Smackhead Express - Raleigh Routier

[GTZaskar]

Great work!

I’ve basically turned mine into a temporary pub bike or newsagent bike when I return faulty Amazon packages 😂 no point driving 4 mins when I could ride. Unfortunately scroats would steal any bike but hopefully the rust would put them off. I’m very tempted to strip the paint and use some British racing green but like you I rather be careful what you invest.

Putting on a chain tomorrow and what if it will ride badly…

 

[wafter]

Great work!

I’ve basically turned mine into a temporary pub bike or newsagent bike when I return faulty Amazon packages 😂 no point driving 4 mins when I could ride. Unfortunately scroats would steal any bike but hopefully the rust would put them off. I’m very tempted to strip the paint and use some British racing green but like you I rather be careful what you invest.

Putting on a chain tomorrow and what if it will ride badly…

Cheers

Tbh a bit of shortish, no-frills utility work is exactly what these bikes were intended for.

I'd not rely on the rust to put off potential thieves; smackheads like this bike's previous "custodian" will rob them just for transport, so anything that works will be fair game

 

[wafter]

Just realised it's three years to the day since I started this thread

The bike is currently somewhat inert at the office, having been usurped by the recently-acquired Brompton I'm using for a bit of the commute in.

Hopefully the Routier will start getting regular use again when I eventually make my way back to the city full time..

 

[wafter]

Bit of an update from the latest "your ride today" entry - blew the dust off with a short ride earlier in the week

That fork does look like it's seen a bit of frontal impact, doesn't it?

 

[wafter]

Since the Brompton has arrived the Routier has spent most of its time undercover at the office.

Today after the Brompton's tyre issue prevented it from leaving the house, an errand at work pushed the Routier back into service

After maybe six months idle over the winter I was pleased to find it wasn't a total wreck; with the worst of the degradation limited to some surface rust on the chain and a little on the FD, along with many spiders webs and a bloom of mold at the contact points on the bar tape.

It still had air in the tyres although obviously needed a bit more, which proved no issue. Contact points were cleaned with isopropanol (bad move on the saddle as it went a bt melty ), the drivetrain checked to be operable and I was for a short, cold ride to see a client out on the ring road.

Not a lot to report; the chain was surprisingly slick if unsurprisingly a bit squeaky with everything else pretty much as I remember it.. It was nice to get out on the old duffer again; the chain's now come off to to go home with me and into the wax pan

 

[Chris S]

Bit of an update from the latest "your ride today" entry - blew the dust off with a short ride earlier in the week

View attachment 702163

That fork does look like it's seen a bit of frontal impact, doesn't it?

No - that's how they came out of the Raleigh factory

 

[wafter]

No - that's how they came out of the Raleigh factory

Thanks - I never can decide whether it looks dinged or not. Appreciate your reassurance

 

[Chris S]

Does your Raleigh Routier have locknuts on its front wheel cones? Raleigh didn't use them until fairly late and had narrower forks to compensate. I'm thinking of buying a Routier frameset and want to use modern alloy wheels.

 

[wafter]

Does your Raleigh Routier have locknuts on its front wheel cones? Raleigh didn't use them until fairly late and had narrower forks to compensate. I'm thinking of buying a Routier frameset and want to use modern alloy wheels.

One assumes so, but I can't say for certain... don't pay a lot for a frame as they're only cheap bikes.

 

[biggs682]

There's been a very clean one locally on marketplace till recently.