Oh Yes, now I remember!

Took the Equipe for a first ride today, it was excellent!

After replacing all the rusty parts and polishing everything that can be re-used I now finally have a working Vintage/Retro Raleigh Equipe.

The first part of the road to a five mile round trip was a little wobbly to say the least. It rides in a totally different way to my mountain bike and the sensitivity in directional control needed to be remembered. The first part of the journey is not a particularly smooth surface, it's single track, is curved with high hedges, and downhill. With my hulk on-board we quickly built up speed, pulling the brakes on an old bike can be compared with stamping on the brakes of a heavy old car with drum brakes. The brakes on my mountain bike would have you over the handlebars in comparison.

So, after an interesting start I was able to put some effort into it. This thing goes for it. I had forgotten the feeling of every pedal stroke being pushed into the tarmac (rather than squidging around on fat off-road tyres.).

I aimed for a long hill, actually it's one that's on the London to Brighton route, to test out the gearing and my legs. I did feel for a much better workout than on the MTB. I did power up without a rest and now feeling the benefit.

Being a hilly route I didn't expect a particularly fast time or speed. But still, I did manage a good average speed.

I'll post my trip stats on a later post.

A Bike is Re-Born

At long last, here she is!

Looking a lot different from when I pulled it back out of the shed. There are still a couple of things that need doing but overall I'm pleased with the result.

Things done since the last update include:

• Replaced rusty nuts and bots (3 more to go once I find replacements)
• Handlebar tape fitted
• Brake and gear cables re-fitted

Things to do:

• Need 2 self locking nuts to replace the ones holding the brake calipers
• Need a new seat post bolt - The Raleigh one it just too rusty, would love to replace with a shiny original
• Need new toe clips
• Need new rear reflector - I'm not sure what happened to the original

I've decided not to replace the brake cable outers just now. Originally I had thought these were just too discoloured to lean up. But then, I lubed the cables to ensure efficient braking and gear changes only to find that once the oil soaked in the original colour came flooding back. The outer casing is clear plastic, so you see through to the metal inner core which is a nice silver grey appearance!

Next action is to go back to the bike shop for some toe clips. I can't ride this easily without. I've spent more time on bikes with toe clips than without.

Test Ride

A momentous weekend just past, I took the Equipe out for a quick test for the first time in nearly 20 years! It was a very short run, mainly because I was running with a fixed gear (i.e. no gear selection available) and with one operational brake.

A nice steady run to check new pedals, brake test, and most of call that the new wheels with re-fitted rear cassette were all working fine. And the result? Well, I can't wait to get this thing finished. I'm not counting this as an official run, that will come later when fully finished and go out for a decent run worth counting.

Fitted over the weekend:

• New brake adjusters and cable fixing clamps
• New dome nuts on brake calipers to replace rusty ones
• Chain
• Pedals
• Derailleurs
• Brake calipers

Still to do:

• Wrap handlebars in new white tape
• Install new brake and gear cables
• Clean up gear changers
• Source and purchase new cable outers in white (or silver)
• Purchase replacement self locking nuts for brakes

New Wheels

Now that feels a whole lot better

Can't believe the difference new wheels make to the look of a bike. Very happy at this point with something that's starting to look like a real bike. I've picked up some new brake blocks and pedals to help finish things off a little. I would like to have kept the original pedals except for the small point of the chrome peeling away. Really not worth re-chroming basic pedals.

Can't wait to get a ride on it now, it won't be long!

The big de-grease

Not the best of jobs in the world, but oddly rewarding.

I've stripped the bike down to it's most basic components in order to de-grease, clean, polish, re-grease and oil as needed, and re-assemble.

Following advice from the local bike shop, I decided to give the old chain a second chance and clean it. One quick jiggle of the chain tool and off popped the chain for a good clean and brush up. Brake calipers have been polished, along with brake leavers. The derailleurs have also been removed and cleaned with new grease around the bearings from the small cogs. The front derailleur is not looking too good. It's cleaned up to some extent but clearly suffering from many gear changes with chain rub on the much softer alloy. It's also fairly well pitted with corrosion in places around the bracket holding it to the frame. It will do for now, but my well see a phase two replacement.

All in all, I'm pretty impressed!

The one big area left to resolve is the odd scratch on the frame. Trying to get a match for the white is one thing, but getting a metallic dark grey match in paint is quite another. I'm wondering if Halfords may be the best option for now. Anything is going to be better than rust!

A new picture will arrive soon, don't want to give you a part complete picture just yet. The new wheels are expected at some point this week so will save the picture until then.

Last update for now is the choice of handlebar tape. The bike originally came with dark grey. This changed over time to light grey and then onto white. After almost changing to black I decided to go with white once again. Just waiting for it to come into stock.

Fit for purpose

It's a bit of an official title for a blog entry, but really, I can't ride this thing! There is a fair amount of work to be done before taking this out on the road once again. I've my research and spoken to my local bike shop for some ideas of cost..... Hmmm.

So, advice taken and costs gently obtained I'm breaking this project down into phases. Phase one being "Fit for Purpose" i.e. safe to take on the road and clean.

Phase 1

• New wheels
• New tyres
• New inner Tubes
• New Saddle
• New brake blocks
• Clean frame and exposed metal components
• New handlebar tape

Phase 2

• Make decision to keep or replace rear gear cassette
• Depending upon rear gear replacement, replace derailleur
• Replace chain
• Replace brake and gear cables
• Replace seat post (assuming it can't be cleaned)

Progress

At this point I've made the big start and purchased a new saddle and ordered new wheels. This is a big step to getting it on the road. I've also started to clean the bike components by removing the years of grime and rust and generally lubricate many of the joints. Brake leavers already looking shiny and half of the handlebar tape removed. Zoff is excellent at removing sticky tape residue from the handlebars.

Wheels being built with an expected delivery of around 10 days.