Newbie advice needed!

[Sparks83]

Hi folks,

Brand new to the forum and jumping straight in to ask some advice - sorry (you all seem like a friendly lot though so hopefully this will go down ok!)

I'm changing job situation soon which means I'll be able to ride to work so decided to get myself a road bike. Being much more a fan of older stuff and having built a MTB a few years ago I decided to go down the restoration route and ended up here...

Now to the question - I've been given a Raleigh Olympus (early 70s?) but its a bit of a clunker, rusty, knackered wheels/tyres, chainset looks ok under the rust. Is it worth some work do you think? Or would I be better off investing some money in a better starting point and going from there?

I realise that's not an easy question but any thoughts are appreciated!

Cheers

Marc

 

[biggs682]

hard to tell without pics , but why not use it if its feesable to put back on the road , post some pics let us al have a look , i always use late 70's early 80's steel road bike similar to yours so no reason why not

 

[Tel]

Depends what your goals are. Almost every bike is worth the time and effort to get it ship shape and back on the road avoiding being dumped but for my own personal ride I always aim for something a little higher up the ladder i.e 531 framed. It makes such a big difference to the way a bike rides and feels...

 

[Sparks83]

Thanks for the replies folks - this is the bike in question...

 

[Spokesmann]

So muchas I love old Raleighs, an Olympus was my first 'proper' bike - Id keep it for a nice retro project and get something a little more up-to-date and lighter for commuting.

Great to see one of these old things again though, thanks for posting.

 

[Sparks83]

After spending some time with it last night I think that's what I'll do... I'll keep this thread updated with pics when Im done.

Any suggestions on alternatives to look at?