'87 Raleigh Montage

[sherlylock]

Seeing as there are a few Raleighs cropping up in the Readers MTBs section recently......I thought I'd add another!

I recently replied to a karma ad for a Raleigh Montage frame/forks with the intention of using the frame for a singlespeed project (horizontal dropouts!)

The frame was local so I popped over to have a look and it seemed ideal for the project - a large frame to suit my lankyness.

It was great to meet another retrobiker, and one who obviously has a passion and keen eye for detail with his bikes (cheers Chris!).

Anyhoo...I did a bit of trawling to find out more about the Montage and found a thread where it suggested that the stem was an odd size (21.1mm) so I contacted Chris to see if he still had the stem anywhere (before I headed off to find an alternative).

Chris had a dig in his garage and got back to me saying he'd found a few more bits, including the stem, so I headed over last night to collect.

When I got home and looked through it it seems I have the complete bike (again, cheers Chris, much appreciated!)

So....the plan has changed - all the components seem in reasonable nick, just grubby. Even the frame isn't too bad, not chipped, a few scratches.....which means I'm going to gradually rebuild it, cleaning up and repainting anything that needs tarting up to hopefully end up with a clean and tidy original example, to see what mountain biking in the '80's was really like. I was still on BMXs when this bike came out and I didn't get my first proper mtb until '93 so re-assembling/setting up and riding this will be a learning curve

Couple of things I was surprised with - the weight of the handlebars. I had to strip them down to see if they were actually hollow or not

The chainrings are quirky....I thought biopace rings were quite oval but these are something else!

Also - the size of the seat - it's like an armchair......and it'll be staying! (Well - for the time being at least)

Might be a slow burner this, but I'll post updates as and when they happen for anyone who's interested....

 

[widowmaker]

I look forward to this build

Some good old elbow grease and that will look fine and dandy.

I just got a Raleigh Kalahari and was pleasantly suprised that it wasnt as heavy as i thought it would be.

 

[retrobikeguy]

My cousin had one of these BITD , had a matching nimrod rear rack, it went missing for over a year :evil: , but then we happened across a student with it in the high st pushing it along, oh and a passing PC plod :twisted: , soon got that sorted!

Nice bike, even nicer for karmacost

RBG

 

[SIMONFREESE]

Glad to see the thread Mart!

I am glad you picked this up, the frame looks nice, and it is worth keeping original I reckon. I will look forward to seeing this all built up. As you know I ride a 501 Raleigh every day and am very fond of it.

Another one in safe hands

 

[sherlylock]

I'm a bit of a clean-freak when it comes to bikes so this project is ideal for me......

Anyways, after saying this would be a slow burner the lure of sunshine and the garden last night meant that I got stuck into cleaning up the frame and associated bits after work. The frame is actually quite good - there are plenty of scratches but only a few chips. So I broke out the 2000grit paper and the G3 cutting compound to try and renovate the paintwork. The images show the front end cleaned up - the rear triangle is yet to be attacked.

I also washed the old grease out of the headset (using petrol!) and re-greased to reassemble the forks. Never seen a headset like it.....

Seatpost has had a cleanup and a sanding to remove the oxidisation and marking....I'll revisit this to see if I can remove (or at least lessen) the zig-zig scratches, possibly with the help of my boss' lathe. Loving the fluted features on the back of the post - why is this done? Styling?

I also cleaned the chain and bb cones/bearings/spindle and then applied a coating of protective grease/oil for when I get round to fitting them.

Bottom bracket fitment tonight maybe - never done a cup and cone bb before so I'll be slipping down the learning curve with this one.

 

[sherlylock]

Headset bearings/cups are in really good condition - like new, so a degrease/regrease and reassemble was all that was needed to get the forks back on.....

 

[widowmaker]

Looking good, glad you are cracking on

I would replace the cup and cone bottom bracket with a sealed mech one unless you like a challenge

 

[sherlylock]

Looking good, glad you are cracking on

I would replace the cup and cone bottom bracket with a sealed mech one unless you like a challenge

Are they a pain to set up then?

I had considered swapping to a cartridge version (mainly 'cos I have the tool to fit one of those)......

 

[Rich34]

Really good to see one of these being looked after, I can relate to this much more than all the Yetis and Fat Chances, lovely as they are. Look forward to seeing it finished with some decent tyres.

Cool mint? Oh yeah...

 

[longun]

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet