Raleigh Competition 1985 Build

[AWVelocetec86]

Step 2:

I wanted to make sure the new fork assembly worked before taking off all the bar tape and shifter sand swapping everything, just in case!

So, took the old quill stem and top lock nut off, fitted a Tange lower fork crown race to the new fork, crown race on, then fitted the fork up into the headtube, and dropped the new machined top cup over the steerer tube, and roll the O-ring down into it's groove.

 

[AWVelocetec86]

Step 3:

Assemble the steerer with new 1" spacers and ahead stem like a normal threadless ahead system - the machined top cup now works like a normal threadless headset, just tension the headset bearings by tightening up the top cap into the fork bung.

There's no difference in how this works with the bearings compared to the original threaded version, it's just compressed down by the top cap instead of wound down with the threads in the cup, it just can't come loose and doesn't need regular adjustment like a threaded one, as once the top cap is tightened and the stem clamped up, it's fixed.

The steerer tube is 1", and the new ahead stem is 1 1/8", so needs an adaptor to clamp to the steerer.

I managed to get what looks like a brand new Ritchey WCS Carbon Hanldebar (guess it's just been swapped off a new bike as it has no marks) and a matching Ritchey C220 WCS 90mm 6degree stem. The handlebars are very light and hopefully add a bit of extra vibration damping compared to aluminium bars.

 

[AWVelocetec86]

Step 4:

Having satisfied myself that it all works, I unwrapped the old Nitto bars, took off the shifters - all the cables stayed attached to the shifters and bike, so just needed to re-fit them to the new bars and re-wrap the bar tape.

 

[AWVelocetec86]

Hey presto, fork and handlebars swapped, with a completely interchangeable system that means I can re-fit the chrome forks by just changing back to the top cup on the headset, will need a quill to ahead stem adaptor, but other than that it's just a case of undoing the stem and top cap and i can change it all over.

Not made my mind up on the stem and spacers yet, may go to a polished aluminium stem and spacers to keep it a bit more classic looking, and still need to play with spacer stack to get the height and fit right, but it all works really well and feels solid.

I reckon it's saved around 1/2kg from the weight of the bike - forks are about 380g compared to 750ish for the chrome steel ones, and the handlebars and stem are about 150g lighter, not that that was my primary reason for doing it, more than anything it was just the fun of the engineering challenge!

Full shot of the bike as it stands now, also with the Conti GP5000 TDF Cream Wall tyres i fitted a few weeks ago.

 

[AWVelocetec86]

Of course this now means I have a stem and handlebars to fit with the ST-1055 shifters and put on the 501SL frame.....tbc!

 

[Konaglider]

The FSA Orbit X1 is a good choice.

 

[AWVelocetec86]

Not much in the way of build updates, although have now added a carbon seat post, it’s a Ritchey one so matches the bars and stem, nice bit of kit.

Doing C2C in April so just been trying to get some miles in, done about 1500k on this bike now, and really enjoy the way it rides, carbon fork and bars have definitely taken a bit of road buzz out, not to mention about half a kilo in weight.

 

[AWVelocetec86]

Had a chance to give the frame a quick once over, bit of a clean up, all looks pretty decent - few scratches to the paint and decals, but no real rust, not sure whether to try touching up the paint and replace on eor two of the worst affected decals, or leave as is as it's pretty honest and wearing it's battle scars well!?

I did spend a bit of time on the chrome forks as there were a couple of small surface rust spots which i guess have developed from stone chips. Went with the old aluminium foil and some WD40 and they've come up a treat - the worst spot is now hardly visible other than the original stone chip, luckily the chrome itself hasn't really bubbled up at all. I do like this style of cut out lugs also, adds a bit of interesting detail to the frame over plain ones I think.

Also chucked on the Mavic Open 4CD's to see what it might end up looking like.

Still need to acquire various parts - brake calipers/derailleurs/stem/seatpost and handlebars. Need to double check, but I think this frame take a 26.8 dia. seat post - anyone out there got an SR Laprade fluted one in the right diameter?!

Update to this build, been a while!

Ended up changing plans on the group set slightly as I found a long cage Shimano RX100 rear derailleur (mechanically the same as 1055 from what I've read, just a clear silver finish instead of the 2 tone grey painted) so have acquired the rest of the group set, found some NOS brakes, everything else is used, but seems to all go together nicely and match the chrome fork well, so I think the finished build up looks pretty good.

Have re-used the Shimano 600 Seatpost and Shimano 600/Mavic MA40 wheelset from the other bike as I've swapped those out for newer wheels and carbon seat post, so they were going spare.

The panto crankset I did a while back matches the RX100 kit pretty well I think, and the long cage derailleur means I can run 8-speed, 11-34 at the back, and 52/36 up front, (so I guess what you'd call semi-compact nowadays) so decent ratios for getting up some hills.

MY LBS had some really nice brown perforated leather bar tape at the back of a cupboard, so combined with the saddle I'm pretty pleased with how it came out... for now!

Here's the final build:

 

[scooter]

Curious to know , is the machined top nut a nice snug fit over the steerer tube or is that what the o-ring is for ?
And do the spacers push down to on the O-ring to remove any play .

Those standard 1 1/8 split tapered washers do a good job of removing any play so i just wondered how yours compares as an O-ring seems a bit squishy ?
I like this conversion though

 

[AWVelocetec86]

Curious to know , is the machined top nut a nice snug fit over the steerer tube or is that what the o-ring is for ?
And do the spacers push down to on the O-ring to remove any play .

Those standard 1 1/8 split tapered washers do a good job of removing any play so i just wondered how yours compares as an O-ring seems a bit squishy ?
I like this conversion though

Hi scooter, yes it’s a snug fit, I just added the o-ring in a groove to take up any minute slack and protect the carbon steered a bit? Probably not even needed but I though why not, also the stem spacers compress the o-ring down so it’s really a very tight fit - main reason for going this route was to keep a nice looking original style headset, and also means I can swap back to the original threaded chrome fork by just changing the head set top cap back to the threaded one (I have a spare), rather than having change the whole headset in the head tube.