Raleigh Road Ace: apologies and moral dilemma :-/

RooKilo":1njy1a8l said:

Option 3 to begin with, tidy it up and see how you get on with it . I decided to sell mine as it was too small, the new owner has renovated it and it's always being used now as a training bike:

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Now I think that looks really nice, mine needs a strip and examine and rather than trying to recreate original, tempted to do this.

Strip

...so I've started the project!

Stripped the frame and only the BB remains. I just need to get the removal tool and I can whip it out and clean it. It seems to be some Shimano unit, so I'll have a look and decide whether to try to save a little weight by replacing it.

Everything seems great, I've just cleaned the frame and forks and it's looking much better already. The frame is remarkably light.

I've removed the old steel headset and I've prepped the new, lighter one for fitting.

Next stage is to do the BB, then clean all the components before slowly reassembling.

I also checked the tension in both wheels and they're somewhat low, so there's a nice opportunity for improvement.

If anyone's interested I'll take some pictures and/or weigh frame & forks. Just let me know.

Re: Strip

TimBish said:

I'll take some pictures and/or weigh frame & forks. Just let me know.

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Always interested in photos

Update

So, I finally got the bottom bracket off. It was feeling really rough and once I had it open it was obvious was the problem was: the grease had become so thick and sticky it was like glue. It seems to be in ok condition, though, and it weighs in at 299g, which whilst not featherweight compares not too badly with most BBs. It certainly doesn't justify spending any money to lose what will probably amount to 100g. I can much more easily lose 100g from my belly!

8803?

...so if I'm understanding this right, it would appear that it's likely to be a Type 8803, as shown here:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/v/M ... ewsIndex=1

Yup thats the one

kermitgreenkona88":26dnwqid said:

Yup thats the one

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Thanks for the confirmation. It's great to know exactly what I have.

I don't have any T-Cut, so I've been attacking the forks with Brasso and it works very well. It cleans up very nicely indeed!

I use brasso too and use it with wirewool to clean things up

Headset

A quick update and a request for advice, if I may...

I've fitted the new headset and it appears to have a shorter 'stack height', because the steerer appears to be 9mm too long (see image). So the questions is: do I cut the steerer, or insert spacers? I'm inclined to simply cut the steerer to length, but I'm worried that I may be missing some reason not to do that.

The observant amongst you will notice that I've removed the Raleigh decals from the frame. I've always found the look of the frame slightly jarring, and last night I finally realised what it was: I really don't like the lettering of the large black Raleigh decals, and I prefer a more subtle look to the bike.

So I removed them, and I've left the 531c and GOVD decals and of course the headtube Raleigh motif. To my eye, the frame looks much much better like this, not least because it show off the fade to the nice bright yellow colour.

Had the bike been an original Road Ace, I would probably not have done this, wanting rather to keep it original, but I really like the ability to make these changes without offending sensibilities.

Next steps:

- Sort steerer
- Service & refit BB
- Clean and rebuild, etc.

Oh, btw, I looked inside the downtube with a torch and it all looks lovely and rust-free in there. Nice to know!

The 'finished' article...

...so I've finished for now and I thought I'd share the results...

This is what I've done:

- Polished cranks, front & rear mech and brakes.
- Thoroughly cleaned frame and covered some of the rust spots (the rest can be done later)
- Cleaned chain
- Tensioned front wheel
- Rebuilt rear wheel
- Thoroughly cleaned and re-greased bottom bracket
- Fitted new headset and cut down steerer by 7mm

I've just taken it out for a tiny test ride and it feels fantastic. Can't wait to do a proper ride!

It's still a work in progress, for example I need to finish fixing up the frame, but the main thing for now is that I ride it and enjoy the speed.