New project - Raleigh Record Ace

[rh100]

Hi All

I have a bit of a project to start again. I have aquired a Raleigh Record Ace, according to the serial number (starts W) was built in '86 at Nottingham (headbadge shows Raleigh Nottingham also). It has a 531 frame and forks, and all the parts are original from looking at the catalogue here - http://www.jaysmarine.com/1987raleighcat_uk_08_lg.jpg including the bar tape, suede saddle, gold mudguards and leather trimmed toe clips. Looks just as in the pic, although it needs a bit of a cleanup. The derailliurs are Shimano 600 and the brakes are Weinman.

In the catalogue, it is described as a Cyclo Sportif bike, and appears to be towards the top end of the range. Does any body have any experience of this model? Any thoughts on it?

The frame is described as having 531 main tubes and forks, does this mean the rear stays are not 531? Does it matter much?

Surface rust, there is some rust on the surface, around the lugs etc, doesn't look like anything major, I'd like to clean this up but preserve the paintwork as best as possible, so the less abrasive the better.

Most of the chrome parts of the bike are corroding aswell, I'm guessing brasso for all of this but if anyone can tell me the best way to get these shiney new again that would be great.

The cable outers are clear with a goldish colour underneath, anywhere these can be bought from nowadays?

I don't think the bike has done many miles so am hoping the wheels will be ok with a polish and service, but the gumwall tyres need to be changed.



My aim is to get it looking as it was new, I was going to upgrade to modern gear changers etc but i think it would be an act of butchery considering how it stands at the moment, guess it's time to get used to downtube shifters

Sorry to waffle on but looking forward to getting working on it. More silly questions to come.

Will post up some pics when this bloomin weather clears.

 

[swee'pea99]

Bizarre as it may sound, your best friend is a can of coke and a bit of baco-foil. Seriously, scrumple up a piece of foil, maybe 10" x 10", into a loosish crumpled ball, dip it in the coke and rub gently on your chrome. You'll be amazed, I promise you! Then a quick rinse and it's done. Try it on the rust as well, before you go for anything more aggressive.

 

[accountantpete]

The Reynolds sticker should tell you what tubing you have - is this still on the bike?

Otherwise flick the tubes with a finger - a sharp "ping" is usually something good - a dull "thud" is not so good as an out and out racer but perfectly good for touring.

Ideally you should try and clear as much of the rust as poss and then apply some kurust before touching it up.

Re the chrome - it depends on how deep the rust has got. You can get lucky in that some bits like forks had a finish applied over the chrome which also turns brown - so you can just remove the finish. Otherwise if the metal underneath is also silver a good polish will do. You can look up those little polishing brushes that you get with Dremmel hobby drill sets and put them in an ordinary drill with a bit of paste and that will polish up a lot better than a hand polish.

 

[swee'pea99]

Check it out...

https://www.cyclechat.net/

 

[rh100]

Thanks SP, I did try the coke trick last year when doing my galaxy, looked ok but the surface was still pitted, is there anything that deal with pitted chrome? maybe just needed more elbow grease on my part. The pics you link to show an amazing result though.

There are indeed 531 stickers on both frame and forks, however I'm wondering why the catalogue says 531 main tubes, wheras another bike in the catalogue (the rando') shows '531 throughout', maybe just differing terms between the models or do some frames just have bog standard rear stays I wonder.

 

[accountantpete]

There are indeed 531 stickers on both frame and forks, however I'm wondering why the catalogue says 531 main tubes, wheras another bike in the catalogue (the rando') shows '531 throughout', maybe just differing terms between the models or do some frames just have bog standard rear stays I wonder.

Some bikes were just made slightly cheaper - I don't think it cost a lot less but rather they could put a higher price on the full 531 tubing.

Here's a chart

 

[asterix]

Can you do us a picture or two please?

 

[rh100]

Can you do us a picture or two please?

Will do asap - just waiting for the rain to let up If not tonight will do so tomorrow.

 

[rh100]

Some bikes were just made slightly cheaper - I don't think it cost a lot less but rather they could put a higher price on the full 531 tubing.

Here's a chart

What a fantastic bit of info - will be saving that - thank you.

 

[rh100]

Some pics:

 

[rh100]

Some bikes were just made slightly cheaper - I don't think it cost a lot less but rather they could put a higher price on the full 531 tubing.

Here's a chart

So mines no 24, very interesting, didn't realise how many variations.