Restoration Project A. 1957 Raleigh Trent Sports.

[soundslikeraine]

Hello
a few years ago I discovered an old raleigh slowly rusting in the shed! I was not about to let it corrode and brought it in to one day restore it. after removing some of the worst rust and giving it a clean down I sort of forgot the project until my 1990s raleigh and I had an accident and I needed something to ride! so we stripped it apart to rebuild and restore, In doing so i learned more about my bike and began to get cold feet about restoring it without first knowing what im doing.

So anyway its a 1957/8 Ladies Raleigh Trent Sports 3 speed. mine has a front dyno hub and a rear SW hub dated to 1957
Im not quite sure where to start - the paintwork is not great, but it has fab decals and if i can i want to try and save as much of these as possible. the gear trigger was pretty much busted so ive got a replacement one of these to try out. im thinking my first move should be to get it all together again with new gear cables and brakes and see if it will run. the Hub makes me nervous as ive been told the SW was one of Sturmey Archers biggest mistakes as it was notoriously bad!

the bike also had front and back lights - which were still working before I disconnected them - unfortunately the rust has got inside and the component brackets have crumbled.

Eventually I will need to get a new saddle, replacement mudguards (the ones i found it with do not look original) and i will probably need to send the rims, handlebars and lights for re-chroming...

pictures of my projects can be found here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26749675@N07/sets/72157632845446189/

I welcome any advice. im totally new at this and more than aprehensive - i want to ensure i give this lovely bike the best chance possible to retain it orginal features and become a loved again ride!.

 

[Ian H]

http://sheldonbrown.com/sw.html
Yes, I had a project with an SW hub. The link above gives a good insight into why it was unreliable. It also gives info on restoring one, should you wish to do so.

 

[tyred]

Oh, I'm working on a Raleigh Trent Sports at the moment but mine is a gents model with Cyclo deraileur gearing.

The original mudguards are lightweight celluloid in white and very fragile.

 

[biggs682]

very nice and good luck

 

[Kins]

Love the decals, looks like quite a bit of work you have there!

 

[Cycleops]

Great project! I admire your bravery in tackling something like this. Regarding the decals, you could try photgraphing them and manipulate them in photo editing suite. If you take the result to a specialist print shop they may be able to print it for you if you give them dimensions. There are specialist suppliers but I would doubt they would have yours. Thats only of course if you respray which should only be a last resort.

Shouldn't bother about rechroming the rims, you should be able to get replacements on ebay( new or SH), complete wheels might be easier. Why not use the opportunity out swap out the SW hub for a better model?

Good luck.

 

[tyred]

The wheels are 26 x 1 1/4" and not that easy to find.

 

[GarryG]

Not sure if they are to far gone, but I have found that aluminium kitchen foil with a little water can do wonders for the rims, worth a try just incase you can recover them. The pics in my project thread show how well the front rim of my 1978 Raleigh Campus three speed came up, that is only the top of the rim as I need to make time to do it around the sides still.

The foil and water even managed to removed the black substance around the front of the frame.

Hope this helps.