1989 Raleigh Lightweight 531C

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shawnb":zzdvic80 said:

Ah lovely frames! here's a bad picture of a scan of my old one circa '89-'90.



It was fitted up with gp4's and ultegra/dura ace

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Hey Shawn!
I recognize the car but not the bike, check out my Raleigh if you get a chance.

I have a ridiculous notion that I may try and pedal it up Alpe d'Huez in 2014 but I have a lot of pounds to lose and training miles to do before that happens!

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I like that idea and I know what you mean about the pounds...... some way away from my racing weight too :roll:

What happened to the Mk1 Escort eh? I hope you kept it - they fetch silly money these days.

The Alp d'Huez is quite a hill, 13 killometres, and 21 hairpin bends. I did this on a tour over a decade ago on my Raleigh Randonneur, very slowly, I hasten to add alongside a guy from the Netherlands whom I met at the start. We agreed the first to the top buys the beer. He won! Make sure you have good brakes for the descent; it is so incredibly steep. Good luck

Hi folks, just a quick update in response to a few suggestions from members regarding tyre, saddle and bar tape choices. Now resplendent with Turbo saddle, tan wall Michelin Dynamic Classic tyres and Marmite bar tape! I can't sum up what a difference tan wall tyres make to the whole look of the bike!

Martin

That looks fantastic - fully agree about the difference tanwalls make. Did you get anywhere with the Athena calipers? Aaaah, my all-time favourite caliper design - I'd take them over Deltas any day.

How's the Alpe d'Huez training coming along...?

Rich34":1nusw4t2 said:

That looks fantastic - fully agree about the difference tanwalls make. Did you get anywhere with the Athena calipers? Aaaah, my all-time favourite caliper design - I'd take them over Deltas any day.

How's the Alpe d'Huez training coming along...?

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Hi Rich, they're comfortable too, I was quite surprised after blowing them up to 110psi how much road shock they absorb. I haven't got a set of Athena callipers yet as I have been distracted by my Castorama build but I will find some before long.

The Alps training is going OK, hard to find enough time to fit in work, family, chores etc. The changing of the clocks will make a massive difference for me and I am riding the Wiggle Jurassic Beast in May so that is what I'm working towards in the short term.

M

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Just dug out my one of these and thinking of starting to restore it! Hope it ends up looking as shiny!

Did you have much trouble sourcing bits? I am thinking that modern parts will be different standard sizes

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Roba":2and8vhl said:

Just dug out my one of these and thinking of starting to restore it! Hope it ends up looking as shiny!

Did you have much trouble sourcing bits? I am thinking that modern parts will be different standard sizes

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You'd best get busy with the T Cut then! lol.

Bear in mind that the majority of the bits on that bike have been on it since I built it in 1989/90. If you're thinking of using modern bits I have a complete 8 speed Shimano 2300 groupset in the garage with a pair of retro looking Araya wheels from my Raleigh Airlite 100 winter bike. The components have done approximately 10.2 miles...that would be 10 miles with the previous owner who decided very quickly he didn't like road bikes and 0.2 miles on a jaunt down the road and back to make sure it was the right size before I bought it!

Like this but with an FSA crankset - http://www.barangbike.com/274-1150-larg ... oupset.jpg

The back end on your frame would be 126mm, whereas this will need 130mm, it's simple just to spread the stays apart as you fit the rear wheel, there's no need to go to the trouble of 'cold setting' it really. You'd also need some downtube cable stops but these are easy to find.

Let me know if you're interested in the groupset and wheels.

Martin