Recent content by bikemig

I finally got around to building up my early 70s Raleigh Gran Sport. There were a lot of niggling issues I had to deal with (reaming out the seattube, rebuilding the Weinmann centerpull brakes, piecing together a bottom bracket). I'm running a 50/34 shimano deore MT 60 crank, a 13-30 6 speed...

I've made some progress on the Raleigh Gran Sport. The serial numbers for the early 70s Raleighs seem to be a bit of a mess but given the Zeus dropouts, this is likely a '71-'72 Gran Sport. The idea is to build this into a vintage gravel bike since it has ample clearance for reasonably fat...

I finished building the frame yesterday and took it out on an 11 mile ride today. It rides very nicely but there are a few minor things I'll need to work on. This bike was a parts bin build. The only things I purchased for the bike were the cables and housing and the correct Reynolds 531...

Really impressive work on this. I figure a good project bike requires that you buy at least one new tool, right? Looks like this one fits the bill. I have a 70s era Raleigh Grand Sport I'm working on but it doesn't have the issues you had to deal with.

I picked up an early 70s Raleigh Grand Sports last year and I'm finally getting around to building it up. This bike can take a fat tire so I plan on building it as a light trail/gravel bike with 700 x 35c tires. The frame was spread to 126 OLD and the drop out hanger chopped off by the previous...

I built up my 1980 Raleigh Record Ace this week. I do not believe this bike was sold in the US which is where I live. The bike has the sticker from the shop in Bury St. Edmonds where it was originally sold. The wheels, brakes, and headset are original. Although the frame is very nice (Reynolds...

Your bike is beautiful. I appreciate all the pics as this will help me rebuild it. The serial no. is L3630. I'll check out all those sites. Thank you! I'm curious, does your frame have a double butted Reynolds 531 sticker? My frame only has the fork sticker. I guessed it was plain gauge...

Thank you for the post and link. This is great info and very helpful as I rebuild the bike.

With a 26.8 seatpost and campagnolo dropouts, I figured it was reynolds plain gauge main triangle and fork (and quite possibly rear triangle). I've done a fair amount of searching but have found remarkably little information on the northern Ireland Viking bikes. My bike does have the little...

Trek marketed these as sports tourer bikes because they had room for at least 28c tires and fenders and sometimes 32c. These are highly regarded bikes in the US. They had a tough as nails Imron paint job. By and large most of the Treks I've owned had great looking paint jobs. Trek set out to...

I picked up on of these, https://www.bikesmithdesign.com/CotterPress/ Beats the heck of the hammer I used to use which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't.

I figure the most satisfying projects are those that give you an excuse to buy a new tool or two. I picked up a cotter press a few years back when I rebuilt a 1960 Olmo Gran Sport. Fortunately the bike was complete when I bought it.

I have a hard time turning down old French bikes as well. One of the advantages of living in the US, though, is that the odds of finding anything this old and French are not very good. Finding incomplete bikes isn't hard, though. ;) I do have a 70s era Motobecane Grand Record I've rebuilt and...

The basic French bikes ride nicely. The Mercier looks great. Is that a replacement fork? That is a sharp looking bike.

I have a Viking frame/fork/headset which I figure was made in Northern Ireland but I'm having trouble getting much info on the model. I know the documentation for the N. Ireland Viking bikes is pretty sketchy. The bike has campagnolo dropouts front and rear and Reynolds stickers on the fork. I'm...