Mark Manley
Active Member
- Location
- Wessex
I keep coming across North America only models of Raleigh and perhaps because they are not available here I decide that I want one. The first of these was the Portage from the mid 1980s which is a 650B touring bike with front and rear racks and three bottle carriers and I think at least the frame if not the whole bike was made in Japan. Realising that they are quite rare and sought after even in the US I pondered which model of UK bike would be suitable for conversion and settled on the 1986-87 Royal, Randonneur or Granada which had the pantographed seat stays and caliper brakes, the cantilever mounts would be in the wrong place on later models.
After waiting for sometime for the right model and size I bought this Granada from the original owner, it was high mileage and well looked after but did need freshening up so I had no qualms about modifying it.
As I don't like drop bars even when used with a taller stem which the previous owner had fitted the first thing I did was to make sure I could get comfortable on the bike and try it out for a while, I also like very low gearing as being able to get up the hills around here is more important than going fast which is something else I don't care for so that also got some attention, this was my everyday ride for a while.
The first problem was the Portage decals were unavailable, something I noticed a few days ago Lloyds have rectified which could lead to another project in the future.
By this time I had discovered the Sprite which was a basic carbon steel framed chromed components model which ran in various forms from about 1969 to 1979 and was one up from the Sports and sold in just about every colour except for black. I liked the purposeful utility look of the bike and the decals are available, I also had a can of BMW Alpine white waiting for something so went with that.
Some of the original parts were usable but I rather like SR and had a full set including the Raleigh branded cranks and seatpost, I also had a Raleigh branded Suntour derailleur and handlebar shifter all of which were used along with the original Showa rack the same as on the Portage.
Between the 531 frameset and aluminium components the bike is about 3KG lighter than an original Sprite and this is now my everyday transport, with the 45 degree pullback SR handlebars it has the most comfortable riding position of any bike I own.
A couple of clues that it is not a genuine Sprite.
I now have an eye out for another frame the same as a Portage might be back on the cards for next year.
After waiting for sometime for the right model and size I bought this Granada from the original owner, it was high mileage and well looked after but did need freshening up so I had no qualms about modifying it.
As I don't like drop bars even when used with a taller stem which the previous owner had fitted the first thing I did was to make sure I could get comfortable on the bike and try it out for a while, I also like very low gearing as being able to get up the hills around here is more important than going fast which is something else I don't care for so that also got some attention, this was my everyday ride for a while.
The first problem was the Portage decals were unavailable, something I noticed a few days ago Lloyds have rectified which could lead to another project in the future.
By this time I had discovered the Sprite which was a basic carbon steel framed chromed components model which ran in various forms from about 1969 to 1979 and was one up from the Sports and sold in just about every colour except for black. I liked the purposeful utility look of the bike and the decals are available, I also had a can of BMW Alpine white waiting for something so went with that.
Some of the original parts were usable but I rather like SR and had a full set including the Raleigh branded cranks and seatpost, I also had a Raleigh branded Suntour derailleur and handlebar shifter all of which were used along with the original Showa rack the same as on the Portage.
Between the 531 frameset and aluminium components the bike is about 3KG lighter than an original Sprite and this is now my everyday transport, with the 45 degree pullback SR handlebars it has the most comfortable riding position of any bike I own.
A couple of clues that it is not a genuine Sprite.
I now have an eye out for another frame the same as a Portage might be back on the cards for next year.
