Funny, they're all from around the same time, they're all tall, and they're all in pretty good condition. And they're all priced too low.

Kroil is your friend! Its allowed me to save many bolts, stems and seatposts that others thought beyond redemption.

Penetrating-Lubricating Oils

Maybe priced low for NYC, but not for around here. Sure, there are some old Raleigh 3-speeds that local flippers are listing at twice the price (and re-listing every day), but they'll languish. These will likely sell. And those three are priced about twice what I've paid for various Sports, but those tended to need a lot of work.

Wow, big differences in the prices in our markets. Do people use 3-speeds for commuting much there? They do in my neighborhood. And they are very theft resistant.

@gster: one thing I have noticed on Gliders is how much (and how badly) the paint fades. My Glider was the same lovely bronze green that yours shows on the steerer tube, but has faded much like yours to a pale, sickly green. I rarely see that type of fade on Raleighs, yet presumably these were made in the same factory. Do you think the Gliders were spec'd with poorer quality paint?

It's hard to say... Raleigh would have to hit a price point on these bikes. I suspect it's the level of neglect. I have a green Glider (72/73) with very clean and shiny paint. The one on the recent post was clearly left outside for a very long time.
The BB and stem bearings were dry as a bone and very rusty.
The frame and forks are both straight and I have enough parts to put a "Bitsa" together.
Attachment 565563

Those bars are just there because they were handy.
We bought another Tourist on the w/e for the TV show I'm on.
Men's with a nice B66 saddle, pump, Raleigh axle nuts and 2 new tires thrown in.... $250.00 CDN.
I've also bought a pile of 22 T cogs to modify.
Pictures to follow.

There is a nice Tourist on CL in SF right now. I don't need another but I'm considering buying it because it has the rack /sigh

I have a Tourist with a full chaincase that I bought a few years ago. I love the idea of owning a Tourist, but I do not ride it very often.

It is easier to hop on my beater Raleigh Sports and run errands, and I leave it unlocked for short periods. The Tourist feels like a museum piece to me. I still ride it, but somehow I don't have the carefree pleasure of riding a bike that I am not worried about losing.

Is this nuts?

So many pages of goodness...some truly beautiful steads. I remember reading the 1st 130 or so pages when I had a Raleigh sports. Now I've read another 100 or so, and am determined to get through it all. There's so much good info!
I have a parts question - The DL-1 I bought is missing the upper rear quarter of it's chaincase. This seems to be a popular item to be removed and not returned to the chaincase. So am I ever going to find this part on Ebay or elsewhere? There are so many parts being sold but this is something I've yet to see.
I think I've made enough postings that I'll be able to post images now...if I can just get my computer to hang in there long enough to do that :) It works fine for about 20 mins and then starts to overheat. It's getting too old for a laptop...2008 model.

[IMG]https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4224/3...313d0beb_k.jpgIMG20170527123228 by arty dave armour, on Flickr[/IMG]

Managed to get one loaded before overheating!

That is a handsome bike. It does stand out. I can see how you wouldn't want to leave it alone in town. When I'm up north, it's the other way around for me. It's the Sports that doesn't get ridden much. The roadster is far superior on the rough pavement and unpaved roads here. Poor road condition is where the roadster really shines. So if you live in a place where there's smooth roads you don't really see the full advantage of the roadster. Still, I wouldn't call it nuts. How could any C&V biker not enjoy at least an occasional ride on something as cool as a DL-1

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4271/3...900d665e_k.jpgIMG20170527123432 by arty dave armour, on Flickr

The bikes not in as good condition as some. You can see why I think a mudguard re-paint is called for.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4247/3...17551339_k.jpgIMG20170527123455 by arty dave armour, on Flickr

Missing chaincase part. I didn't install the front mudguard as I'm needing to tweak the forks into trueness.

I had more of a look over the DL-1 and I guess you could say it's looking a bit shabby. Most of the pin-striping is gone and you can tell that someone has done some rattle can touch ups. What I didn't notice before was where the rust has eaten holes right through the mudguards on the non-drive side :(
On a happier note I did take it for a shake down ride and it is a real pleasure, the hub works well and the drum stops as good as a rear brake can. You can certainly get up some speed with the stock gearing!
I hadn't anticipated the comfort of the uprightness - not something I'd felt before on an upright bike - I'd always felt 'cramped'. But the DL-1 rides like it's powered by it's own Britishness once it gets underway. I had a flashback to when as a kid riding 3 speeds I would pull on the bars to transfer more leg power to the drive-chain; the DL-1 rides just like this.
Big smiles for miles

State of the Art Paint Booth
 

I decided to tackle the Green Glider frame yesterday.
Attachment 565804
It really was a mess, faded paint, deep rusty scratches and reflector stickers added front and back.
Time for a quick sand and repaint.
Attachment 565804

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I think I have enough parts in the shed to turn this into to something.
Attachment 565808

DL-1 parts are pretty hard to find. Been hunting mudguards for mine for a while now. Not considering the new ones from Yellow Jersey. Yours don't look as bad as mine were. If the holes aren't too large, you could Bondo them pretty effectively. Personally, if I were repainting those I would add the white blaze to the rear. I miss that on the later bikes.

Mine is a bit shabby too. The seat and mudguards were toast and I did have to touch up the frame, but the chrome was surprisingly in reasonable shape. There was some rust on the inside of the rims. I wire brushed it out and gave the insides a coat of silver Rustoleum. There's still a couple of stuck spoke nipples. I drip on some penetrating oil from time to time hoping they will eventually free up. The wheels still need a bit of truing. But shabby as it is, it's still one of my favorite rides.
http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...ch/69dl001.jpg
http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...sech/7116b.jpg
http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...ily%20ride.jpg

This might be a bit blasphemous since my new wheels aren't vintage. I used Rhyno Lite rims, brass nipples, straight gauge spokes. Sturmey archer 70mm front drum with new SA lever, and SA 2-speed kickback with coaster brake rear. Still have to shorten brake cable. Have new chain and black cork "blend" grips, along with a Knog "OI" bell. Found a lightly used Brooks B67 S on CL and bought a new Kalloy seatpost. Rides like a dream.https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4272/3...8137de2d_z.jpgRhyno Lite, Sturmey Archer 2-speed kickback, Brooks, Raleigh Twenty by velocivixen, on Flickrhttps://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4272/3...94d2aa72_z.jpgRhyno Lite, Sturmey Archer 2-speed kickback, Brooks, Raleigh Twenty by velocivixen, on Flickr
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4239/3...f2a3a20a_z.jpgRhyno Lite, Sturmey Archer 2-speed kickback, Brooks, Raleigh Twenty by velocivixen, on Flickr
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4244/3...117ed20e_z.jpgRhyno Lite, Sturmey Archer 2-speed kickback, Brooks, Raleigh Twenty by velocivixen, on Flickr
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4280/3...a7352077_z.jpgRhyno Lite, Sturmey Archer 2-speed kickback, Brooks, Raleigh Twenty by velocivixen, on Flickr
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4233/3...9321ea00_z.jpgRhyno Lite, Sturmey Archer 2-speed kickback, Brooks, Raleigh Twenty by velocivixen, on Flickr
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4233/3...c9993a5b_z.jpgRhyno Lite, Sturmey Archer 2-speed kickback, Brooks, Raleigh Twenty by velocivixen, on Flickrhttps://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4248/3...32319109_z.jpgRhyno Lite, Sturmey Archer 2-speed kickback, Brooks, Raleigh Twenty by velocivixen, on Flickr

Wow, excellent work. What's the kick back like to ride?

That bike looks like it came off the showroon floor!

Glider Progress
 

I bought some tires today and some bearings for the BB.

I've put a '72 hub on the back and we'll see how it works out. Front rim is a Dunlop.
Attachment 565859

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It's quite amazing how well 50 year old British chrome will clean up.

Thanks @ BigChief & @gster. Your glider is slick. I can't wait to see how it progresses.
The 2-speed kickback takes practice. You don't really "kick" back, cause if you do you'll slam on the coaster brake and skid. Mr. VV did that as he cruised down the driveway!
It's a very small "flick" - doesn't take more than that. Another thing I noted is that when I'm coasting, if I move my pedals backwards even a very slight amount the gears change. So if I just want to coast and not shift a gear, I must keep my feet perfectly still.
I am going to have to experiment on how to apply the coaster brake and not shift a gear. I think I can't be tentative with the coaster brake. I need to commit and apply brakes more rapidly.

The other thing is having your foot in the correct position when you stop. On a traditionally geared bike I stop, then do a quick backpedal with my left foot to get my "starting" pedal in the correct position. Can't do that on this bike. You just apply the brake. I'll just be mindful to have my left pedal in the correct position when I stop.
The kick-back hub comes with a 22t dished cog, but I went with a dished 18 tooth cog. I want the harder gear to be my usual gear and the easier one for hills.

Now about the saddle. The B67 S was reportedly only ridden a total of "5 times", and sellers wife didn't like the springs. There are two deep "sit bones" divots on this saddle, so either she road it soaking wet or her 5 rides were really long. You can tell by the stiffness of the leather that's it's very new, but not sure how those divots got there.

That's looking sharp. I spent hours making a Rudge Sports downtube graphic and bought a copy of the original 20-30 sticker for my Rudge. But now, as I look at it, I decided I like it much better all black with nothing but the headbadge. There's something about the stark black and chrome that fits the stripped down style.
Just something to consider if you end up going scorcher with this project.

Thanks BC and VV.
It's raining all week here in Toronto so I'll have to wait 'til next weekend to (hopefully) finish up. Years ago, I tried adding some gold vinyl pin striping to a project. It looked good for about a month and then started to peel and flake off.
This is just a spray can "satin" finish".

Big Chief your DL-1 looks great with no mudguards. I also prefer the Raleigh font on the 'after' chainguard - is it a different chainguard or did you redo the original? I'm going to do the same - remove the mudguard and chaincase and enjoy riding the bike while I'm patching and painting and waiting to buy the missing chaincase part.
In my parts stash I have had for a long time a lovely battery operated Miller headlight with what I think is a handlebar button for a horn. I've never tested it - hopefully it works coz I think it will look great on the DL-1.
Gster looking good - satin black is a great choice!
Velocivixen - I had a kickback coaster as a kid and I could never work out what gear it was going to be in after braking or accidentally bump changing gears. All part of the fun. Are those cork grips comfy? I've been considering some for one of my rides.