Newbie Here. Sun Stanga?

Thanks, that's a good Idea, will take a look tomorrow.

Will also get some chain lube while I'm in town.

There is no need to try and lube up/clean out the hubs then? Was going to take a toothbrush to them if there is visible grit etc.. :?

Also there was/is some moss between two of the gears on the rear hub so guess its been stood for a while :shock:
 
I assume that the stem is going to be lowered before its ridden. Looks like it's out past its limit.

I would inspect the drive train (chain, cluster, derailleur pulleys, chainring) and if there is wear there, I'd replace the chain. A worn chain will ruin all those moving parts pretty quickly, and you'll pay a pretty penny for replacement parts on a bike that old. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, Google chain stretch.

WD40 is harmless for chains. Don't believe the hype on this one. Yes, it has some degreasing properties, but even so it is a great general purpose lubricant, and a chain will work much better and last for thousands of kms with WD40 on. WD40 is beneficial because those degreaser components draw the oil into places where regular oil struggles to gt in. Anyway, in terms of chain life, it's much more important to clean the chain regularly than which lube you use.
 
Hi, you may be able to date the frame, it looks early to mid seventies and should have a serial number under the bottom bracket, hopefully it will start with a 'W' ( Worksop ) or 'N' ( Nottingham ). Raleigh had taken over Sun in the early sixties and Sun Cycles at this time were the lower badged range of 'racers' below the Carltons. The tubing is probably 'Truwel' which was the standard low to middle range tubing for Sun and Carltons at this time. Hope this helps, I have a build a Carlton Corsa from that age for my son and its still a good bike to ride. Terry
 
haha! i had read the gumtree advert and kindof assumed it has been used up untill the day he had sold it! yeah a bit of common sense cleaning away any mangyness

I thought if you replaced a chain you should replace the casette because of uneven wear and all the rest? (although i have replaced chains and not touched anything else...but i thought that was against the general consenus.

Anyway having had bearing problems after using wd40 in my younger days, i can say its not all hype...i do think however that you can use pretty much any oil you want on a chain.

Just wipe it with a rag with some clean engine oil on it, that's what i used to do when i was slightly more skint than i am now.
 
You might have found you way to Spokesmann's excellent scans of Raleigh group catalogues fom the 70's but if not, here's your bike in all its technicolour glory:




sun2.jpg
 
That catalogue picture is awesome! Thanks for that! Doubt I'll manage to find the mud guard things for sensible money so will probably ignore that, and the same with the seat.
Ive changed my seat to a tattyish sprung white trimmed seat and i think it looks a lot better! :)

Ive been snapping photos by the way. (WARNING. HUGE PICTURES!)

Badge
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .46.12.jpg

Random Photo
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .02.24.jpg

R..? Raleigh?
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .47.04.jpg

Shifter
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .48.39.jpg

Rear sprockets/derailer etc
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .49.39.jpg

What is this logo meant to be? I cant make it out?
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .54.04.jpg

Pedals
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .54.45.jpg

What is this logo meant to be? I cant make it out?
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .55.29.jpg

GB..?
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .56.13.jpg

Serial No#
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .59.47.jpg

The Whole Bike
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6759027/2011-06 ... .57.00.jpg

Do people think the seat is better? (Ill get it covered and properly repaired, but i quite like it on there, its not as sleek as the other seats Ive seen in this section. but its more comfortable for my lanky arse :LOL: ).

I Also cleaned off the chain (I filled two rags with small lumps of old oil, grit, soil, etc!) and derailers and re-oiled them (the oil cost me £3.99 so thought why not get the proper stuff.) Also oiled the springs on the brakes to make them open faster after use. also adjusted the rear brake so it works now.

Rides quite nice! Still getting used to it but really like it. Its bloody loud though! :x :LOL: Think it may be the chain, it is quite slack and has a fair bit of sideways movement. I want to change it, my dad said I shouldnt need to....
Also the rear set of cogs (on the shaft of the wheel) seem to have slight play (not much, but I noticed it when wiping them down).

These are all 'before' pics by the way so please ignore the mess all over the rear sprocket/derailer area...
 
Also I googled 'Chain Stretch' and came across this:
http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

"If the rivet is 1/8" past the mark, you have left it too long, and the sprockets (at least the favorite ones) will be too badly worn. If you replace a chain at the 1/8" point, without replacing the sprockets, it may run OK and not skip, but the worn sprockets will cause the new chain to wear much faster than it should, until it catches up with the wear state of the sprockets"

I think me and my dad have misscounted/measured incorrectly... as the sprockets all look correct (Nice straight edges with sharp corners on top on all sprockets). Will get a new chain next week on my ride into town just in case though... are there special chains I need for an older bike like this......?
 
Hi, working on the first three digits, your bike was : -

W = Worksop built
E = in April
5 = 1975

Terry
 
Thanks a lot! :D

So now I know what it is.
When it was made.
And how it should look!

All within the space of around 24hours! (Before which I would have pointed and said "Hey, Look! An old bike!" :oops: )

Should I start a members bikes project thread now? (seeing as I can now write "1975 Raleigh/Sun Stanga" as the title)

Thanks again, huge help! :D
 
That red circular logo on the seat tube is the Tube Investments Group logo - this company was the owner of Raleigh and various other bike brands, including Sun...

GB - the maker of the stem and probably handlebars as well - was a British bike components manufacturer. The brilliant Classic Lightweights site - http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/components.html - has lots of information about their various products.
 
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