old raleigh slow slow project/daily rider

[raleighrider21]

Hi, new to the forum but been around bikes since i was a little kid, always had a massive love for raleighs ever since i had my first proper one when i was 13, loved everything about it, went everywhere on it, rode it for about 2 years and sold it when i decided to help get a moped, regretted selling it ever since, so when the oppurtunity came to get another one almost exactly the same as my old one for free i jumped at it, it had plenty of issues when i first got it but i didnt care and fixed most of them.
first issue was it had no brakes, cured that by installing a set of v-brakes i had in my parts bin onto the front, second one was none of the gears worked, again parts bin to the rescue, changed the rear and front mechs, new gear cables and lots of gt-85 and got all the gears to work and the chain to go through smoothly. final issue was both of the wheels were buckled to hell, bought a full suspension bike off a mate for £5 and swapped the wheels over.
installed a pannier rack and been using it daily for the past three weeks with no issues, have lots of plans for it including a strip down, respray and rebuild with new bearings/cables/wheels and some bloody grips. want to use most of the parts it already has on there but need to keep atleast one of my bikes riding to use everyday and this is the only bike i have right now thats in one piece/suitable for the ride i do, so cant strip it just yet, hence why its going to be a slow slow project, not really planning on keeping it original but wont be going over the top with it with modern parts and all, anyway heres some pics of it........

 

[coomber]

Never like telling people what to do, but is that a hi tensile raleigh?

Raleigh made some great bikes but some lower end ones weren't worthy of the name. So if that's one of them I would save the respray money and put it towards something like a m trax or something.

 

[coomber]

That said if its your first bike can see why. But keep it and still save towards better if I were you.

 

[raleighrider21]

probably is to be honest, I know its not really worth anything and never will be but I like the bike, this is my second one of this model and it rides great, ive had better bikes but theres something I really like about this one, wont be spending a huge amount on it to be honest but its more of a emotional thing than it is investment if you get me, im currently building a Carrera aswell as doing this one up a little, ill post up on that one too

 

[MarinMartin]

looks like a raleigh outland. got offered one of them for a tenner but just too big for me. (think they're 23" frames and I ride 20" tops)

but sometimes they arent worth anything but that's what makes them special to you. My old giant stonebreaker isnt worth eff all but Im never selling it. I bought it to use on the road and so far its spent most of its time on the trails. I think Ive fallen in love with it

oh and Ive got an old apollo blizzard frame given to me by a mate, again a laughable bike but there's something about it I like and Im fixing it up with parts from my parts bin.

 

[raleighrider21]

looks like a raleigh outland. got offered one of them for a tenner but just too big for me. (think they're 23" frames and I ride 20" tops)

but sometimes they arent worth anything but that's what makes them special to you. My old giant stonebreaker isnt worth eff all but Im never selling it. I bought it to use on the road and so far its spent most of its time on the trails. I think Ive fallen in love with it

oh and Ive got an old apollo blizzard frame given to me by a mate, again a laughable bike but there's something about it I like and Im fixing it up with parts from my parts bin.

yer think its a 23" as its slightly bigger than my friends 22" Apollo but cant be 100% ill measure tomorrow, I use this bike on the road, on the trails, down the towpaths, ill be doing a weekend trip on it in a few weeks, ive done well over 400 miles on it so far, its the perfect bike for me, isn't too heavy, handles nicely, rides nice and smooth, is the perfect size for me (hard to find a bike that fits me and one that i like as im 6ft5) ive built up and had so many bikes that were rubbish in other peoples eyes its unbelievable, but I loved them all, just these Raleighs I have a real soft spot for and im emotionally attached to this one in particular.

 

[drcarlos]

If you think this Raleigh rides well wait until you try one with a decent frame! Seriously the gaspipe tubing this one is made with will be deader than Maggie T. Like you though I am a Raleigh fan and I can tell you that the bike further up the range offer a decent ride and are not expensive. For instance this Montage with Suntour Group and a Reynolds 501 frame is one sale for £50 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RALEIGH-MONTA ... 20d51e1ef0
Or if you want something later there are several of the K2 offroad models up for auction too like this Ravine:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RALEIGH-RAVIN ... 41756d9668
Neither will be mega bucks and will probably cost you less than the respray of the Gaspipe one you have. Both need a little TLC which I'm sure (seeing the affection you have for them) you'll give them. The Montage would be my pick of the 2 and you really can't go wrong for £50. If the Raleigh bug really bites the 531 lightweights like my Team Replica popup from time to time and don't make massive money either.

Carl.

 

[al-onestare]

My brother had one of these, it's the Raleigh Outland. It was an absolute tank, even heavier than my crummy Maverick!

 

[raleighrider21]

I must admit I have ridden better bikes and compared to some of my old bikes it is heavy but I have no plans to be getting another one for a while (live with my mother now after leaving my ex) and cant store anymore bikes in the shed, I can paint the whole bike for £25 if I use my employee discount at the big shop I work at (no names lol) I will at some point get a better Raleigh just right now im plowing money into finishing the Carrera frame im building up, ill probably get another one when that's done, this bike is 100% a bike ill NEVER get rid of though so putting £50-£60 into it isn't going to bother me
looking at those links I really do like the look of the montage

 

[raleighrider21]

had a few issues on the ride home last night,
gears were playing up, was clunky all the way home but still worked, adjusted high screw, all fine now
my camera mount broke - I sometimes ride with a camera on my handlebars just for the hell of it really
and I had a blowout at roughly 30mph down a massive hill with cars up my rear.
lucky I was only down the road from where my street is, didn't have to push too far + I hate rain.
sorted the gears just need to sort out my rear tyre now