sherlylock
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Not sure if this is the right section......but these are going to be used as road bikes so here goes.....
I've had a Raleigh itch that I've wanted to scratch for a while.....and that was to own a Raleigh Twenty. Mainly after seeing Sheldon Brown's Twenty and then finding out that there's quite a following for these bikes......and finding out that they can be turned into funky small wheeled commuter road bikes.
I found one locally.....and snapped it up for £20. A 1970 Twenty Model.....in fairly original condition, but proper filthy and unloved.
3spd Sturmey Archer hub with grip shift and a dynohub up front to power(!?) the lights.
Pumped up the tyres, adjusted the brakes and rode it 5miles to work. 2 of the 3 speeds worked initially....but down to one by the time I arrived at work. Bit of lunchtime gear tweaking saw a return to full 3spd functionality for the ride home. Quite enjoyed it.
Anyway....decided that I like this bike as it is and can't bring myself to modify it.
So I bought another......again for £20
1973 "Shopper" Model.....in fairly good condition......apart from the loosest, mal-adjusted headset ever.
So this is my donor bike! The plan is to strip it.....swap the better parts onto the Twenty (nice stuff like the "R" capped nuts and some of the chromework that's in better nick), sell what I don't need and then turn the frame into the fun 20" wheel commuter road bike. I've got a couple of thoughts about how I want it to look and what components I want to run on it......but those thoughts may change as i get into the project.
First issue to get around is swapping out the cotter pin bb to a square taper version so I can run with a roadbike crank. Not completely straightforward as the Raleigh bb is 26tpi and 76mm wide - common square taper bbs are 24tpi and 68mm wide.
Looking forward to getting stuck into this project.....
Some pics of the two:
I've had a Raleigh itch that I've wanted to scratch for a while.....and that was to own a Raleigh Twenty. Mainly after seeing Sheldon Brown's Twenty and then finding out that there's quite a following for these bikes......and finding out that they can be turned into funky small wheeled commuter road bikes.
I found one locally.....and snapped it up for £20. A 1970 Twenty Model.....in fairly original condition, but proper filthy and unloved.
3spd Sturmey Archer hub with grip shift and a dynohub up front to power(!?) the lights.
Pumped up the tyres, adjusted the brakes and rode it 5miles to work. 2 of the 3 speeds worked initially....but down to one by the time I arrived at work. Bit of lunchtime gear tweaking saw a return to full 3spd functionality for the ride home. Quite enjoyed it.
Anyway....decided that I like this bike as it is and can't bring myself to modify it.
So I bought another......again for £20
1973 "Shopper" Model.....in fairly good condition......apart from the loosest, mal-adjusted headset ever.
So this is my donor bike! The plan is to strip it.....swap the better parts onto the Twenty (nice stuff like the "R" capped nuts and some of the chromework that's in better nick), sell what I don't need and then turn the frame into the fun 20" wheel commuter road bike. I've got a couple of thoughts about how I want it to look and what components I want to run on it......but those thoughts may change as i get into the project.
First issue to get around is swapping out the cotter pin bb to a square taper version so I can run with a roadbike crank. Not completely straightforward as the Raleigh bb is 26tpi and 76mm wide - common square taper bbs are 24tpi and 68mm wide.
Looking forward to getting stuck into this project.....
Some pics of the two:
