Head Count

This photo was taken over 4 years ago, back in spring of 2016. That is when I had intended to make this post. Oh how things have changed! Not!

In the photo above, from closest to furthest, we have the following: 1966 Raleigh Sports Mr. and then Mrs, 1965 Hercules in its first incarnation when my friend still owned it, 1969 Raleigh Sports, 1962 Rollfast, 1958 Raleigh Sports, 1979 Raleigh Superbe, and 1975 Raleigh Tourist. I thought this was to be a "high water mark," so to say, of a limit for how many of these bikes I would allow myself to have. So, what do we have today?

I was going to write about how keeping the fleet at a manageable size had gone out the window, since I had so many duplicates when it came to function and styling. It seemed to me that as I was developing my preferences, I was tempted to modify every bike I had to be closer to that ideal. My initial obsession with old Raleigh 3-speeds had not yet waned ... and it still hasn't. Even though I struggled for a few years to expand the variety of bikes I had, I've still ended up with several non-roadster Raleighs from different eras and the brand still dominates my collection. That's alright, as I can't expect myself to be an expert at everything. When it comes to learning about the history and helping fellow enthusiasts figure out their bikes, I've grown comfortable increasing the depth of my knowledge on a limited variety of things. Also, I don't purposely align myself with the brand, but since certain keywords have dominated my internet browsing patterns for years, it's easy to end up with more of what I already have. 

I still have Gwendolyn, the 1958 Sports that started it all, but she's been laid up in my parents' house since summer of 2017 when I moved to Pittsburgh. I know that an overhaul is needed on the SW hub since last time I visited home and rode this bike, it skipped severely due to the oil being stationary for long periods of time. 

I still have the 1969 Raleigh Sports, but it has been rebuilt and reconfigured several times since the first photo was taken. It now has a 7-speed Shimano coaster brake hub, a 1973 Sturmey-Archer front dynohub, and 26" (559mm mountain bike size) aluminum rims. It's the dedicated winter bike which had been the intention since when I started fiddling with it. 

In the first photo, my 1979 Superbe is still set up the way I first built it, with the Sturmey-Archer drum brakes and aluminum wheels. Shortly afterward, I returned it back to its original specification and kept riding it. I covered a lot of miles on it and really enjoyed it in Ann Arbor, and it became my favorite and most-ridden bike. I kept riding it throughout my two years in grad school, since I rarely had to go to any hilly parts of Pittsburgh. I moved to the top of Cardiac Hill in the summer of 2019, so I have only ridden it twice since then, but it's due for another major overhaul. Note the new rear rack, which I like more than the Pletscher. There is a Dunelt chain guard on it right now, since I had a mishap with the original one and have yet to work the dents out of it. Also different is the Brooks B66 Champion saddle, new old stock from the 1980s. It resembles the current Flyer which I found suits me better than the wide B66. 

About a month after I had taken the first photo, I bought a 1971 Raleigh Twenty. It too has changed a few times since the initial build-up. I would take this bike on night rides through the park many times that summer. Aside from a train trip that I took from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to Boston to New York and back to Pittsburgh in June of 2018, I have not ridden this bike very much since then. It's nice to have a folding bike and I'd like to take more train trips. 

Later in the summer of 2016, I acquired this 1962 Dunelt and gave it a very period-correct overhaul. During this time, I was still aiming to own a 3-speed Raleigh product from every decade of production, and thought that this coppertone model was the very embodiment of the early '60s. I have since given it some 700c wheels with a 2-speed automatic hub, which spent two years on the '65 Hercules before I rebuilt it yet again and gave it to a friend. These wheels give the bike a very different ride quality, as it did the Hercules, and I am pleased with the change even though I have the original components packed away for future use. Since the photo above was taken, I have given this bike some straighter Raleigh "All Rounder" bars and Shimano PD-M324 flip-flop platform and clipless pedals to make it easier to climb hills in Pittsburgh. 

I ended up with a 1948 Raleigh Sports Tourist in late 2016, which fulfilled the 1940s part of my aforementioned quest. I jumped on the opportunity to give it a 4-speed dynohub, which was cool for two years, but I returned it back to more or less its original configuration earlier this year. I don't ride it much, but it's cool to have around. 

In 2017, I bought a 1968 Raleigh Rodeo which took a long time to complete since I was not in any rush to ride it in any practical way. It added variety to the stable, but did not help on the utilitarian front. I just really enjoy looking at it. 

On the non-roadster front, I have a 1957 Raleigh Lenton Grand Prix that I've been riding and tweaking on since February of 2017, and a 2017 Raleigh Stuntman which I bought in July of that year. Both are very different, but wonderful rides. 

From this year are two bikes that I have yet to write about: I have a 1986 Raleigh Super Course which was given to me by the father of a friend earlier this past summer, and a 1987 Raleigh Elkhorn Mountain Tour that I just completed. For those who don't know, Raleigh USA was sold to Huffy in 1982 and managed by them until 1986, when it was absorbed by Derby. This era, which doesn't usually garner interest from most Raleigh enthusiasts, has begun to grow on me, one reason being that cycling as sport and transportation was changing yet again and resulting in interesting products, and the other reason being that the frames were produced in Asia using standard dimensions and components, making them very easy to modify. The quality of these bikes is generally very high, but their low value makes them easy to purchase and build into practical vehicles. 

Since that top photo was taken, the Mr. and Mrs. pair was sold soon after, the Rollfast was bought by a friend in the summer of 2017, and the 1975 Tourist was also sold earlier this year. So, despite all of the changes that have happened since then, I have gone from having 8 3-speed Raleighs to 7. I think I've done a better job of making sure they're different, since they're not only not all roadsters now, and even the roadsters are built slightly differently. I am counting the two that don't have 3 speeds anymore. My entire stable has sort of gone this route as well - I have more bikes than I did 4 years ago but not many more than I did 3 years ago. The fleet has gone from being almost entirely roadsters to less than half being 3-speed Raleighs at all. I have road bikes, mountain bikes, a fixed-gear, a tandem, and more. With this variety, I am finding it harder than ever to decide which ones I really don't need.