Raleigh Superbe first ride.

[MarkF]

Despite looking gorgeous a good deal of fettling was required to get the bike out on it's debut ride. After my first trip down the driveway I wished I'd been sensible and bought a BTwin Elops. The main problem were the rod brakes, new to me, that juddered so badly the bike was unrideable. After a good deal of bending & sizing & centering I have them bang on, pads level and biting simultaneously, but the judder is still there although 90+% less.

I thought maybe the wheel rim inner was out, but after much spinning and squinting the pad gaps didn't appear to change to me, plus, if there was something amiss I'd have expected a consistent judder at the fault point but there isn't one. Is this just a rod brake foible? I can live with it as they look so good.

With just the 3 speeds it was a leisurely canal ride and all was good, maybe the bars need to come up an inch, but that's it. The manky "period" saddle bag has been binned & I'll look out for a tan canvas or leather bag as a replacement. The Brooks saddle was super comfy on my first ride.
Never had an upright/vintage & very metal bike before but I really enjoyed the ride.

 

[midlife]

Looks factory fresh . Just needs the slidey bit of metal to finish off the chain case lol

 

[MarkF]

Looks factory fresh . Just needs the slidey bit of metal to finish off the chain case lol

What slidey bit of metal? Grrrr.

 

[midlife]

Small bit right of this pic

 

[Gunk]

That is lovely, proper bike!

 

[MarkF]

Small bit right of this pic
View attachment 544404

You missed the SA gear label missing.....

 

[HMS_Dave]

Those little metal crank arm cover plates always go missing. Often flying off without rider knowledge or being misplaced. It is however a lovely bike and rod brakes are crap but charming at the same time...

 

[Paulus]

Could the judder under braking be the brake blocks ? They may of gone hard, or the rims may need cleaning.

 

[Gunk]

I've found with old fashioned rubber blocks that if you get a hacksaw and trim a bit off them they work far better.

 

[Spiderweb]

Another one here with the same crank arm cover missing.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224094561526

 

[FrankCrank]

I hope you get suitably dressed for the part

No lycra allowed

 

[raleighnut]

Very nice

I'd check the rim for traces of oil, that'd cause juddering.

 

[MarkF]

Very nice

I'd check the rim for traces of oil, that'd cause juddering.

I had been fettling, cleaning and oiling before I started on the brakes..........so I cleaned up the rims this morning and now it's better than before, ta! I am not going to cut them as well as it was such a pain to get them in synchro, I'll just go down a steep hill and wear some off.

 

[raleighnut]

I had been fettling, cleaning and oiling before I started on the brakes..........so I cleaned up the rims this morning and now it's better than before, ta! I am not going to cut them as well as it was such a pain to get them in synchro, I'll just go down a steep hill and wear some off.

The rims might need cleaning again after that, depends if the pads deposit rubber on the rim (the oil can 'soften' the rubber a tad sometimes)

Oily fingerprints are often the main cause of the judder though.

 

[tyred]

Lovely bike

Oil on the rim is the most likely cause of judder but there are ither things you could look at too if you're satisfied that the rims are squeaky clean.

Are your brake blocks new? If so they're probably got a straight edge which will bed into the curvature of the rim with use or you could feather the edges off a little with a sharp knife or sandpaper.

Are they hitting the rim square? There were different profiles and widths of these blocks depending on manufacturer although it's probably impossible to know now what was originally fitted. I wouldn't worry too much about this so long as they're not too wide and are angled correctly for your rim.

On rod-braked roadsters I find the front brake will work acceptably well once you get it set up properly but the back brake is mostly for decoration purposes.