76 Raleigh Roadrunner ( No really, it's more MTB than it sounds )

[baldyonabike]

Hello folks.
I just got this: it's a 76 Raleigh Roadrunner. And it's almost original ( the pedals are wrong and it's missing the headtube badge )
It's in bloody good condition for a 46 year old kid's bike. )
Reader: Alright Baldy, what are you doing posting a kids ROADrunner here in the MTB section?

Baldy: Look at it. I mean, look at it! It's slacker than Liam Gallagher's rocking chair, it's got risers, and it had, for it's time ( and still would have if someone hadn't put Grown - Up pedals on it ) huge chunky pedals. And it's a single speed.

This is the kind of bike that got turned into an off - road machine by default - because what 11 year- old in '76 rode their bike on the ROAD? I mean, going to school, maybe, but otherwise it was over building sites, down slag heaps, through as much mud as you could eat, and to the shops on Saturdays to get an Airfix kit, a copy of Valiant and 20 Rothmans for your mum/dad/big brother.

Basically, this is a Nottingham Clunker. We may not have had the Repak but we had mucky ditches and old dusty disused car parks and demolition sites. And emulating Evel Knievel over younger kids who couldn't argue effectively.

I got one for Christmas, it was the first new bike I ever got, and I well remember going to Barker's in Northallerton to buy it. It cost 42.50.
It was exactly like this one, except for the pedals.
So yes it's too small, but I'll still give it a damn good working over, and it will go on the wall.

BOAB.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

to the shops on Saturdays to get... 20 Rothmans for your mum/dad/big brother.

I can't believe what we got away with back then. We were such regulars picking up smokes for a friend's old man that the clerk no longer needed to check the "permission slip" that they had on file under the register. Became quite convenient when I wanted the smokes for myself, except that I could only buy his preferred brand. Coincidentally, it was Rothman's blue.

 

[enc]

That’s just gagging for a pair of cow horns and shorty mudguards
Edit: and the chain guards got to go

 

[greencat]

Yep, deffo shorty mudguards. They were the affordable upgrade of choice of many a bike. Who cares if they were useless.

 

[baldyonabike]

The chain guard on mine ( in 76 ) went on the way to school: trousers in those days were...extensive and mine caught in the thing one too many times so it got slung in a hedge somewhere between Brompton and the Allertonshire school. The bloody thing is probably still there. I did offer a pair of 26 wheels up to it, just in case, but it's no go. That paint job though...for a 46 year old bike it's surprisingly vibrant and unscathed.

 

[enc]

Yep, deffo shorty mudguards. They were the affordable upgrade of choice of many a bike. Who cares if they were useless.

Technically, maybe a downgrade as they did bugger all but were aesthetically pleasing

 

[enc]

The chain guard on mine ( in 76 ) went on the way to school: trousers in those days were...extensive a

1976… unless you were riding the first wave of punk you’d have been sporting “flairs” no doubt. we used to tuck them in our sock… still do actually

 

[Lhatch4]

The frame itself isn't all that different from the Raleigh Mountain Tours. Change out the wheels for a 650b set with gravel tires and put a bullmoose bar on it. Get rid of the fenders and chain guard and it's basically a mountain bike.

 

[dirttorpedo]

That's a very practical looking bike. When I was a kid we were riding 3 speed Schwinn Sting Rays or a knock off by CCM or a department store which were horrible off road bikes. I rode mine on the trails around Saskatoon dreaming of being able to afford one of those new fangled BMX bikes out of California.

 

[baldyonabike]

The kid bike world in those days was still very Raleigh Chopper oriented, ( like a Stingray but DEEPLY British ) but this was JUST the cool side of uncool parent-approved bike - the colours, graphics and in particular the bars made all the difference to me.( I was never actually cool, though so there's that ) I loved the thing.
When my dad bought it, I was allowed to ride it home where it had to stay until Christmas - about 3 weeks. Once school broke up for Christmas I took it out to ride every day when dad was at work, and cleaned it perfectly before putting it back in the cupboard it was stored in. Even the rear carrier, which was standard was handy for school books and so on.
I was thoroughly delighted to find such a clean example and for next to nothing.