Old bike maintanence?

On Apr 17, 10:06*am, landotter wrote:
On Apr 17, 12:46 pm, Chip C wrote:





On Apr 16, 1:43 pm, landotter wrote:

On Apr 16, 12:30 pm, HDGuzzi wrote:

Greetings:
I recently won an early '70s Raleigh Sports on e-Bay which looks to
be
in pretty good shape overall. It hasn't been ridden in a long while,
and has what looks like to be some very minor rust/corrosion on some
parts of the frame (near rear drop-outs) and on the 3 speed hub chain
puller thingee. What advice might anyone provide with regard to clean
up and lubrication? Should the cables be lubed? I don't really want
to
take the crank off or open up the hub unless absolutely necessary.

You can search this group via Google Groups for detailed advice, but
some quick tips: lube the hub with motor oil. Whatever you've got in
the trunk of your Buick is fine. When the hub is done drinking, it
will seep from the side of the hub. Squeeze in a few drops every
couple months to top it up as it is a loss system. As far as the
cables go, yes, you may want to lube the shifter cable with your
choice of lube where it goes through the housing. You'd be best served
to replace the brake cables and housing with modern lined and
stainless kit that require no lubricant and will feel far superior.
Don't forget to replace the brake pads. Modern pads may need some
washers to reach the rim on a Raleigh Sports.

Best upgrade on that bike, if you want to invest in it, is to upgrade
to modern aluminum rims. Here's a Sprite I modernized:http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/25...0ec18d_o_d.jpg

Thanks to landotter for the link, I didn't know Al 26x1-3/8 rims
existed; but I have Cool-Stop Continental pads on my all-steel Sports
and I find braking to be just fine in dry conditions. They are usable
with caution in the wet; I ride with the brakes rubbing every so
often, but have had occasional close calls. So while I'm loathe to
tell anyone they don't need to improve their brakes, I'd recommend
trying the Continentals before throwing your wheels out, especially if
you're only riding in nice weather.

Get good tires (your LBS may stock a poor selection; but more do
exist)

That's a dilemma in that size. Kenda tires are readily available for
about ten bucks in that size, and they're as good as what came
originally on the bikes, but with the the thick gumwall, the ride is
really wooden. When I put alloy rims and really supple 27" Vittoria 1
1/4" tires on my Sprite, the whole bike changed in character--it
ceased to have that jangly Raleigh feel and felt quite confident in
curves, soaked up road noise, and was palpably easier to pedal uphill.
The only really nice 26x 1 3/8 tires I'm familiar with are the
Panaracer Col de la Vie from Harris for $30 each. If you're gonna ride
the bike a lot, I'd say it's more than worth the investment, but for
just a bar bike or an occasional rider, the Kenda gumwall type is
fine.

As far as the rim replacement goes, I believe the CR18 is close enough
in ERD to just tape the rims together and transfer the spokes one by
one--which may be a challenge if the old spokes and nipples are
corroded or chewed up. Not a problem with the ones on my Sprite.

If you do the work yourself, it's $150 bucks worth of rims, tires, and
small parts--to get a vintage ride that's got modern practicality.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi, Land...good info to be sure. Personally though, I probably won't
ride much more than around my neighborhood, and my idea is to make/
keep this bike as stock original as I can. Just found an NOS Raleigh
saddle bag and an NOS generator light set, too! Once this is the way I
want it, I'll start to re-do my 1969 Grand Prix.

Well, my Raleigh Sports arrived today! Hub says "77", yet there is a
1968 bicycle license from Kansas on the seat tube! So I'm guessing the
hub or wheel was probably updated in '77 or there abouts. I'll check
Sheldon's site for the serial number match as soon as I get enough
grunge off it to see the numbers.

Couple of questions:
1) Any good contacts for replacement "red R" nuts? I'm missing a few.
Both front and back axle nuts and the seat nut.
It showed up with the 3 speed cable connection into the hub broken
out. Looks like a link was torn apart.
2)Is this a hassle to get into and replace?

Rims look pretty good and will clean up nicely with some "0000" steel
wool and chrome cleaner I use on my motorcycles.
Brakes are good and cables seem to be smooth.
Hub turns and "ticks" nicely.
Front fender a bit bent, but no biggie.
Going to get new tires and tubes, even though the tires don't look
bad. I want old stock looking gum walls if I can find them.
Will need an old stock seat one of these days, too. (B-70-something?)
The one on it is an aftermarket "CHEEKS" (?) brand. Comfy, but not
correct looking.

All in all, not a bad deal for $100! Especially considering the one I
was bidding on right before this went for...$565.00! OK, it was silver
and pretty cherry, but I believe this will clean up pretty close.

Anyway, any advice on the two above questions would be greatly
appreciated.
Thanks!