Sally the Raleigh.........Diary of a Restoration

[davester65]

Meet 'Sally' the third addition to my family of cycles.

As you can see from the pics, she's in need of a bit of TLC, and that's exactly what she's going to get.
Over the coming months i'll keep this thread updated with my progress...in picture form..of course
I have set myself a deadline for completion by Spring 2014, though i hope to get her finished before that, funds permitting.



First post......researching the history.

I acquired the Randonneur frame this week, complete with seatpost, h/bar stem, bars and canti brakes.
The seatpost and brakes are original to the bike, the bars and stem are Sakae Royal which is authentic to this model and year though not from the original bike.

After a bit of digging i have found out the bike is an 1987 model, built in August of that year in Nottingham.
I have found an original Raleigh spec sheet for that model year and will be searching around for authentic parts over the next few months.



The paintwork is tired but reasonable but you will note from the pics there is some damage to the rear of the BB on the chainstays. My best guess is that a previous owner had a V stand fitted to the bike and whoever fitted it may have been a little over enthusiastic with the torque wrench

Current plans are to get the damage checked out and if necessary have it repaired, if the damage does not affect the strength of the chainstays then it will be left as it's part of the bike's history. At some point it will get a full respray and new decals.

In the meantime i will be cleaning, polishing and searching the web for the much needed shiny stuff.

 

[davester65]

Spent an enjoyable couple of hours this afternoon in the garage, stripping the canti brakes and attacking them with my Dremmel and a tube of Autosol
The results are unbelievable....here's one cleaned and rebuilt and one not!

 

[Kins]

Frame paint looks fine to me besides a clean and maybe some cutting polish. Nice looking frame. Have fun.

 

[davester65]

Frame paint looks fine to me besides a clean and maybe some cutting polish. Nice looking frame. Have fun.

The pics do look ok, but when you see her close up there are quite a few chips and plenty of blemishes in the paintwork and decals, plus some discolouration, so a respray is in order i think

 

[biggs682]

The pics do look ok, but when you see her close up there are quite a few chips and plenty of blemishes in the paintwork and decals, plus some discolouration, so a respray is in order i think

but you will loose the bikes true identity , and it will become a bike that has been painted with little or no proof of its originaliity

 

[sidevalve]

but you will loose the bikes true identity , and it will become a bike that has been painted with little or no proof of its originaliity

+1 for that, however it all depends on what needs to be done to that frame tube.

 

[davester65]

but you will loose the bikes true identity , and it will become a bike that has been painted with little or no proof of its originaliity

haven't made the final decision yet, as sidevalve said, much depends on the chainstay work, i'm planning to take a trip down to Dave Yates in Lincolnshire to get his expert opinion. If she does need respraying it will be done to original colour spec with replacement decals so she won't be losing her identity altogether.

 

[Falwheeler]

I have a Randonneur, Rosie, of similar vintage that I have had since new, lovely bikes. Mine is mostly original other than Sora shifters but I have kept everything that I have replaced so that it could be returned to original spec if desired. If I can help at all let me know.

 

[davester65]

I have a Randonneur, Rosie, of similar vintage that I have had since new, lovely bikes. Mine is mostly original other than Sora shifters but I have kept everything that I have replaced so that it could be returned to original spec if desired. If I can help at all let me know.

Thanks for that, i've been having a browse around for parts and everything seems pretty readily available, struggling with the biopace triple chainset at the min, but i'm sure one will crop up well before i'm ready to rebuild.

One thing that you may be able to help with, on the spec sheet the wheels are listed as Mavic M3CD rims laced onto maillard 600 hubs, lots of google searching has produced zero about the rims, any info about those would be much appreciated.

 

[Falwheeler]

Found the Spec sheet for mine and I think it's a few years newer than yours, 1992, same colour but probably a few differences. My rims are Mavic M4CD, dark grey anodised with a light grey anodised 105 hubs. I doubt you'll be able to find original rims but these look pretty similar to mine http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/mavic-a-319-700c-road-rim-black-id69895.html

 

[davester65]

have been doing a bit of research about the rims and still nothing on the M3CD, though the MA40 was widely used back then so maybe Raleigh used OEM MA40's.
The rim you recommended is the current version of that rim, so looks like i have a choice authentic MA40's @£60 each (NOS) or modern day equivalents @£30 each...........decisions decisions

 

[Falwheeler]

Have a look at this, stunning http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raleigh-R...035&pid=100011&prg=1005&rk=1&sd=150698678215&

 

[davester65]

Nice spot, looks in immaculate condition, worth putting up in the ebay thread here. Slightly later model than mine.....early nineties i think, given me some good detailed pics for accuracy though. Thanks

 

[Kins]

Aye, nice reference pics there for you. Proper job. Looks lovely.

 

[davester65]

Not done much work on Sally this weekend, been researching and locating parts.

Though i did buy a wheelset off a fellow CC member, mainly for the hubs (shimano 600), the plan was to strip them and find authentic Mavic rims but after inspection they're in fantastic condition for their age (late 80's), so for now i'm going to go with them, so they're stashed away.

Had the 8 speed UG cassette removed at a LBS ( i don't have enough arms and hands to remove Uni Glide ) who is a Raleigh dealer, so quizzed them about the Sachs Huret Derailleurs on the 87 model vs the Shimano Deore DX fitted to the 89 model, they warned me about the sachs breaking too easily (which is why Raleigh switched to Deore Dx) so am probably going to go with Deore Dx.

Asked them about the Mavic rims too and they told me the M3cd &M4cd rims were entry level rims OEM for Raleigh, they recommended Mavic Open 4cd's (vintage) or Mavic A319's (current).

Also got hold of a pair of 600 downtube shifters to compliment the hubs, so now hunting down 600 brake levers and headset.