Mark Manley
Raleigh Fan
As with my last post in the MTB section this bike is not quite what it seems, last year I noticed a nice looking Thorn frameset advertised for sale on ebay where it was described as an expedition which got my attention. Thorn never got back to me with more information but it appears to be a fairly early model from the mid 1990's to early 2000's when their frames were still made in Bridgewater, it was advertised as extra small but I was sure that with a long stem it's short top tube would give the very upright riding position I like.
I planned to make it into a functional everyday ride with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed and drum brakes, I already had a pair of nos hubs and had them laced into a pair of 26" alloy rims and used a pair of Sakae Raleigh cranks fitted with some nos Raleigh pedals, a Nitto stem, handlebars and seatpost topped of with a Brooks saddle got the bike into a rideable condition.
I had not decided on a colour scheme but my first adult size bicycle was a Raleigh Sports when I was 12 and I noticed that the Thorn had a similar outline so set about creating a lookalike with 24" Raleigh mudguards and a Raleigh chainguard, I also have an old Brooks rack and genuine Raleigh side stand to fit at some time.
A black powder coat matched everything up and I have ordered some decals but with the current situation I have no idea if or when they will arrive, it is a joy to ride and considerably lighter than the real thing, incidently the hub brakes are correct for the Singapore and Southeast Asia models Sports.
I planned to make it into a functional everyday ride with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed and drum brakes, I already had a pair of nos hubs and had them laced into a pair of 26" alloy rims and used a pair of Sakae Raleigh cranks fitted with some nos Raleigh pedals, a Nitto stem, handlebars and seatpost topped of with a Brooks saddle got the bike into a rideable condition.
I had not decided on a colour scheme but my first adult size bicycle was a Raleigh Sports when I was 12 and I noticed that the Thorn had a similar outline so set about creating a lookalike with 24" Raleigh mudguards and a Raleigh chainguard, I also have an old Brooks rack and genuine Raleigh side stand to fit at some time.
A black powder coat matched everything up and I have ordered some decals but with the current situation I have no idea if or when they will arrive, it is a joy to ride and considerably lighter than the real thing, incidently the hub brakes are correct for the Singapore and Southeast Asia models Sports.
