mkeller234

This thread is intended to document the process of cleaning up my 73 Raleigh Competition. I purchased this bike from fellow BF member curbtender. It is worth mentioning again that he did a nice job packing and shipping clear across America.

I’ve lusted for a 73 competition for many years. A competition (78 GS) was my first light weight road bike. The 73 has my favorite spec: Capella lugs, sloping fork crown, TA crank and the oh-so-exotic Huret Jubilee.

This poor specimen is pretty crusty. I initially planned to strip and repaint it. After some thought, I think I have convinced myself to leave it as is and to simply treat and clean it to the best of my ability. Repainting would make the components look worse.... it’s a slippery slope.

I’ll need to find some new hardware for the crank chainrings. The front derailleur clamp is broken. One of the tubular rims has a crack around a spoke nipple too. This will take me a while to sort out.

Here is a photo of my starting point, fresh out of the shipping box:

mkeller234

I treated the frame rust with multiple applications of naval jelly. I used rust converter for anything I may have missed. I will treat the interior with frame saver. The remaining paint was polished and waxed. I didn’t get crazy with it, there is only so much that can be done.

gugie 

@Andy_K can get you the proper black spray paint color to touch that up. It's amazing how semi-gloss black exactly matches his Competition.

gkamieneski

Giant head tube. Must be a large size?

curbtender

Looks 100 percent better already.

merziac

Or just the right size.

niliraga 

looks like the 24" and yes, just the right size! very keen to see how this comes along, since my poor '73 came with (and still has) similar rust bubbles.

bikemig 

Fun thread. I have one of the worlds ugliest Raleigh Competitions. Maybe this thread will get me motivated to fix it up!

Andy_K 

As @gugie mentioned, I had very good luck matching the paint on my black 1969 Competition.





And "luck" is definitely the right word, but I think it would work for the OP too. I just bought this:


https://www.rustoleum.com/product-ca...=Gloss%20Black

The OP's frame is in a sketchy area where I'd be unsure whether to do spot touchup or fill in the divots and spray the whole thing. For spot work, the Rust-Oleum is available as a liquid.

Bad Lag

I just squirt the spray into the cap to collect some liquid, then use a brush to do the touch ups.

Kabuki12

Glad to see this classic in good hands. If it is anything like my 1977 GS you will enjoy it. Of course you already know if you had a ‘78. I rode mine Saturday and always a good ride. I look forward to seeing it built.

Splendidtutiona

I did a bit of a wacky write-up on mine here. I used to Spray.bike product and velocals and did a full strip and re-paint. Its a fun ride. I used a Huret Chalenger derailleur set to save a jubilee I bought for it as I intend to just rat around on it for a while and maybe sell it when I move again in a few years. I love these bikes. Super versatile and fun to ride!

Charles Wahl

Nice project!
Don't lose those chromed-screw-with-plastic-half-moon Huret rear dropout adjusters! If your '73 is like my recently-pressed-into-service '72, then the holes in the dropouts are unthreaded (and larger than will allow tapping for a typical Campagnolo-style adjuster). The thread on the screws is non-standard too: M3 x 0.6 rather than M3 x 0.5. The plastic half moon is the "nut" as you have probably found out. While it's possible to put together something that works with a nut on the interior side of the dropout (using a typical screw), I don't think you will find replacements easily for the originals, unless you buy another frame with such Huret dropouts. What does work (if the screws are bent or break) is that the half moon will accept a M3 x 0.5 screw, or so it seems to me -- I mocked it up (just wanting shorter screws) and they seemed solid enough that way, but because my frame has gotten a Sturmey-Archer AW drivetrain, decided the adjusters were more trouble than they're worth (nutted installation, need to adjust the chain tension like any derailleur-less bike).
I know -- TMI.

Oh, and if your Jubilée RD ever dies, then you might be interested to know that the RD on my Competition had already done so (or been sold), but it came with a Shimano 600 "Arabesque" derailleur that had some sort of (looked like factory equipment) washer thing that made it work with the Huret "5 o'-clock" stop. I know there are other kluges out there for this predicament, too.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...r-options.html

mkeller234

gugie and Andy_K that is a great suggestion. Nice work on your competition! I thought about trying a brush applied enamel paint... but the truth is, I hate painting and paint prep! Once I get this bike assembled I want to get an idea of just how crusty it is. I’d like to ride it a bit. Maybe I’ll revisit the idea of spot painting later down the road. I really like the spot idea. I don’t want to lose the original Dow tube decals or California bike shop stickers. I did consider trying to hand paint the gold “competition” decal since I can see the ghost of it on the top tube. Not sure I have the skills for that.

mkeller234

I think it’s a 60cm frame. Same size as my 74 gran sport.

mkeller234

I did notice the adjuster screws being a bit unusual, but I had no idea how unusual. One of the screws is broken off. I think I’m just going to leave them where the are and view them as non-functional decorations. I have see the washer that you are describing, I think I may even have one in a drawer somewhere. Either way, No plans to move away from Huret on this one.

mkeller234

Here are some photos of the bike as found. I forgot to post these at the start of the thread.

mkeller234

Last post of the night, I got the jubilee RD all cleaned up. It was pretty interesting to take apart. I actually had a brand new bag of 1/8” grade 25 bearings for the jockey wheels.

Andy_K 

Very nice work on the clean up! The overall "as found" condition of your Competition was much worse than mine, but I think I've got you on the decal ghosting.



Honestly, when I bought the spray paint for mine, my plan was to just cover up the bare metal from the Gugificazione enough to be able to ride around without looking ridiculous until I was sure I liked it well enough to sink money into a full restoration. But it ended up matching so well that I'm having a hard time talking myself into a restoration. I somehow got matching paint without detracting from the patina, and my bike has genuine patina as opposed to rust and corrosion. So, for now, my ad hoc paint job stands and I'm not sure anyone would even know if I didn't mention it.

Charles Wahl

If the dropouts are not threaded (as I said, mine were not, with hole diameter too large to thread M3 x whatever) then it shouldn't be that difficult to remove the broken screw. As I said, I think that there's no harm in using M3 x 0.5 screws. The OD is the same, the plastic is pretty soft and accepting of cross-threading, and yet they seem to hold tenaciously to the finer pitch screws.

mkeller234

Well, good call! The dropouts were not threaded as you had said. I removed both and found the screw that was in one piece was bent. I’ll get some M3 x .05 screws next.

rustystrings61 

Your bike was in much nicer shape than mine, as found - my write-up is here. I will add that I had good results with the same Black Rustoleum spray paint as @Andy_K - the chrome on my fork had sloughed off like a snake sheds its skin, but the paint blended in nicely - almost like it came that way from the factory.

Splendidtutiona

+1 to all of this. I need now to go get some M3x0.5 bolts for my dropouts. I had the same problem with the originals, one was broken and I think they may be slightly stripped. Hoping the 0.5 pitch will re-thread well enough.

My '73 came with a Shimano RX100 RD, which must have been replaced in the late 80's or early 90's. It also had the wacky "use a campy style derailleur on a Huret dropout" washer. Keeping that washer for sure! The French in the 70's, I tell ya...

Arktiger

You have done a great job on your Competition. I purchased a ‘73 Competition recently and have it disassembled. Looking forward to cleaning it up and reassembling over the Christmas break. Very excited to have it.