Hi
Just rescued my old Carlton Grand Prix from where it has been rotting away for about 30 years.
I originally got the bike new for my 12th or 13th Birthday (I think) from Cliff Pratts bike shop in Hull - I still remember picking it up over 40 years ago
.
Like most kids I used to go everywhere on it. School, mates, weekends away camping with friends (sounding horribly "Famous Five-ey" now), etc. Living in a village, going to our local pub underage was out of the question as someone would know we were not 18. So we used to cycle to one of the other village pubs, order beer in our laughable teenage voice-braking tones, and somehow get served. The cycle home much more interesting, and included various tumbles, spills, laughs and other shenanigans. Most memorable were:
Following the discovery that motorbikes and cars were far more appreciated by the opposite sex, the bike sat in my parents garage for 5 or more years. Then, when i started my 1st proper job after graduating Uni I decided I needed to do more exercise, so dusted the bike down, gave it a good fettle, and used it to cycle the 5 or so miles from my 1st house on the outskirts of Newcastle to the centre of town. Lovely ride over the Town Moor on a crisp morning with a low level fog just covering the ground.
Then following a wheel collapse (the bike, not me) due to age, poor condition (again, the bike) and a particularly vigorous push off from a standing start, it has sat in a variety of garages/sheds in Newcastle, Hull & Leicester for over 30 years.
During a few appropriately socially distanced beers last week with my old school friend, with whom i still keep contact (and who was involved in all the above stories) , we discussed the duplicate he had bought off eBay of the blue Puch he had had when we were kids. Much reminiscing (and beers) later, I decided to check if my old bike was still in my Sister-in-laws garage (which it was), rescue it (which i have) and restore it (which I plan to)
As I am sure you can tell, this is a labour of love, not a for-profit exercise. The bike is in a sorry state after 30 years of hibernation and will need a lot of TLC, some parts (I am sure) and no doubt some blood, sweat and tears. I would like to do as much as possibly myself. I am a competent DIY-er (just ripped out and refitted a kitchen), but i recognise some things i may not be able to do due to lack of tools, skills, etc.
I will also need help and advise, hence joining this forum. i hope i can ask appropriately stupid questions an get pointed in the right direction. There is no time limit, money is around, but not plentiful
The bike itself? Like I said, rather a sorry state. from what I can make out (https://www.kurtkaminer.com/TH_raleigh_serials.html#19731982) it looks like it was made Jul 1979 in Worksop - which would tie in with my 12th (or it sat in the shop for a year until my 13th in 1980). But the frame number is very difficult to read in parts (see below).
It should be pretty much all original. i do not recall chopping & changing anything, and I would like to keep it as original as possible - repair rather than replace if I can - though i accept some things may be too far gone and will need to be replaced. I'd like to have the same smile on my face when it's done as I did when i picked it up over 40 years ago. Maybe an unreachable dream, but we need something to aim for don't we.
a couple of piccIesc for now. I'll get some more soon, and be taking plenty as i work on it.
Just rescued my old Carlton Grand Prix from where it has been rotting away for about 30 years.
I originally got the bike new for my 12th or 13th Birthday (I think) from Cliff Pratts bike shop in Hull - I still remember picking it up over 40 years ago
.Like most kids I used to go everywhere on it. School, mates, weekends away camping with friends (sounding horribly "Famous Five-ey" now), etc. Living in a village, going to our local pub underage was out of the question as someone would know we were not 18. So we used to cycle to one of the other village pubs, order beer in our laughable teenage voice-braking tones, and somehow get served. The cycle home much more interesting, and included various tumbles, spills, laughs and other shenanigans. Most memorable were:
- Hitting a plank someone had setup across the cycle path one pitch black night (batteries on my light were dead), performing a perfect forward role over the bars to finish sitting totally unscathed with my cigarette still between my lips
- Changing gear and slipping on a freshly gritted road, hitting an old (at the time) Vauxhall stick-out bumper with my knee (the only part of me or the bike which made contact with the car), wobble down the side to fall off in front. As I'm swimming in and out of consciousness with the pain, and watching my mate cycle off ignorant of my situation, the owner of the car comes out of her house, yells "Have you hit my f****g car" (to which my pathetically whispered "Yes I f*****g have" was ignored"), walk round the undamaged car and promptly go back inside. Leaving me curled up in the middle of the road trying to get myself into the recovery position in case i did go fully unconscious. After hobbling round school (A-Level year) for 1/2 the next day, I was finally been convinced by some school mates to get my leg checked.. 4 weeks in plaster with a knee-cap split in two (they said they had never seen such a perfectly straight-break), and 9 months of physio before I could walk properly, and still get jip over 30 years later
- Going full pelt down a steep hill, only to be pushed into the gutter by a passing car who really didn't have the space to pass due to the car coming the other way. Somehow I managed to stay upright as the front wheel disintegrated as it hit a sunken drain. That cost me a few weeks out of odd-job and casual labour pay-packets
Following the discovery that motorbikes and cars were far more appreciated by the opposite sex, the bike sat in my parents garage for 5 or more years. Then, when i started my 1st proper job after graduating Uni I decided I needed to do more exercise, so dusted the bike down, gave it a good fettle, and used it to cycle the 5 or so miles from my 1st house on the outskirts of Newcastle to the centre of town. Lovely ride over the Town Moor on a crisp morning with a low level fog just covering the ground.
Then following a wheel collapse (the bike, not me) due to age, poor condition (again, the bike) and a particularly vigorous push off from a standing start, it has sat in a variety of garages/sheds in Newcastle, Hull & Leicester for over 30 years.
During a few appropriately socially distanced beers last week with my old school friend, with whom i still keep contact (and who was involved in all the above stories
) , we discussed the duplicate he had bought off eBay of the blue Puch he had had when we were kids. Much reminiscing (and beers) later, I decided to check if my old bike was still in my Sister-in-laws garage (which it was), rescue it (which i have) and restore it (which I plan to)As I am sure you can tell, this is a labour of love, not a for-profit exercise. The bike is in a sorry state after 30 years of hibernation and will need a lot of TLC, some parts (I am sure) and no doubt some blood, sweat and tears. I would like to do as much as possibly myself. I am a competent DIY-er (just ripped out and refitted a kitchen), but i recognise some things i may not be able to do due to lack of tools, skills, etc.
I will also need help and advise, hence joining this forum. i hope i can ask appropriately stupid questions an get pointed in the right direction. There is no time limit, money is around, but not plentiful
The bike itself? Like I said, rather a sorry state. from what I can make out (https://www.kurtkaminer.com/TH_raleigh_serials.html#19731982) it looks like it was made Jul 1979 in Worksop - which would tie in with my 12th (or it sat in the shop for a year until my 13th in 1980). But the frame number is very difficult to read in parts (see below).
It should be pretty much all original. i do not recall chopping & changing anything, and I would like to keep it as original as possible - repair rather than replace if I can - though i accept some things may be too far gone and will need to be replaced. I'd like to have the same smile on my face when it's done as I did when i picked it up over 40 years ago. Maybe an unreachable dream, but we need something to aim for don't we.
a couple of piccIesc for now. I'll get some more soon, and be taking plenty as i work on it.
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