Help identifying a find.

[Nigeyy]

Well, if it's a free bike....

Anyway, assuming it is a Raleigh with bonding, I had one too -used it extensively for mtbing, and then toured across Europe with it fully loaded. It ended up as my commuter at the end of its life -then the seat tube joint failed.

I noticed that when I was cycling I kept getting a noticeable "clunk" on the downstroke -at first I thought it was a bent crankarm hitting the chainstay... nope. Then I thought it was the bb, and replaced it.... nope, still there. I ended up suspecting the frame, and sure enough the seat tube was loose going into the bb area. To prevent anyone else riding the bike, I hacksawed it up (boy, did I feel like I was disposing of a dead body!) and was very surprized that the seat tube moved very freely away from the bb.

I do think Raleigh discontinued the bonded bikes for a reason, but on the positive side, my bike's demise could have been due to me using it considerably (thousands of miles, off road rigid mtbing, and fully loaded on road) and one could say it put up with loads of abuse.... I should also add it was a steel/alu bonded Technium frame, so you never know, it could have been different. And of course, many frames fail eventually anyway and you could possibly get some sort of warning signal when it might fail.

On the negative, frame failure is never nice, and I can't say I'd want to ride a Raleigh bonded frame in a hurry again. You also might get a sort of warning signal when it might fail

It's your choice!

Whatever
Anyway its running part from brake cables and new blocks, needs a clean though...
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/free-bike-build.125814/

 

[sidevalve]

Get on it and ride it ! The frame could fail on any second hand bike [ok some might be more iffy than others] or it could last for years, there are no "dead certs" in this world.

 

[cyberknight]

Cheers for the support, here was me happy with a reasonable find and now i feel like i have had a good kicking .
This bike was only intended for a bit of commuting when the weather is really crappy or pootling around in the park with the kids.

 

[mickle]

Get on it and ride it ! The frame could fail on any second hand bike [ok some might be more iffy than others] or it could last for years, there are no "dead certs" in this world.

I am of the opinion that the auto disassembly of Raleigh's glued together frames is a statistical certainty. If it hasnt failed yet its because it hasnt been ridden very far.

 

[cyberknight]

I am of the opinion that the auto disassembly of Raleigh's glued together frames is a statistical certainty. If it hasnt failed yet its because it hasnt been ridden very far.

Oddly enough a rider at the club i ride with has a bonded raleigh from the same era and its done a lot of mileage and is still going strong.It might be that they frames have a weakness but do you have a personal bad experience that has tainted your views ?

 

[mickle]

Oddly enough a rider at the club i ride with has a bonded raleigh from the same era and its done a lot of mileage and is still going strong.It might be that they frames have a weakness but do you have a personal bad experience that has tainted your views ?

No. I'd never ride a Raleigh! :-)

I just met a lot of unhappy Raleigh owners whilst working in bike shops. A lot. The Ti ones seemed to fare less well - which we put down to the greater flexibility of the tubing.

 

[cyberknight]

No. I'd never ride a Raleigh! :-)

I just met a lot of unhappy Raleigh owners whilst working in bike shops. A lot. The Ti ones seemed to fare less well - which we put down to the greater flexibility of the tubing.

You see i find this bike which compared to the usual tesco value bikes on offer is good and all i seem to get is negativity.Seriously thought about just selling the whole fleet and packing it all in at one point.

 

[mickle]

You see i find this bike which compared to the usual tesco value bikes on offer is good and all i seem to get is negativity.Seriously thought about just selling the whole fleet and packing it all in at one point.

Really? Because of what some blokes wrote on the internet?

 

[cyberknight]

Really? Because of what some blokes wrote on the internet?

You never know how much other IRL bad stuff people might be going through , straw and camels back.

 

[mickle]

Then i sincerely hope you'll accept this virtual man hug in the spirit in which it is offered.

 

[Nigeyy]

Yes, I sincerely didn't mean to sound negative in my post if I did. But it was my experience -though as I said, I did thousands of (happy) miles on the thing, but just in all honesty, I wouldn't want to ride one of those older Raleigh bonded frames again (admittedly that is just my opinion). And as I said, all frames will fail eventually (there are plenty of tales of cracked or rusted frames) so I could just as easily post saying "don't get that alu frame, it will crack" or "don't bother with steel, it'll rust through....".

Good luck and happy cycling with it!