1992 Raleigh Ravine. 19".
I know there is little to no love for Raleighs like this - I have even surprised myself with my devotion to the cause with this model, as well as the Apex and the Peak in the same series.
Reynolds K2 seamless doubled butt-ribbed top tube, full length ribbed down tube and single butt-ribbed seat tube.
Not sure why this had an old style 3 piece axle set. The long axle on the 92 series is a bit of a problem re chain line and although I was tempted to swap it for a shorter modern jobbie, in the end I found my long-stored Stronglight Biostrong eliptical chainset gave an near ideal chainline, so I thought I'd give it a go. As an SPD pedal user, I like Biopace and its offspring, especially Shimano's Biopace HP. The original 400LX chainset had rusty steel rings which had to go, but the black cranks look very good with substitute silver chain rings to be fair.
I felt it deserved some DX derailleurs although the undamaged 400LX originals are nice items. The junk M200 black coated steel cantilevers are a low point on this model and were replaced with DX cantilevers.
The factory fitted cassette was a red label grade better than it should have been which was welcome.
The LH shifter was gummed up so I stripped it and got the pawls working again.
The bike was fully stripped in order to properly remove 28 years of accumulated grease and dirt cake.
The 'Ravine' decal has been wrapped with self adhesive polycarbonate film to protect it.
The cheap factory fitted tyres are still good!
The stem is off a 21" Peak model and the Raleigh RSP 6061 riser bars were fitted to give a little extra height.
I love the colour which is a pearl, but since the 1992 brochure mentions a 'Ridge' model, which must have been ditched? to become the 'Ravine' model, I can't put a name to it. It was particular to this year only.
The bikes from this series seem quite rare - I don't think sales of them were that strong back then. A good try from Raleigh though in my view.
I know there is little to no love for Raleighs like this - I have even surprised myself with my devotion to the cause with this model, as well as the Apex and the Peak in the same series.
Reynolds K2 seamless doubled butt-ribbed top tube, full length ribbed down tube and single butt-ribbed seat tube.
Not sure why this had an old style 3 piece axle set. The long axle on the 92 series is a bit of a problem re chain line and although I was tempted to swap it for a shorter modern jobbie, in the end I found my long-stored Stronglight Biostrong eliptical chainset gave an near ideal chainline, so I thought I'd give it a go. As an SPD pedal user, I like Biopace and its offspring, especially Shimano's Biopace HP. The original 400LX chainset had rusty steel rings which had to go, but the black cranks look very good with substitute silver chain rings to be fair.
I felt it deserved some DX derailleurs although the undamaged 400LX originals are nice items. The junk M200 black coated steel cantilevers are a low point on this model and were replaced with DX cantilevers.
The factory fitted cassette was a red label grade better than it should have been which was welcome.
The LH shifter was gummed up so I stripped it and got the pawls working again.
The bike was fully stripped in order to properly remove 28 years of accumulated grease and dirt cake.
The 'Ravine' decal has been wrapped with self adhesive polycarbonate film to protect it.
The cheap factory fitted tyres are still good!
The stem is off a 21" Peak model and the Raleigh RSP 6061 riser bars were fitted to give a little extra height.
I love the colour which is a pearl, but since the 1992 brochure mentions a 'Ridge' model, which must have been ditched? to become the 'Ravine' model, I can't put a name to it. It was particular to this year only.
The bikes from this series seem quite rare - I don't think sales of them were that strong back then. A good try from Raleigh though in my view.
