Raleigh Record Sprint refurbishment

emma middlebrook said:

I have one of these. 18 years old, all-original spec': gents 19" 501
frame, gold bits and bobs etc etc.

Is it worth bringing up to date (I think the frame and wheels are OK
so will keep these but potentially everything else would be replaced)?

Awkward thing is, modern gears require a modern rear wheel (if you want
the full number of sprockets). The wheel could be made to fit, by the
way.

Quoted message said:

If so, what would people recommend for compatibility parts-wise and
would it be worth it anyway? Would it be worth to stick to the
original positions of the shifters and so on?

It could get very, very expensive to modernise it because so many parts
would need changing. Not worth doing unless you really love the frame or
can find parts exceptionally cheap. Otherwise it's probably best to stick
with as much of the original stuff as possible and just use it as a "hack"
bike.

~PB

emma middlebrook said:

I have one of these. 18 years old, all-original spec': gents 19" 501
frame, gold bits and bobs etc etc.

Is it worth bringing up to date (I think the frame and wheels are OK
so will keep these but potentially everything else would be replaced)?

Awkward thing is, modern gears require a modern rear wheel (if you want
the full number of sprockets). The wheel could be made to fit, by the
way.

Quoted message said:

If so, what would people recommend for compatibility parts-wise and
would it be worth it anyway? Would it be worth to stick to the
original positions of the shifters and so on?

It could get very, very expensive to modernise it because so many parts
would need changing. Not worth doing unless you really love the frame or
can find parts exceptionally cheap. Otherwise it's probably best to stick
with as much of the original stuff as possible and just use it as a "hack"
bike.

~PB

"emma middlebrook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi

Opinions please!

I have one of these. 18 years old, all-original spec': gents 19" 501
frame, gold bits and bobs etc etc.

Is it worth bringing up to date (I think the frame and wheels are OK
so will keep these but potentially everything else would be replaced)?

I restored a similar bike with bits from another one obtained 2nd hand from
the local paper
See http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/page470.htm

--
Simon Mason
Anlaby
East Yorkshire.
53°44'N 0°26'W
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

in message <[email hidden]>, emma

middlebrook (') said:

Hi

Opinions please!

I have one of these. 18 years old, all-original spec': gents 19" 501
frame, gold bits and bobs etc etc.

Is it worth bringing up to date (I think the frame and wheels are OK
so will keep these but potentially everything else would be replaced)?

I have one, ride it regularly, recently did an audax on it. It's not a
great bike or a classic - 501 is the absolute bottom of the range
reynolds tubing - but it is Hand Made in Nottingham, so one step up
from the really mass produced Raleighs

Quoted message said:

If so, what would people recommend for compatibility parts-wise and
would it be worth it anyway? Would it be worth to stick to the
original positions of the shifters and so on?

Mine is a 1991 or 92 model and has 700c wheels. To bring it up to modern
spec you'd have to 'cold set' the frame (bend the rear triangle a bit
to fit modern back axles). A good bike shop can do this and it should
not cost much, or Sheldon Brown has do-it-yourself instructions.
<URL:http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html>

If yours is much older it will have 27" wheels in which case you will
have interesting problems getting brakes to fit - but it still isn't
impossible.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us
;; many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets.
;; Imagination without skill gives us modern art.
;; Tom Stoppard, Artist Descending A Staircase

emma middlebrook said:

Hi

Opinions please!

I have one of these. 18 years old, all-original spec': gents 19" 501
frame, gold bits and bobs etc etc.

Is it worth bringing up to date (I think the frame and wheels are OK
so will keep these but potentially everything else would be replaced)?

If so, what would people recommend for compatibility parts-wise and
would it be worth it anyway? Would it be worth to stick to the
original positions of the shifters and so on?

Thanks

Emma Middlebrook

Hi Emma

If you like the bike, why not? So long as you're happy with the fact it
will never be worth a lot of money. Think I saw one on ebay the other day,
hang on...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=72573&item=3693899186&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Don't know if it's got traditional 27x1 1/4 wheels, or if they're
"metrificated" at 700c - look at the sides of the tyres to find out. Tyres
are a bit harder to find for the traditional type, but not impossible. If
I were fixing this bike I would do it as cheaply as possible. A good clean
then oil the cables or replace if you have to, a bit of oil on the chain
and new bar tape, tubes/tyres if you have to and Bob's lour lobster - a
working, rideable bike. This will probably going to cost as much as the
bike is worth. But it is great fun. I love spending a day messing about
fixing bikes, although I don't tend to get the chance anymore. ):

The downtube shifters (as they're called) are actually quite nice to use,
once you get the hang of them. You could get modern "barend" shifters that
fit in the ends of the handlebars, but at £40 a throw it really isn't
worth it unless you really feel you have to.

BTW if you wanted something that was infinitely better there's this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3693317723&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

531 tubing is much, /much/ better than 501, and the Dalesman is a classic,
well regarded frame. I was tempted to buy it, but now I have my new bike I
don't need to. This frame would probably justify the expense of new parts,
although the ones already fitted seem quite serviceable. It's £50 as I
write this.

Let us know how you get on.

Chris

BTW I have nothing to do with either of either of these ebayers.

--
|C|H|R|I|S|@|T|R|I|N|I|T|Y|W|I|L|L|S|.|C|O|M|
Remove the bars to contact me

"Pete Biggs" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

emma middlebrook said:

I have one of these. 18 years old, all-original spec': gents 19" 501
frame, gold bits and bobs etc etc.

Is it worth bringing up to date (I think the frame and wheels are OK
so will keep these but potentially everything else would be replaced)?

Awkward thing is, modern gears require a modern rear wheel (if you want
the full number of sprockets). The wheel could be made to fit, by the
way.

A doddle - the rear triangle on these bikes is ordinary high-tensile
steel and easily sprung out to upgrade from a 6sp. to modern 8 or 9sp.
hubs; I changed my own Record Sprint (now sold on to someone else) to
an 8sp. Sachs hub with no trouble at all. Didn't even need to invest
in new gears, using the original Shimano set-up with index shifters in
friction mode.

David E. Belcher

Chris Davies said:

Tyres are a bit harder to find for the traditional type, but not
impossible.

IME, it is impossible to find 27" tyres narrower than 1.25, which is
part of the reason I converted my bike to 700C wheels. Fortunately (and
slightly surprisingly) the OLN spacing was already suitable for modern
9-speed cassette hubs.

In changing the wheels, I also had to replace the brakes with deep-drop
calipers - Alhonga - but this may not be necessary on the Record Sprint,
which IIRC has tighter frame clearances than my Royal (the Royal, being
strictly a tourer rather than a racer, came fitted with mudguards).

I got my wheels for £35 off Ebay (105 hubs, MA3 rims) and a complete
Vittoria Rubino tyre set (inc tubes and rim tape) from Wiggle for £16.

Quoted message said:

This will probably going
to cost as much as the bike is worth. But it is great fun. I love
spending a day messing about fixing bikes, although I don't tend to get
the chance anymore. ):

Overall, with the cost of the various upgrades I have made to my bike, I
probably could have bought a fairly decent aluminium road bike second
hand, but I'm happy with what I've got, and like you say it's been great
fun doing the work on it. I feel much more emotionally attached to my
bike than I would if I'd spent the money on buying one secondhand.
However, what I've got is a hand-built 531 frame rather than a
production-line 501 frame, so I would feel less inclined to spend the
same money on upgrading a Record Sprint.

Quoted message said:

The downtube shifters (as they're called) are actually quite nice to
use, once you get the hang of them. You could get modern "barend"
shifters that fit in the ends of the handlebars, but at £40 a throw it
really isn't worth it unless you really feel you have to.

You can get bar-ends cheap on ebay - some 8-speed DA bar-ends went for
under £10 the other day - but there will be other costs involved, such
as fitting down-tube stops and new cables, plus the possibility that the
indexing won't be compatible with the bike's gear spacing...

I find there are very few occasions when I really wish I had STIs and I
certainly don't ever wish I had bar-ends, which don't seem to me to
offer much in the way of advantages over downtube shifters.

d.

Quoted message said:

Overall, with the cost of the various upgrades I have made to my bike, I
probably could have bought a fairly decent aluminium road bike second
hand, but I'm happy with what I've got, and like you say it's been great
fun doing the work on it. I feel much more emotionally attached to my

you can get a road bike with basic spec and down tube shifters for
about £250
from a Falcon / claude butler shop or Halfords, but you will be told
not to by other people.
In Ad-Mag they can be very cheap indeed , so I wouldn't spend too much
on it.

I got a Raleigh Banana bike in a poice auction for £15, changed the
steel wheels for an old pair of alloys in my garage and put a brooks
saddle and old mudguards on it.It is absolutely fine and will do any
distance alongside Airbornes and windcheetahs I have found.
I did not bother to have the frame adjusted, just pull it open to get
the wheel in.If you want 8speed down tube shifters (shimano)Wakies
cycle shop in Codnor Derbyshire had some a year ago.I just use
friction levers as it came , and they and the rear mech seem to work
on 8speed as well as the original 6speed.

SJScycles were selling some good value wheels recently, but it is
likely the local club members wil have some hanging up in their sheds.

It can get more expensive than you can justify unless you can assemble
second hand bits.

TerryJ