Evening all! I picked up what I think is a 1990 Raleigh Montage a couple of months ago, very much on a whim, as my first foray into the retro MTB world.
It looked in pretty good nick and I loved the light blue colour, so for £20 I thought why not. I was pleased to discover that it was rideable and it got me home safely (~40 min ride) but it was obvious it could do with some TLC.
Parts-wise it seems a fair amount has been replaced by one of the previous owners. I think this had a XT Suntour group set but it has been partly replaced with lower end Shimano components - 300 Exage LX at the front and 300GS at the rear. It has some decent condition Araya rims (I’m not sure if those are original or not but they’re at least of a similar era) but quite a few rusty spokes, and a couple of missing ones.
I got to work stripping it down fairly quickly but I ended up breaking my wrist and haven’t been able to work on it for a couple of months, so it was left half-built in the corner of my kitchen.
I’ve just started working on it again and tonight’s aim was to reinstall the cantilever brakes. However, I noticed when trying to put the rear wheel back on that the axle seems far too long for the rear chainstay, by about 20mm. I didn’t notice it when I took the wheel off but the previous owner must have really rammed it in.
I know it’s common to be able to stretch the frame a little to accommodate a slightly oversized axle at the rear but surely no one would advise I attempt that in this case! What’s the best course of action for me to take? And, as a newbie, I’d appreciate any advice on how to make sure I don’t completely mess up the chain line if I start trimming the axle and moving spacers about etc.
Some pictures attached of when I picked it up and the stripped back frame after a wash-down and T-Cut.
Thanks all!
It looked in pretty good nick and I loved the light blue colour, so for £20 I thought why not. I was pleased to discover that it was rideable and it got me home safely (~40 min ride) but it was obvious it could do with some TLC.
Parts-wise it seems a fair amount has been replaced by one of the previous owners. I think this had a XT Suntour group set but it has been partly replaced with lower end Shimano components - 300 Exage LX at the front and 300GS at the rear. It has some decent condition Araya rims (I’m not sure if those are original or not but they’re at least of a similar era) but quite a few rusty spokes, and a couple of missing ones.
I got to work stripping it down fairly quickly but I ended up breaking my wrist and haven’t been able to work on it for a couple of months, so it was left half-built in the corner of my kitchen.
I’ve just started working on it again and tonight’s aim was to reinstall the cantilever brakes. However, I noticed when trying to put the rear wheel back on that the axle seems far too long for the rear chainstay, by about 20mm. I didn’t notice it when I took the wheel off but the previous owner must have really rammed it in.
I know it’s common to be able to stretch the frame a little to accommodate a slightly oversized axle at the rear but surely no one would advise I attempt that in this case! What’s the best course of action for me to take? And, as a newbie, I’d appreciate any advice on how to make sure I don’t completely mess up the chain line if I start trimming the axle and moving spacers about etc.
Some pictures attached of when I picked it up and the stripped back frame after a wash-down and T-Cut.
Thanks all!
