Hi all,
I thought I'd add a thread to follow the doing up of my Raleigh Ravine. Not as glamorous as most of the bikes on here, but it means a lot to me as it was the bike I doscivered MTBing on, and has accompanied me to the various parts of the world I've lived (Colchester, Liverpool, Singapore, Manchester, Wakefield).
I stripped it a couple of weeks ago, managed to get the BB out on Saturday after help from my generally unhelpful LBS. This is the same place that when I took my Rockhopper in to get a new rear mech hanger, said they couldn't source one, a job that took me all of a minute to do when I got home. Also they suggested I not bother with my old frame because "It's not worth it". So much for an LBS passionate about bikes :roll:
Anyway, I digress. So, frame is stripped and right now with a local powder coaters who are charging me £20 for a new paint job (unfortunately not the original pearlescent violet). I plan to use the aftermarket wheels I bought a few years ago (Merlin-built FIR 123 rims on LX hubs with a Paralex front), plus probably the LX rear mech I also added. Everything else is needing to be replaced with new parts maybe, or any retro stuff I see going (I may retain the Zoom seat post though). The point is to make it the bike I wanted to make it when I lusted after certain trick components, rather than a faithful reproduction of the original, so I hope any purists forgive me
I have a pair of Mag 10s ordered (cheers Jez!) to replace the old rigid forks, some SRAM V brakes (cheers Chris!) to replace the awful 400LX cantis plus Gripshift and SRAM levers (also from Chris) to replace the awful plastic Shimano levers.
Need new headset and replacement bottom bracket now. I'll keep you posted
I thought I'd add a thread to follow the doing up of my Raleigh Ravine. Not as glamorous as most of the bikes on here, but it means a lot to me as it was the bike I doscivered MTBing on, and has accompanied me to the various parts of the world I've lived (Colchester, Liverpool, Singapore, Manchester, Wakefield).
I stripped it a couple of weeks ago, managed to get the BB out on Saturday after help from my generally unhelpful LBS. This is the same place that when I took my Rockhopper in to get a new rear mech hanger, said they couldn't source one, a job that took me all of a minute to do when I got home. Also they suggested I not bother with my old frame because "It's not worth it". So much for an LBS passionate about bikes :roll:
Anyway, I digress. So, frame is stripped and right now with a local powder coaters who are charging me £20 for a new paint job (unfortunately not the original pearlescent violet). I plan to use the aftermarket wheels I bought a few years ago (Merlin-built FIR 123 rims on LX hubs with a Paralex front), plus probably the LX rear mech I also added. Everything else is needing to be replaced with new parts maybe, or any retro stuff I see going (I may retain the Zoom seat post though). The point is to make it the bike I wanted to make it when I lusted after certain trick components, rather than a faithful reproduction of the original, so I hope any purists forgive me
I have a pair of Mag 10s ordered (cheers Jez!) to replace the old rigid forks, some SRAM V brakes (cheers Chris!) to replace the awful 400LX cantis plus Gripshift and SRAM levers (also from Chris) to replace the awful plastic Shimano levers.
Need new headset and replacement bottom bracket now. I'll keep you posted
