1991 Raleigh MTB, thoughts please

[RichardB]

That sounds like a good strategy and I know what you mean about the black. I don’t have any particular yearnings for a “modern“ bike and maybe subconsciously, the black may be the reason. I’m not a huge fan of oversized tubes and how bikes have generally got a more lardy look (even if they’re lighter). The current crop seem to have grown into the bike equivalent of monster trucks! I’ll be the first to admit that I like polished alloy, so couple that with the aesthetics of an older bike and I’m a happy bunny.

I've found my tribe.

I was wondering what was in the rear bag for your one hour session

cool bike, and none of these strange looking suspension things.

Here in Wales, the lockdown has been much more restrictive and until recently there was a rule about only exercising outside the home for an hour a day. That's been lifted, but it still makes me smile. In the bag was a bottle of elecytrolyte drink. The beer was later when I was cooling off.

Unless you're going fast off-road, I can't see any point in suspension on a bicycle. The elctric bike has front suspension and it's useless. For me, then whole point of bicycles (and motorbikes) is that they are light and simple. Complexity and weight is for cars.

 

[SGG on a bike]

Tribe lol. I'll raise a glass to you sir.

 

[12boy]

A wide ratio rear sprocket cluster can give you similar gearing, although with big jumps, with only one shiny aluminum Biopace chainring. If the existing chainrings are steel you can drop a little weight. Just saying. I'm partial to friction shifters also. I understand that in the good ole days cyclocross racers rode 28 mm tires so yours should be ok on gravelly dirt roads as well as the street.

 

[Salar]

I'm partial to friction shifters also.

Same here, I like their simplicity, great for front derailleur and they easily handle five, six speed sprockets. And very easy to set up.

 

[DRM]

Funnily enough I have an old Raleigh MTB, that I gave £10 for about 20 years ago, I started stripping it at the weekend and I've ordered some replacement tyres & tubes, a new chain & replacement cantilever brakes, need to get some brake & gear cables, rim tape and sort the jockey wheels in the rear derailleur, other than that the bottom bracket & hubs need stripping/cleaning/greasing and it'll be as good new, I've no idea what model it is, it's dark metallic green with no model sticker on it, and the rear shifter has a big thumb lever, with a smaller lever above it, the upper lever seems to change it from indexed to friction, the front shifter seems to be friction only, does that seem right, the idea is to use it as a shopping hack, so may get mudguards and a rack when it's done.

 

[RichardB]

A wide ratio rear sprocket cluster can give you similar gearing, although with big jumps, with only one shiny aluminum Biopace chainring. If the existing chainrings are steel you can drop a little weight. Just saying. I'm partial to friction shifters also. I understand that in the good ole days cyclocross racers rode 28 mm tires so yours should be ok on gravelly dirt roads as well as the street.

The gear ratios are pretty good and wide enough for me. It’s a triple Biopace at the front (not sure if alloy or steel) and a 7 cluster at the back. I got a new cluster, but it had to be a screw-on type as I bought cheap wheels. All that may well change ...

The tyres have proved good for the road and fine on gravel and hard packed earth, and these days that’s about all I am good for anyway.

 

[RichardB]

Funnily enough I have an old Raleigh MTB, that I gave £10 for about 20 years ago, I started stripping it at the weekend and I've ordered some replacement tyres & tubes, a new chain & replacement cantilever brakes, need to get some brake & gear cables, rim tape and sort the jockey wheels in the rear derailleur, other than that the bottom bracket & hubs need stripping/cleaning/greasing and it'll be as good new, I've no idea what model it is, it's dark metallic green with no model sticker on it, and the rear shifter has a big thumb lever, with a smaller lever above it, the upper lever seems to change it from indexed to friction, the front shifter seems to be friction only, does that seem right, the idea is to use it as a shopping hack, so may get mudguards and a rack when it's done.

When indexed shifters were first around, a lot of old-skool people (myself included) were suspicious of them, with accuracy and durability concerns. I seem to remember several systems that offered switchable friction/indexed operation. Eventually, indexed proved to work and became the norm. That was probably in the 80s sometime.

 

[DRM]

When indexed shifters were first around, a lot of old-skool people (myself included) were suspicious of them, with accuracy and durability concerns. I seem to remember several systems that offered switchable friction/indexed operation. Eventually, indexed proved to work and became the norm. That was probably in the 80s sometime.

I’m guessing that this one is from the mid 80’s it’s nothing special but one other thing is the frame has internal cable routing in the top tube for the rear gear cable, so I think it seems to be around 35 years old now

 

[BalkanExpress]

They have gone a bit posh recently ..well, it is all relative , but for old cheap MTB bits its always worth a look here

https://www.bankruptbikeparts.co.uk/

 

[12boy]

Looking at all the planned obsolescence all around, ain't it something that bicycles, commonly used hard and put up wet, as they are, can be such a joy after so many years?

 

[Salar]

Bought quite a few bits and pieces from bankruptbikeparts over the years.

 

[DRM]

I’m guessing that this one is from the mid 80’s it’s nothing special but one other thing is the frame has internal cable routing in the top tube for the rear gear cable, so I think it seems to be around 35 years old now

So the shifters are Shimano SIS MY-20 3x6, from around 1990, so I think that ages the bike, and it does indeed have both indexed & friction shift functions, the front derailleur shifter is friction only, I have yet to identify which model of Raleigh mtb it is, as it does seem similar to the Amazon mentioned up thread but the Raleigh sticker on the down tube is different

 

[ComptonJFranklin]

Hi @RichardB - jumping on this thread with another question. I have a 1990s men's raleigh amazon with a rusted seat post which I want to replace but I can't see the measurement or find any information online about what size I should get. What diameter is yours?

 

[RichardB]

Hi @RichardB - jumping on this thread with another question. I have a 1990s men's raleigh amazon with a rusted seat post which I want to replace but I can't see the measurement or find any information online about what size I should get. What diameter is yours?

I replaced the original chrome post with a black (yuk) microadjustable post. It is 1" diameter (actually 25.33 mm) and fits perfectly. Going for a polished alloy one when I get round to it, but I have another project taking my time at the moment.

 

[RichardB]

They have gone a bit posh recently ..well, it is all relative , but for old cheap MTB bits its always worth a look here

https://www.bankruptbikeparts.co.uk/

Thanks for the link, and sorry to be so long. I had stopped looking at this thread for some reason. Will give them a look, cheers.