It followed me home...

[Tad]

... I popped in to town to pick up a spot of lunch and take a break from work and noticed this little beastie outside a local charity shop, I stopped and petted it and it just followed me home, honest.

A 1950 (according to the date on the 4 speed SA hub) Raleigh Lenton Sport.
Frame tubing is Reynolds 531.
26" wheels

It looks pretty original apart from the saddle, cables and brake blocks.

It's going to get a sympathetic restoration, a general clean up, t-cut and polish of the paint, solvol to the chrome. New cables and a Brooks saddle as anything else would just be wrong. The guards are light weight alloy ones and they're going to be taken off (and kept somewhere) as they are ugly.

I'm looking forward to taking this on a Sunday morning club run

How it should look:

How it does look:

 

[Tad]

Reserved for updates

 

[barry2017]

It's a beauty.
I will bring some bits for it to Mayhem.

 

[biggs682]

thats one good find

 

[bowser]

nice find in that condition
bet reg never rode one though!

 

[Tad]

nice find in that condition
bet reg never rode one though!

I'm chuffed it's so original and un-messed with. The original, bars, brake and shifter levers are a nice touch despite looking ridiculous (and being positioned at a daft angle by the last owner).

Now I just have to figure out how to work on it. Daft imperial nuts and bolts and a Sturmey Archer 4 speed hub, how the hell to set one of those up? I think de-greasing it is a good start, no doubt it is full of some 60 year old sludge. Tyres, where the hell do I get 26x11/4 tyres from? Chromed steel rims? Joy, this is a little project to look forward to.

 

[chriscl]

That is a thing of beauty.