Raleigh Road Ace: apologies and moral dilemma :-/

[west green]

Great story and rebuild, glad you left it as mainly original but upgraded to suit you - so that it's used - my way of thinking. Sorry to hijack, but I've just inherited the same BB with a chainset I bought from a n other bike website - did you have the plastic sleeve + use it when refitting the BB? is it necessary? Also, if anyone else reads this I need a brake cable guide for the same brake as on this bike ( shimano 600ex caliper?) - if anyone has one spare? Anyway, bike looks great - happy riding! WG

 

[TimBish]

I've just inherited the same BB with a chainset I bought from another bike website - did you have the plastic sleeve + use it when refitting the BB?

Hi there,

There was no plastic sleeve on my BB, just a ton of grease that had turned into glue. Seriously, it was so sticky I had to soak it in white spirit, the scrape it off!

I'm not sure how your BB looks, but in my experience for this type of BB it's not essential. All it would really do would be to stop dirt getting into the bearings, but since it's a road bike, the chances of there being any dirt inside the frame are much lower. I'd say as long as you have the bottle cage bolts in place and you have a modern style seatpost, you're safe.

 

[west green]

Thanks, I was hoping that would be the case

 

[TimBish]

Thanks, I was hoping that would be the case

You're welcome! Hope the work goes well for you. Keep us posted!

 

[TimBish]

Update

I've just been re-reading this thread, which is great fun.

A quick update for everyone. I've fitted new tyres: Hutchinson Nitro, which are very good but a little heavier than I would have liked.

I've also fine-tuned the geometry a bit, raised the saddle 3mm more and the bars as well. It still needs more tuning, what I think I really need is bars with a shorter forward reach so I can more easily ride on the hoods.

I've been using the Raleigh for commuting to work three or so times each week since I rebuilt it and I've put over 500km on it. My regular route is 13,8km and I sometimes take the long way in or home which is 27km. Last night I took the extra long way which is 30km, and that was 1:10 at an average of 25,6 km/h, with which I'm fairly happy.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this bike, the speed is amazing. I'm finding that the more I do, the faster I get and the easier the climbing becomes.

What I'd hope to do in the near future would be to fit a lighter, more comfortable saddle and sort out the geometry such that I'm perfectly comfortable while on the hoods.

I think I'll probably just leave the frame as it is and cover the rust spots. The yellow-to-white fade has grown on me.

I still have a slight problem with the indexing of the gears and I'm troubleshooting it. Could it be because I'm using the old mech?

 

[TimBish]

Update: new components

So... I've found my old USE seatpost and Bontrager Ti saddle, which I'll hopefully fit tonight. I weighed the various bits and I reckon once this stuff's fitted the bike will be around 340g lighter.

All I need tgo do is make a shim and hopefully I'll be able to take some pictures...