Raleigh Dynatech 1991....

Good afternoon newbie here whose got a Raleigh Dynatech from 1991 that as far as I can tell is 100% original including tyres and brake blocks.

My question is given the condition and age of this bike is it worth investing in restoring back to mint condition? If so I live in Merseyside and was wondering if any members local to me specialise in such projects?

Don’t think much is needed and if I was to find time to do this myself then it’ll be a 46 year old bike before it’s rode again.

Your thoughts advice is would be much appreciated even if it’s negative and you advise so sell.

Frame size 20”

Hey Brian, welcome to Retro Bike

Lovely bike there, it looks to be in great order and won't take much to restore. A good strip, clean and re grease plus maybe a replacement saddle if yours has gone saggy, is all it looks like it needs.

It well worth doing youself and you don't need to rush, just do it as and when you can. It's an extremely therapeutic and rewarding experience

Done quite a few myself:





















And that's the tip of the iceberg!

Many thanks for your reply and loving therapy especially the Orange restoration.

If I’m being honest I wouldn’t know where to start and haven’t the gear, but it does appeal to me...I am a mechanical engineer by trade but haven’t got my hands dirty for years...

So I’ll throw the same question out there for anyone local to Merseyside who does up retro bikes for a living.

Finally how did you get your pics that size? What’s the ideal setting please?

Restoring to mint condition? It is in almost mint cindition!
Just take it for a spin, if it rodes good, why fiddle with it.
The only thing I see that needs some work is the chain, clean and lube it.

Looking at the rim wear (or lack of it) that's never been ridden. I would still take it apart and give it a grease and clean then put it back together with some new cables. That's it for that. It looks like a good going over is all it will need.

Did you buy this off gumtree in the past day or two??? Looks like the one that was in Derby??? If so I was tempted my self as claimed it was only ridden twice since new

I did buy this of Gumtree and it does look like it's only been used twice. I will find a LBS initially to give the bike a good service as per your recommendations and I'm going to attempt to re-glue the seat with some automotive product, unless you guys can advise here on the best adhesive for this task.

I like the bike as I do want to own and use a cool retro mountain bike but i'm tempted to move it on to someone who can really get the best out of this...............let me ponder..is it a great retro starter bike for the price paid...probably.

Like others have said it is in pretty good shape already and will need very little work to get it perfect. A tune up is all it appears to need so I'd be clear with the bike shop that that is all you want them to do (don't want them swapping out parts unnecessarily just because "they're old" and lose that originality). If you're a Mech Engineer I'm sure you've got the skills to tackle any work needed on this bike and if you have any specific questions how to do anything there's more than enough knowledgeable people on here that can help you out.

Going by the decals I'd say this is a 1990 model rather than 91 as they switched to "Dyna-Tech" decals on the down tube in 91. My 1990 Dyna-Tech Mission has the same style decals and I prefer that the Raleigh branding is still prominent .

I really love those early Dynatechs! You've got a great example there, it looks in mint condition.

I also particularly like the Dynatech Mission in the last post. Those lugs - wow!

To answer your question, no , its not worth paying someone else to restore this when all it needs is a clean, maybe some new grease but looking at the bike that should be fine and maybe some new cables.

Someone with no mechanical knowhow could change a couple of cables, there are plenty of online tutorials or even better, as someone has already stated, just ask here, someone will always help. You could always just reverse what you did to take it apart

What are your plans for the bike? are you wanting to restore it to sell or keep and ride? If you are keeping and riding it you could do that now!