Recent content by chris_hd

Who knew what was going on in the early nineties, I was two at the time.. There's a brochure in French on Flickr that shows they did a whole range of these with mudguards and panniers as well.

I've been given two of these in the same colours and in about the same sorry state to try and get one functioning bike out of the parts. I think from both bikes I can make one original spec and the other frame I might modernize a few things due to rust etc. I've not built a wheel before so...

So this is my girlfriends bike, formerly her nans which has sat in the garden for the better part of a decade. She wanted to get it going again and so here it is, with lots of bits from the parts bin. All things considered it wasn't in too bad condition, apart from the cranks that were...

I could put it back down an inch and be slightly lower, but I spend a lot of the time on the tops... So is it really a bad thing?

Pretty sure the frames the right size for me. It's 54cm down tube, 53cm top tube and I'm 5' 7 1/2". I've not done much mileage on this setup, but on a quick sprint around the village last night it felt fine. Check out this pic and see if it still looks unusual to you.

Haha, at least it doesn't squeak anymore :) Glad I got it though as I wanted to change the bars up and needed a bit more rise, but wasn't sure how much. Have drop bars back on it for the meantime, which I put on yesterday. Guess I'll get a fixed stem once I figure out the perfect height/reach...

Alright, so as a Christmas present to myself, I forked out for some upgrades for the daily, in the form of new cranks, BB, chain, pedals, freewheel, stem, seatpost & mudguard. The front levers were added a little earlier in 2014. Photos in order of progression.. New Specialized bar tape & TT...

Was thinking about it, but kinda like the fact I can still use the original cranks and brakes, so it still shows what it came from.. If I was to change, I've been looking at the Sturmey Archer chainsets with either 42-44t as they seem pretty decent for around the £50 mark. Anything else you...

It's some form of generic light weight steel specific to Raleigh it seems.. '18-23 High Tensile Carbon Cycle Tubing' so not Reynolds, but still lightish and good ride comfort. Apparently it was used for a lot of the 80's touring style bikes..

Little update, new front wheel and tyres.. Halo Aero Rage Track and Specialized Armadillo Elites.. :wink: Looking pretty damn sexy now.. :D

Now I've done some decent mileage on it, it's time to change it up a bit. Wasn't really getting on with the drop bars after converting to single speed and the rear wheel wasn't in the best condition, so I've opted for bullhorn bars with top mounted levers and a dedicated single speed rear wheel...

Re: Thanks for the feedback guys. Just thought I'd add, final budget came in at £152! :)

Cheers Andy, very happy with how it came out. Will update again when new bits get added.. Cranks, chainring and rear wheel will eventually be changed to a proper single-speed set-up, but I'm happy with the gearing for now.. :)

Re: Re: Thanks guys, been rushing to have it finished by this weekend.. :facepalm: I did notice the saddle after posting the pics.. It's round the right way now.. :) Finished polishing everything and built her back up this morning.. Test ride this afternoon was fine, but thinking I need...

Re: Bit more rust removal and polishing tonight. Brakes and seat post are finished, next up are the levers... Some pics of the progress.. Before: After: Picked up a brown version of the Charge saddle I have on my hardtail mtb. Very comfortable for a budget saddle.. Was also...