Raleigh Strada or Corsa

Hi,

I recently got my road bike out of storage and found the wheels were pretty much shot with a flat spot.

Seems I have been out of cycling too long as the bike shop said the wheels were no longer available, and so different wheels would be required, which means changing the whole rear block, shifter and chain.

I then started trying to find out what bike it is. The problem is it went back to Raleigh for a frame repair and respray so the original name has been removed. The Raleigh handbook is for a 1985 Corsa, but the pictures I have found show it has all the Strada running gear but not the paint job.

Does anybody know if Raleigh produced a Corsa in around 1984 which had all the Strada Exage Sport A450 running gear?

And does anybody know if you can still get Weinmann 9013-622/700c wheels or a suitable replacement?

The bike has served me well doing things like Lands End to John O'Groats in 10 days so I'm loathe to just buy a Giant or Trek and leave it to rot.

So any help would be appreciated on where to track down parts for the bike.

thanks

Exage as a sub-range wasn't introduced until 1988 - and I think it didn't reach road bikes until 1989.

700c wheels are still available - but rear hubs the right width for 6 speed are rather rare. Cassettes to fit them are rarer still. Your choices are to hunt high and low, or update the cycle slightly - you'll need a shifter, rear mech, hub/wheel - and - you'll need to spread the rear dropouts a little to get the new wheel to fit. Threaded rod, washers and nuts and a gentle touch are what is needed to spread the frame a little.

8 speed is probably the option to go for if you want to avoid spending too much.

Thanks for the great reply.

Looks l had my dates wrong, I was standing at John O Groats in 1988 or 1989.

Which would tie in with the Exage range being released.

If I change the rear block and shifter that also means a new chain? Does that mean the main cogs on the crank will need changing too?

Do older style 700c wheels come up on the forum very often? Or am I better trying to find a whole bike with that size on? Or just cut my losses and accept a £250 bill for wheels, block, chain, shifter and fitting?

thanks

finally found some pictures of what my bike used to look like. It is apparently a Corsa from 1988.

I got my local Giant shop to change the wheels with no fuss so it is back on the road.

This is not my bike, it just looked like this. Still cannot see any other pictures of it anywhere.

Thanks for the update. I have a Strada with that exact running gear. Pretty sure my bike is a 1991/1992 model. I really love the profile of the wheels but I haven't ever seen any others like them, so I'm really trying to look after them.

Just to fill in some gaps. The 6-speed Shimano is the older uniglide system in the hub. It's long discontinued but NOS comes up on eBay frequently for sensible money and there seem to be a number of new cassettes that come up from time to time. I've only had occasional problems with the ratchet in the freewheel, but a strip down, soak and re-oil fixes it so I've not needed to replace it. It's a nice nearly silent ratchet as well.

More info on uniglide here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

I decided not to replace anything because, with the indexed shifters, it looks like the whole lot has to be changed.

Nice running gear though. It's smooth and fast. Shimano 105 SLR brake levers are a direct replacement for when the Exage ones get damaged.

My mate had the Strada in 89. It was an odd purple/blue colour. It cost £319 back then. It had 531 maintubes with hi-ten steel triangle & forks. They also came with a relaxed geometary & would take mud guards.

At the same time I had an Elix, slightly racier geo', Exage group, strange blue colour. Cost £349. Loved it to bits. Rode the wheels of it & saved like crazy to get it. I was 16 at the time & would disappear into the Peak District for day. From behind my rose tinted shades I remember the summer being long & hot & every climb easy( must've been the Biopace!)

Above these were the Delta, Road Ace(mmmm) & Record Ace Select.

This consituted the Raleigh Lightweights at the time... Was the Quadra some where in this line-up or a year or two earlier?

As a schoolkid I definitely had the 1990 Lightweight catalogue (which became dog-eared with several months of poring over it....had to wait until I was 21 before I finally owned a Nottingham-built 531c frame!) with the Strada and Elix in it in said colours and the Quadra was in there too.

David

In case it brings back any memories