1950s Raleigh Sports

kona

Right , I need some help from somebody who has a knowlege of these things , anything Ive searched online doesnt add up.

Basically Im restoring my Mothers Bike, from what I gather its a Raleigh Sports from the 1950s. Now this is all presumtuous as it was powder coated in the 80s and as a result I do not have a clue what it is.

What It has:

Sturmey archer AW 3speed internal hub, Seems to be manufactured in 1978, so Im guessing the wheel was replaced at some stage.

Rod Pull Brakes (Pain in the ass)

26 x 1 3/8 tyres with a 590mm Bead seat diameter (so its raleigh)

Raleigh stand

A Fully enclosed Chain cover.

Raleigh pedals

Raleigh Branded Cottered Cranks.

Its got some random problems, obviously the brakes are iffy, but are sortable, the freewheel on the Hub is sticking abit, (TBH My experience with these hubs goes as far as adjustments, Im presuming this isnt normal)

Does anybody know the Location of the Serial Number? Ive checked the :

Headtube
BB shell
Crossbar
Downtube

And cannot find anything. I found a number which is vague, I think its 871270 However since its on the carrier I doubt this is the actual frame Number.

God I hate these old things, so many things you have to be careful of.

sarkozy

Couldn't you get the number off the frame and do some web research or contact Raleigh? They ought to have a database. Carlton Bicycles, later acquired by Raleigh, had frame numbers and you can fairly accurately pinpoint the year and work from there. Still ... not all frames had serial numbers ...

Holyboy

Try the back of the seat tube,at the top under the seat clamp bolt for the frame number,theres a couple of good sites I use for dating old Raleigh made bikes but it can still be hard,raleigh had a factory in Ireland around that time(or a bit later)so it may have been made over here.

kona

Id google it but I cant find the Serial Number! haha Thats interesting if it was built in Ireland, there is no refrence that I could find online to back this up?

Is there anyway to get raleigh pattern rims? The rims are fine, but just for future refrence as they brake onto the bottom of the rim, so they wear out eventually.

The Bike is 60 years old Id imagine, and in better condition than some 6 month old BSO, says it all really.

petethedrummer

I'd say the one I have was made here. The frame isn't even nearly straight.

sarkozy

I want a nice old upright for myself and the lady to refurbish. Where's a good place to score them?

kona

sarkozy wrote: »

I want a nice old upright for myself and the lady to refurbish. Where's a good place to score them?

My mothers attic haha, I have no Idea TBH, they are the kind of things that Id imagine are in the hands of people who dont care. Up until the 60s these bikes were the way to get around, Id imagine Millions were made so there has to be a few, but they do seem to command a premium, I wouldnt go spending over e150 on one TBH, however they are "Interesting" to cycle , I feel like michael collins haha.

studiorat

kona wrote: »

Does anybody know the Location of the Serial Number? Ive checked the :

Headtube
BB shell
Crossbar
Downtube

Rear dropouts?

kona

studiorat wrote: »

Rear dropouts?

Goodcall! its not on the left, so Ill have to take off the chaincover to see the right handside.

JMJR

Holyboy wrote: »

Try the back of the seat tube,at the top under the seat clamp bolt for the frame number,theres a couple of good sites I use for dating old Raleigh made bikes but it can still be hard,raleigh had a factory in Ireland around that time(or a bit later)so it may have been made over here.

as far as I know a Raleigh assembled in Ireland will have a black bar, no text, on the head tube badge in place of 'Raleigh-Nottingham' or suchlike.

JMJR

kona wrote: »

Its got some random problems, obviously the brakes are iffy, but are sortable, the freewheel on the Hub is sticking abit, (TBH My experience with these hubs goes as far as adjustments, Im presuming this isnt normal)

QUOTE]

You will probably need to service- strip, clean, inspect, regrease and reassemble- the SA hub. Square Wheel, temple Bar or Rothar, Phibsborough if you don't do it yourself. If you want to do it yourself theres good 'how to' information to be found on the w double w.
john

kona

JMJR wrote: »

kona wrote: »

Its got some random problems, obviously the brakes are iffy, but are sortable, the freewheel on the Hub is sticking abit, (TBH My experience with these hubs goes as far as adjustments, Im presuming this isnt normal)

QUOTE]

You will probably need to service- strip, clean, inspect, regrease and reassemble- the SA hub. Square Wheel, temple Bar or Rothar, Phibsborough if you don't do it yourself. If you want to do it yourself theres good 'how to' information to be found on the w double w.
john

Ill be doing it myself, cant be too difficult, British engineering from the period was very straightforward.

Holyboy

kona wrote: »

JMJR wrote: »

Ill be doing it myself, cant be too difficult, British engineering from the period was very straightforward.

Its very easy,ive done three this week alone,i would advise an exploded diagram though for re-assembly it can get confusing,just so you dont fit anything upside down!its only three gears after all,you should try a fourteen speed hub, now thats a challenge,haha.