1948 Raleigh Sports Tourist - Finale

 

1974 Peugeot UO-8: 2,000-Mile Update

I love this bike!!

1974 Peugeot UO-8 Delivery bike

This bike came to be the way it is for many reasons, and all of the planning or brainstorming in the world couldn't have made it work out as well as it did when everything finally came together. 

1970s Sears Sportflite Tandem Restomod

Here's another one of those things that I thought I'd never have the reason to build: A tandem! 

Reverence for the Raleigh 3-speed Sports Roadster

After a brief peruse on this site, it may be obvious as to what my favorite type of bike is. I am going to take the time right now to explain why that is.

20 Upgrades for the Twenty

I acquired a 1971 Raleigh Twenty folding bike a year ago intending to keep it mostly in its original configuration, save for maybe a couple minor upgrades.

Religious Conversion

And by that I mean yup ... I should have seen a 650b conversion coming from miles away.

Gilbert's Re-Reincarnation: A (bit over) One-Year, 1,000-mile Review

This was going to be a "Farewell and Safe Travels, Good Gilbert" post but I am thankful to say we will not be parting ways for a long time.

58 Years from 1958: This Isn't Even My Final Form!

I have recently completed many updates on Gwendolyn, my trusty 1958 Raleigh Sports. It may seem strange that the bikes that I ride the most such as this one, The Ross, and Gilbert, are ones that I seldom write about anymore when you see how many new projects have been coming my way. The Lotus will probably end up going this way, too. I think it is because these are my most-ridden bikes, I make it a priority to get everything working right at one time, only taking them out of service once in a blue moon to perform a large batch of updates or general maintenance. And, as I wrote in the last post about the Lotus, once everything is dialed in, there really isn't anything that grabs my attention.

The 200-Mile Shakedown Ride

Exactly three weeks ago, I got my 1981 Lotus Excelle mixte to the point where I could ride it and sort out any bugs that came up.

Show & Tell: Sturmey-Archer AW turns 80

Alas, the first post of 2016. I did not intend to be absent for so long, but this semester of school has been particularly grueling.

Image from https://threespeedmania.wordpress.com/

Sturmey-Archer has been producing the AW 3-speed internal gear hub continuously since 1936. To be more accurate, the company, now owned by Sun-Race, modified the design in the '80s to get rid of the neutral space between 2nd and 3rd gear but for all intents and purposes, the hub is still very similar. The AW was the most commonly-used 3-speed hub up through the 1990s which is a true testament to its bulletproof design. It wasn't until recently that Shimano, a long time competitor, finally exceeded Sturmey-Archer in the frequency of 3-speed hubs used on new bikes. 

Where Have You Been, Ol' Gwendolyn?

It's a bit refreshing to be back on here after a month, not in the least because it means I finally have time to do things other than school and work. The past few weeks has been a whirlwind of activity: grinding it out in the architecture studio, meeting new people, working weekends, and losing lots and lots of sleep. I'd have lost my head already if I didn't love my job and my field of study so much!

Anyway, to the point of this post: I haven't written about my favorite bike in months and so much has changed!

Gilbert Lives Again!

As a recap, my 1979 Raleigh Superbe restomod had been immobile for about a month due to a broken axle.

Well, the folks at Sturmey-Archer were nice enough to give me replacement internals free of charge.  It turns out the people who sold it to me on Amazon were supposed to sell them as replacement parts for the Torker Graduate (which has since switched to derailleur gearing) but did not specify it.  They told me that my hub shouldn't have been warrantied, but they did it anyway.

Wrench-A-Thon Part 3: 1979 Raleigh Superbe

Finally, updates for the third bike have been completed.  I'm not going to say it (or any of my other project vehicles) is ever done because everybody knows that would be a lie.  I'm just talking about the series of things I've been planning to do as of this spring.

Wrench-A-Thon Part 1: 1958 Raleigh Sports

For the last month, I've been performing some rather needed updates on all three of my bikes.  The weather is warming up and the money is flowing in; not that the weather has anything to do with the amount that I ride, but I felt like it was about time.  Below is what my room frequently looked like: at least one bike and many tools and components strewn about.  This photo is from the day I installed the reproduction Raleigh reflectors.

Throughout the wrench-a-thon, the bikes have more or less remained in rideable condition when they had to be (or at least one was rideable at any given time) while I waited for parts except for Gwendolyn, the '58 Sports.  Without further adieu, here she is.

Gilbert

Three months ago, I wrote about what I thought would be my ideal commuter bike.  I am excited to say that the project is now underway!

Gilbert is a Raleigh Superbe built in Canada in 1979.  Precisely, the hub was made in July and the frame in October, as the serial number states.  The original Dynohub is also still there and probably in working condition.  

My Take On Commuter Bikes

I've been cycling for transportation for most of my life, but it's only been about eleven months since I started paying real attention to bikes.  Back at home, I rode a couple different cheap mountain bikes that got me from point A to B without a care.  Cycling really only became a hobby when I acquired my 1958 Raleigh Sports after college began last fall and my knowledge and awareness of bicycles has skyrocketed since then.

Photo from January 2013 after a cross-campus ride, long before restoration

Revival, Restoration, and Rebirth: A Reflection

A recent post from Velouria, the author of a blog that I follow called Lovely Bicycle!, finally put to words something that had been nagging at the back of my mind for a while.  This past summer, when I was in the process of restoring my 1958 Raleigh Sports, a strange feeling came over me that still hasn't completely left since then.  To sum it up, my faithful, dependable 3-speed no longer quite felt like the good ol' bike that I knew and loved.  Not that I regret restoring the bike at all, but this experience, as well as Velouria's post, combined to teach me a little something about how simply setting out to erase the battle scars and rust from an old machine may get you a little more than you bargained for.

Memories of this bike before I had the chance to rescue it seem so distant, even though the earliest one is only about two years old.  The story really only started ten months ago and even then, it feels like ages since this bike was finally freed from its decades-old parking spot because so much has happened since then.

1958 Raleigh Sports: It's Done! Restoration Days 14 and 15

Not much happened on Day 14, actually.  I spent most of the day working with Dad to repair the sprinkler's main supply pipe, cutting PVC and cementing it together.  I used the remaining time to give the handlebars and brake calipers the WD-40 penny treatment and removed most of the rust.

The first thing I did yesterday, day 15, was pack the fork bearings.  I slathered grease on all four bearing surfaces and smushed them together to install the fork.

Cleaning the Frame and Re-packing Bearings: Restoration Days 4 and 5

Both last Friday and yesterday (Monday) were slow days.  I spent most of Friday cleaning the dirt and grime off the frame.

Since I didn't have a real hoist to hold the bike frame off the ground, I mounted the bike rack to the back of my mom's Mountaineer and just worked with that.