beicster 

I put a set of 650b wheels on my 79 Super Course tonight. I went with a set of Pacenti Pari Moto 38's and that is as big as it can go. A set of Weinmann 610 center pulls were just a bit too short so I had to put on a set of DiaCompe 750 center pulls. If the weather cooperates, I will be giving it a test run in the morning.

Ignore the front fender line. I need to cut the struts and I ran out of time. I just set them so they would not rub for now.

[IMG]image by Andy Beichler, on Flickr[/IMG]

Slightspeed

I have Pasela 700c 28s on my '73 and it tracks very well, often in excess of 30 mph, about as fast as I want to go on any bike. My first set of those tires and so far I'm in love. Spent many years on Gatorskins, but love classic look of the Paselas.

PilotFishBob 

Bit busy with the fence, but here's my 1972 SC now cleaned and refurbished. I thought about replacing the Simplex derailleurs, not being particularly fond of plastics in that role - But I was able to remove the oxidation, they look pretty good and shift just fine so for now they stay.

FrkYrPrk

Fugetta bought the fence - what's that buffalo dancing to behind the bike?

Real1shepherd

Looks like a nice restoration, PilotFish!

Fence looks a bit like the New Zealand Game Stay fence I use for deer & elk intrusion. Same weave and slack dimples.

If the Simplex derailleur works well, I see no reason to swap out.

Kevin

noglider 

I rode my Super Course yesterday, and it gives such a beautiful ride that I realize it is worth investing in, even if it's not made from fancy materials. I'm going to refinish the frame and upgrade the components. The upgrades aren't really necessary, as my friction 3x6 drivetrain works well, but I have the stuff on hand. I'm going to switch back from all-rounder bars with extensions to drop bars. I'll also replace the ratty ripped up fenders with better ones and the bottle dynamo with a hub dynamo. I've ridden the bike hard, and yesterday, I rode it gently while riding with my wife. Some bikes like one kind of riding, but this likes both gentle riding and hard riding, on both trails and roads.

3speedslow

Sounds like a good build plan, Noglider. sounds like you're going to keep that frame rockin rolling till it wears out.

Did a group ride on Sat with my 84 SC. Had fun with no problems whatsoever keeping up with the young techbike crowd. Even tore off the front with another rider when the ride leader let us go a mile from the shop.

Great riding bikes.

lugsNleather58

Beautiful restoration. It would be a real improvement to replace the Simplex Prestige derailleurs and levers with vintage SunTour VGXT if you intend to do a lot of riding on it. Jus' sayin'.

lugsNleather58

Yeah, noglider, I'm amazed how "right" my 72 SC feels when I ride it (mine is upgraded to 3x6 like yours). It isn't as light as my 531 DB Paramount or International, but nonetheless feels great on the road. Barring accidents, your SC should outlive you

PilotFishBob 

Thanks, I've had a pretty good run of picking up bikes that clean up really nice. This bike had hung in a garage for 20+ years, so the Simplex gear had very little of the kind of damage I've come to expect on them, they cleaned up amazingly well and look almost new. They actually shift quite nicely, to my surprise - I've never had a set I trusted for any distance before now.

Not sure yet if this SC will be a permanent member of the stable, it rides great but I have a '77 that I'm really fond of as is. I'm not keen to swap components until I know where I'm heading on that, regardless of which one(s) I decide on I have to thin the herd at some point soon.

rossiny

I got the Super course frame only.. Found a 531 fork from another Raleigh and pieces it with newer parts and some new old stock parts
..rides sweet..

nlerner

I've mostly been riding my go-faster road bikes lately, but today I did a 25-mile cruise through Boston's parks and downtown on my '73 Super Course. When I last rode this bike a few weeks ago, the chain broke about 2.5 miles from home (bad rivet). I also realized that the cotters for the old Raleigh crankset I had installed were way loose. I decided to switch to a Stronglight 93 crankset with a 45-t ring. Fortunately, the bottom bracket threading is standard English rather than Raleigh 26tpi.

Here's a pick at the top of a hill in Arnold Arboretum:



I have this bike set up with a Sturmey-Archer 5-speed hub, so you can see lots of activity in this cockpit shot: 3-speed trigger for the right side, downtube Simplex friction shifter for the left side, Titan stem, GB bars, Japanese brass bell, Weinmann brake levers:

IronDan

Here's my Super course mkII. that I picked up recently, it's travelled a bit this one. Originally built by Carlton in Worksop in 1976 it was exported to France and then on to Switzerland before coming back to Blighty

Crashola

Hello Super Course aficionados! I am looking at a local CL buy for a Super Course that appears to be in pretty nice shape. I don't have enough posts yet to put up pictures, but was hoping someone could give me an idea of the vintage year of this bike. It's kind of a light root beer brown color that looks to be original. Close up pix reveal a Sun Tour V-GT Luxe rear DR, Sun Tour 7 (?) front DR, and a stem with a big "GB" stamped into the side. No other identifying stuff that I can see other than maybe a lugged frame, chrome tip fork, and cottered cranks.

Thanks for any thoughts. Meanwhile, I'll try to get my post count up and post pics when I can.

nlerner

Difficult to pin things down based on those details as the root beer brown color was an option from the 60s through about 1975. But the cottered crank likely means it's no later than 1972/73. Those mechs are likely not original.

Narhay

I'd like to follow this project. I've tossed and turned over refinishing a couple frames but anything other than a top end frame can be replaced with one with better paint for less than the repaint. If you get a complete bike with good paint you might even make a few bucks after selling the rest of it off.

Crashola

Thanks. I think you are right about the mechs. I don't see them listed in any online data for the Super Course.

lugsNleather58

The color was listed as "Coffee Bronze" in the catalogs. If the "Raleigh" on the downtube is gold script, then your bike is 1972 or older. If it is block letters (black/white), then it is probably 1973 or later. The SunTour V-GT Luxe rear and Sun Tour front derailleurs were installed after the bike was new. Originally, it had Simplex Prestige derailleurs and shifters. The Simplex derailleurs were made of black delrin plastic, and didn't really hold up to lots of use, although they shifted fine when they were new. After the Simplex units wore out, most folks installed the Sun Tour derailleurs because they shifted better, were more durable, and were still inexpensive in the late 70s-early 80s.
Here is my 1972 SC with a cotterless triple crank installed:

nlerner

Is that a replacement Reynolds decal? To my eye, it doesn't quite look like the original "531 frame tubes" one.

Fwiw, here's the '72 catalog page:

Crashola

Thanks! I pulled the trigger and brought it home yesterday. Lettering on the downtube is gold script, so it is 72 or older. I am still trying to figure out how to post pics, but will do so once I get it down.

And mine is definitely the same color as yours. So "Coffee Bronze" it is.

noglider 

Funny the '72 catalog lists Simplex gear, and the picture shows Huret derailleurs and shifters.

Crashola

Finally figured out the picture posting puzzle. Here's the SC I picked up yesterday.

[IMG][/IMG]

lugsNleather58

Looks beautiful! Just because I'm a retro-grouch, I'd suggest a Brooks B-15 (if you can find one) or a B-17 saddle. If you want to save a bit of weight and add a bit of flexibility, you might consider installing a newer aluminum triple crankset. Otherwise, the steel cottered Stonglight crankset you have will suffice. Even though the frame is Reynolds 531 plain guage, I still really like the way my SC rides. Happy cycling!

lugsNleather58

On my SC, the Reynolds decal is all flaked off. The label you see on the seat tube is a shop sticker, not a Reynolds decal.

Thanks for posting the photo from the catalog. I bought mine when I was 14, and I remember drooling over that catalog back in the day. If I had chosen richer parents, I would have bought the International As it was, the SC was all I could afford, and I liked it so much better than the comparably priced Schwinns (Varsity, Continental, Super Sport).

Crashola

Thanks. A newer aluminum crankset is on my list of things to do. More pressing is the plan to clean it up and take care of some rust. You can't see it on the picture, but there's a couple of dime-sized scrapes on the top tube that have rust and need attention.