My 80's Raleigh Pursuit Build

[Bats]

Very nice, I built something similar myself. Just needs a nice black track chainset and it'd be perfect, I reckon.

 

[chris_hd]

love the fork rake and those chevron stickers on the seat tube,not sure of the tubing ?

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..

 

[chris_hd]

Very nice, I built something similar myself. Just needs a nice black track chainset and it'd be perfect, I reckon.

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 think I should be looking at?

 

[chris_hd]

Very nice, I built something similar myself. Just needs a nice black track chainset and it'd be perfect, I reckon.

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 levers go on.

Last pic of 2014 before all the new kit arrives.

The new stuff, Christmas #2

And finally, as she stands today, fit for the 21st century

Parts list:

Miche Primato Advanced 48t Crankset
Shimano UN55 BB
Shimano 17t Freewheel
SRAM Singlespeed Chain
Superstar Nano MTB Pedals
Vavert 400mm Seatpost
Brand-X Quill Adapter
Ritchey Adjustable Road Stem
Plume Retractable Mudguard
Cane Creek TT Levers
Specialized Classic Synthetic Leather Bar Tape

 

[Bats]

Oh no, a stem downgrade... Looks nice though.

 

[chris_hd]

Oh no, a stem downgrade... Looks nice though.

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.

With the old drops back on.

 

[Bats]

I think the frame is too small. To be honest the fit looks really unusual, could you really comfortably hold the end of those drop bars? It's more reach than saddle height.

 

[chris_hd]

I think the frame is too small. To be honest the fit looks really unusual, could you really comfortably hold the end of those drop bars? It's more reach than saddle height.

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.

 

[Bats]

You've got more stem than head tube.

 

[chris_hd]

You've got more stem than head tube.

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?