NOBLEbikes

Bike was in the garbage. Got it out and totally rebuilt EvErYthing! Custom powdercoated and pinstriped, Araya wheels, brooks saddle, avid canti levers w. titanium hardware, Xtr cable casing, custom steel cafe style bars...the list never ends.

joe v

l'Express (1980's Antwerp -Belgium) rattle-can job, before & after :

rotharpunc

Is that a DB9 in the background of the first pic?

SpeedFreek

That Colnago Master is quite pretty. It's also my size, which makes me like it even more. Not a good photo of the fork, but it looks curved, not straight-blades. I like the curved ones better. Very nice, and a really nice buy. I hope you build it up and ride it! Post photos when you have it up and running!!

Gordo Grande

Nice job!

SlimAgainSoon

Yes -- nice job on that rebuilt.

Great to see you guys turning junk into jewels.

Doohickie

MY TURN!

No pics yet, but I just pulled a big frame (maybe 25") Raleigh (of America) with 502 tubing out of a dumpster at my credit unit (ironically while making my car payment). It's a Marathon model, looks to be about 1980 vintage. The back rim is frightenly straight, the front not too bad. The whole bike is kind of gummed up though. The crank and wheels don't spin freely. Frame finish is pretty bad with some rusty spots, so it will need a repaint.

joe v- where'd you get the Reynolds 531 decal for your l'express? I'd like to get that for the Raleigh. I see versions of Raleigh decals around a lot, but the tubing decals seem elusive.

infinityeye

That's a 531 decal dude

Doohickie

That's what I said.

NOBLEbikes

yeh it is a DB9. I own a detailing shop that preps all of the Aston Martins for a huge dealership out here.

-holiday76

why do you want a reynolds decals for a raleigh 502 tubed bike?

rotharpunc

well judging from the bike, it looks like you have an eye for detail! (crappy pun, I'm sleepy lol)

Doohickie

I'm not saying I want THAT sticker; I want one like it that says 502, silly! I was just asking where he got his from so I could inquire about a similar sticker for mine, but for a 502. Now that I've read up on 502, though, I'm not sure it's anything to brag about. It's ChroMoly, but not the best.



That being said, it is what it is. It's a 1983 Raleigh Cycle Company of America bicycle, Marathon model.







In '83, these bikes were made by Huffy from frames sourced in Taiwan. It was high end stuff for Huffy, but nothing to brag about in a Raleigh. Still, it was free and the frame is the right size so I think I'll use it as a donor frame for my wrecked Nishiki. The components on the Raleigh are generic Suntour components that look pretty low-end.







One thing that is outstanding considering the bike came from a dumpster, is that that rear wheel is perfectly true, and the front isn't out by much.

Gordo Grande

I think those might be Suntour Cyclone derailleurs. Not really low end, but not top of the line either. They're excellent derailleurs though.

Doohickie

They're pretty gummed up right now though. Looking at , if that's Cyclone, that's better than the arX derailleur on my Nishiki, according to this site. It lists the Suntour hierarchy as "Superbe Pro, Superbe, Cyclone Mk II, Cyclone, BL, ARx, Vx, AR, Seven, Volante, Honor, GT, and Mighty Click." Maybe once I clean them up a little they'll be good to go.

EDIT: on further review, I can't find any identifying info on the derailleur besides the Suntour name. I looked at some pics of other Suntour derailleurs and it doesn't seem to fit any of them. I think it's just plain old low-end stuff. But I could be wrong.

I think the first thing to do is to put the wheels from my Nishiki Olympic 12 on this bike and see how it rides. If it rides well, then I need to get some good tires on the rims from the Raleigh and repack the rear axle which doesn't roll to well.

If the shifting is funky I'll move the derailleurs from the Nishiki over as well. The brakes seem comparable on both bikes.

mkeller234

+1, I have some lower end suntour derailers (Suntour vx) and I am actually pretty impressed with it. I have other low end Shimano stuff (shimano eagle) and some low end Schwinn branded parts and the Suntour is way way nicer. Thats not a bad Raleigh at all, and it looks like its in decent condition too. Thats a pretty big frame, 63cm?

mkeller234

They definitely aren't Cyclone derailers. I found the specs for the Marathon on Retroraleighs.com. The RD is listed as a Suntour HR, which I can't find any info on. It looks very similar to some of the AR models except for a few things.

https://sheldonbrown.com/retroraleigh...-marathon.html

-Matt

Gordo Grande

I was definitely mistaken on this one. My bad! They're not Cyclone derailleurs. I think they're Suntour ARX, or something similar. Still, I think they're probably solid performers if you can get them cleaned up. As someone else mentioned, I also have some old Suntour VX derailleurs that are still going strong 26 years after their purchase date. In fact, the rear derailleur on the bike I ride everyday is an old long cage VX derailleur

redneckwes

Any...70's/80's Sun Tour RD is next to immortal. I've had Honor/GT equipped machines that shifted great.

sonatageek

I bet Suntour HR is the Honer, steel, 400 grams and touring group. From the good folks at yellowjersey
https://www.yellowjersey.org/stour80a.html

Doohickie

Wow, thanks for all the info, guys. I'll try to run the stock derailleur and see how it does, even though I suspect the aRX from my Nishiki is higher in the family. So to clean up a gummed-up derailleur, should I get some fancy-pants bike shop stuff or is WD-40 okay to use?

-holiday76

They're Suntour 7, in fact in his pic of the front der you can clearly see it says 7.

I've flipped that exact same bike earlier this year. The one I had I dont think had ever been ridden as it had the original tires with the nubs on them still. For what it was (a mid/low end foreign made 80's bike) I think it was pretty nice.

sonatageek

I like any of the citrus based degreasers that they sell at bike shops. A little bit and toothbrush and you should be done is jiffy. WD-40 would most likely work OK and you probably already have some in the garage.

If it doesn't work you can always buy the other product, as the WD-40 certainly won't hurt anything.

brandenjs

I use JB80..It's twice as good...

joe v

My LBS happened to have 1 left!

Joseph