid the $50 each they were asking and loaded the bikes onto my bike rack. It turns out this couple were the original owners of these two 1974 Tourist’s and they proceeded to give me the owner’s manual, assembly guide, warranty cards, and a "bike tool" that came with the bikes.

Needless to say, I am overjoyed with these two bikes. Since you almost never see these bikes in this area, I asked them how they came to own them. The lady said that they once lived in NJ (where they bought the bikes) and brought them down when they moved to Atlanta 15 years ago. They've been hanging on the wall in their basement ever since. It just goes to show that you never know when the force is going to be with you! I took a couple photos of the DL-1 if I can get them posted below. I look forward to sharing with you guys a lot more in the near future.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=185861http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=185862http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=185863

One of my favourite English three speeds... in one of my favourite places.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/2011pdx1.JPG

Welcome! You'll find such a great group here. And what a wonderful find at such a low price! Amazing. Show us more!

I've got a hump in my front tyre from the same problem, on my '55 Raleigh FG 4 speed.
Even on smooth tarseal it's giving me Carpal Tunnel Syndrome at the front, haemorrhoids at the back, and chronic perineal... well, never mind.

Anyway, I like the idea of pinching the overinflated tyre in the vise, but I have the wonderfull full chaincase which renders removing the rear wheel about as much fun as a colonoscopy.
Unless I can get a second pair of hands to hold the whole bike up in the air while I position the rear tyre in the vise...

Yeah, and both my daughters (19 and 22) started working on bikes at that age, though not with a hammer.
Matter of fact, the 19 year old, still home from college, is coming into to help me out in the shop today!!

Better solution: Bolt the vise to the garage floor. The technique is to grab the tire on either side of the offending area and rock and pull to seat the bead. Then reposition the gripping device closer to ground zero and repeat. Took me about a half dozen pinch-rock and pulls to get the tire seated. Good luck, I used close to 100 psi in a 70 psi tire.

Welcome to the forums.
Great find!

What hub dates do the bikes have? They are on the rear hubs, usually in a format like 74 6 (which would mean June, 1974 in this example). The reason I ask is that the bike pictured looks older than 1974, based on the chain guard and the rear reflector.

I've never had a serious problem with the Kendas on my Stock steel Raleigh-pattern "Westrick" rims. Before I had the Kendas I had a couple of older tires that were on the bike when I took possession of it (not the original Dunlops as they were long wore out 50 years ago even). I put them on and took them off a few times while messing around with the bike and a few times they didn't quite want to seat properly and since they were so old and deteriorating I was loath to over-inflate them.

But it wasn't a problem that couldn't be solved by deflating the tire and re-adjusting the bead a little bit on the rim and reinflating. I don't think it ever took more than two tries to get one to seat. Then again I used to race motorcycles and getting certain tires with wheel-locks to seat on an abused/raced off-road rim is much more difficult sometimes. Bicycle tires/rims are cake in comparison.

But the Kenda K35's were no problem at all for me. I've heard that people who have replaced their rims with alloy CR-18's report some fitment issues sometimes. Some feel they are made a little large or something.

Doohickie, the hub on the pictured bike is January of 1974. The lady's bike (not pictured) was December of 1973.

I'm probably not telling anyone anything new, but I use Turtlewax vinyl protectant, a product like Armorall, but cheaper, when mounting tires. I spray the rim, wipe down the tube, and wipe the seating surfaces of the tire. It all slithers together, and when airing up, just oozes into shape.
It doesn't seem to hurt the brake shoes, after the first scrubbing-off stops.

I learned this on motorcycle tires, which are much harder to deal with.

I use Ideal Yellow 77 Cable Lube for mounting motorcycle tires.

Your looking a little stiff there!

Sixty Fiver, that's a really beautiful bike. I've never seen a Twenty in person. They look very ruggedly built.

I have a general question that I'd like some input on from the forum. I've got to replace the tires on my Tourist's bikes, as they are original. Should the tube be replaced as well? The tubes are the ones with the threaded stem all the way to the rim. As far as I know, these are not made any more. So any replacement would not have threading all the way down. Correct?

I just started a thread: What should I do with my Raleigh Twenty?

Hello all,

While in a dusty garage looking at an old Schwinn last night, I saw this hanging in a dark corner...and wanted it. Without the dust it's in nice shape. The AW hub shows "78," so I presume the rest of the bike would be dated the same (I can picture those graphics coming out of the 1970's anyway).

Clearly there are quite a few things that need to be upgraded (vinyl seat, disgusting - and stretched - chain, rotting tires) and I know that it's probably a lower-end Sports model, but the appeal is, well, probably much of the same appeal that keeps many of you posting your new 3-speed finds here.

My question is: have any of you found a Sports with the bars pictured? I've looked through every photo I can find, and non of the stock Sports bars look nearly as high as mine, though it could be a trick of the cameras. They're about 9" from the stem to the curve near the grips. I'm just curious how close to a stock bike I have, or what may have been changed over the years.

Also, if it looks like a bike that I should get rid of and try again, I'd like to hear it.

Thanks for looking.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_sx2MZTGYOZs/TS...0/P1030847.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_sx2MZTGYOZs/TS...0/P1030849.jpg

There was no bottom of the line Raleigh Sports and your bike just had had it's bars and saddle replaced... am guessing that it's previous owner really liked to sit upright.

The colour is great and if it fits it won't take much to change the bars and saddle.

Hmmm... I thought they had switched to the dorky reflector by then.

You can still buy tubes with fully threaded stems for Schraeder valves... Michelin and Schwalbe make premium tubes like this.

It seems like a lot of people have never seen a Twenty here as many people have been asking about my little bike and a few have been amazed to discover it is also 37 years old... it really could not have come to me in better shape and I then upgraded the wheels and brakes.