Hi all, this is my first real post so go easy on me! Some of you might recognise my username from bikeradar or retro rides
I wanted a new road bike but being a compulsive tinkerer I was unable to allow myself to purchase a £1000 racer, plus I didn't want to end up with a bike I would only use twice a month.
Got this 1980 Raleigh Magnum off of ebay for an incredible £12. It was literally perfect, even the tyres were inflated correctly!
I decided to go for single speed (just because I've never had a single speed before) and went about stripping the bike down. The only problem I had was with the LH crank arm - the internal thread stripped meaning I couldn't remove it from the BB axle (I have a couple of hub pullers which would have worked on the chainring, but not on this side!). So I had to get out the angle grinder and veeeery carefully cut the BB axle apart. My LBS didn't have a replacement BB axle but gave (sold) me a cartridge unit which was about a £15. Not wanting to fork out on a new crankset I just re-used the old one, which means I'll have to take the angle grinder to it again to get it off, but hopefully I won't need to do that for many years. I refurbed all the mechanical bits (with no gears, that basically left just brakes) and polished all the aluminium using a felt wheel in a drill bit (held in a vice) and Autosol as a polish.
Then I ground off the non-essential braze ons to give it a smoother look, and I scuffed the old paint on the frame (no point taking it all off as it was in very good condition) prior to painting with some paint I had left over from respraying my old Datsun. I initially wanted to paint it a pearlescent white but it's shockingly expensive!
I got some cheap 700c wheels on ebay for about £50, and lowered the brake blocks to suit. Forked out on new tyres which were about £25 for both. Then I got a short Bluemels mudguard and painted it to match (although I don't think it actually does anything at all) and a Brookes saddle from a car boot sale for £30.
Got chainring :shock: ?
It's running 52/18, might go for 52/20 as it's pretty hilly in Bournemouth
Probably cost me about £125 for everything including the bike itself, and I sold the original steel wheels for £25. I only used those cheap QRs to test it and have since replaced them with some high-quality Shimano ones. I might get rid of the 'death grip' brake lever extensions as they don't work very well and also no matter how tightly I screw the levers onto the bars, if you use the extensions they still come loose. It now has a red KMC chain which really sets it off.
I'm thinking of swapping the red tyres, mudguard and grips to white, what do you think?
I also have a 1970s Coventry Eagle Reynolds 531 frame that I'm slowly collecting parts for (so far I have some Sugino Maxy cranks and that's it) which will be dark silver with white components and a chromed front fork.
EDIT - Spec sheet. Might be a laugh.
Frame: 1980 Raleigh Magnum, don't know what steel but has cheap pressed lugs so nothing fancy. 22" (I think) frame.
Fork: 1980 Raleigh Magnum
Headset: unbranded
Stem: Raleigh, polished aluminium quill stem
Handlebar: Raleigh, polished aluminium
Bar Tape: Deda
Brake Levers/Brifters: Weinmann
Brake Calipers: Raleigh Weinmann 610
Brake Pads: Cheap ones!
Brake Cables: unbranded
Shifters: n/a
Front Derailleur: n/a
Rear Derailleur: n/a
Derailleur Cables: n/a
Cassette:
Chain: Red (painted) KMC Z510
Cranks: Original Raleigh
Chainrings: ^
Bottom Bracket: Shimano sealed
Pedals: MKS RX1 copies, no idea if they're original or not, white leatherette straps
Rims: Weinmann cheapies
Hubs: Quando
Hub Skewers: Shimano XT
Nipples: unknown
Spokes: stainless
Tyres: Schwalbe Blizzard
Tubes: budget Kenda
Saddle: Brooks Professional S, tan with copper rivets
Seatpost: original Raleigh aluminium
Seatpost Binder: Raleigh original chromed steel
Bottle Cage:
Extras: polished Dia-Comp 'deathgrip' brake extensions
Weight: Somewhere between 9 and 11kgs. I haven't weighed it properly because my electric bathroom scales are useless
I wanted a new road bike but being a compulsive tinkerer I was unable to allow myself to purchase a £1000 racer, plus I didn't want to end up with a bike I would only use twice a month.
Got this 1980 Raleigh Magnum off of ebay for an incredible £12. It was literally perfect, even the tyres were inflated correctly!
I decided to go for single speed (just because I've never had a single speed before) and went about stripping the bike down. The only problem I had was with the LH crank arm - the internal thread stripped meaning I couldn't remove it from the BB axle (I have a couple of hub pullers which would have worked on the chainring, but not on this side!). So I had to get out the angle grinder and veeeery carefully cut the BB axle apart. My LBS didn't have a replacement BB axle but gave (sold) me a cartridge unit which was about a £15. Not wanting to fork out on a new crankset I just re-used the old one, which means I'll have to take the angle grinder to it again to get it off, but hopefully I won't need to do that for many years. I refurbed all the mechanical bits (with no gears, that basically left just brakes) and polished all the aluminium using a felt wheel in a drill bit (held in a vice) and Autosol as a polish.
Then I ground off the non-essential braze ons to give it a smoother look, and I scuffed the old paint on the frame (no point taking it all off as it was in very good condition) prior to painting with some paint I had left over from respraying my old Datsun. I initially wanted to paint it a pearlescent white but it's shockingly expensive!
I got some cheap 700c wheels on ebay for about £50, and lowered the brake blocks to suit. Forked out on new tyres which were about £25 for both. Then I got a short Bluemels mudguard and painted it to match (although I don't think it actually does anything at all) and a Brookes saddle from a car boot sale for £30.
Got chainring :shock: ?
It's running 52/18, might go for 52/20 as it's pretty hilly in Bournemouth
Probably cost me about £125 for everything including the bike itself, and I sold the original steel wheels for £25. I only used those cheap QRs to test it and have since replaced them with some high-quality Shimano ones. I might get rid of the 'death grip' brake lever extensions as they don't work very well and also no matter how tightly I screw the levers onto the bars, if you use the extensions they still come loose. It now has a red KMC chain which really sets it off.
I'm thinking of swapping the red tyres, mudguard and grips to white, what do you think?
I also have a 1970s Coventry Eagle Reynolds 531 frame that I'm slowly collecting parts for (so far I have some Sugino Maxy cranks and that's it) which will be dark silver with white components and a chromed front fork.
EDIT - Spec sheet. Might be a laugh.
Frame: 1980 Raleigh Magnum, don't know what steel but has cheap pressed lugs so nothing fancy. 22" (I think) frame.
Fork: 1980 Raleigh Magnum
Headset: unbranded
Stem: Raleigh, polished aluminium quill stem
Handlebar: Raleigh, polished aluminium
Bar Tape: Deda
Brake Levers/Brifters: Weinmann
Brake Calipers: Raleigh Weinmann 610
Brake Pads: Cheap ones!
Brake Cables: unbranded
Shifters: n/a
Front Derailleur: n/a
Rear Derailleur: n/a
Derailleur Cables: n/a
Cassette:
Chain: Red (painted) KMC Z510
Cranks: Original Raleigh
Chainrings: ^
Bottom Bracket: Shimano sealed
Pedals: MKS RX1 copies, no idea if they're original or not, white leatherette straps
Rims: Weinmann cheapies
Hubs: Quando
Hub Skewers: Shimano XT
Nipples: unknown
Spokes: stainless
Tyres: Schwalbe Blizzard
Tubes: budget Kenda
Saddle: Brooks Professional S, tan with copper rivets
Seatpost: original Raleigh aluminium
Seatpost Binder: Raleigh original chromed steel
Bottle Cage:
Extras: polished Dia-Comp 'deathgrip' brake extensions
Weight: Somewhere between 9 and 11kgs. I haven't weighed it properly because my electric bathroom scales are useless
