old raleigh slow slow project/daily rider

[Neil]

This thread reminds me of the 1980's when I had read a magazine article about these new fangled mountain bikes that had taken off in the US. So I went to my all singing all dancing Raleigh dealer and talked to a very nice chap in a natty blue overall complete with Raleigh logo and explained what I was looking for.

"No, that's just an American fad and they will never catch on, now what about this nice sturmy archer three speed, great for canal banking", said the very nice chap.

Is it any wonder they went out of business, just like the British motor and motorcycling industry, a failure to innovate.

Thing is, I quite miss those days of traditional values, failure to innovate, and being told what's good for us.

I've great memories of growing up with a big, Raleigh bike shoppe nearby. Yes, when that crazy mountain bike thing hit, they looked a bit stuffy and not trendy, but all the same, there was a certain something about it all.

There's more than just nostalgia that makes my golden era of mountain biking to be from the late 80s to early 90s. Whilst a couple of my bikes are 95, and comprehensively better than my bikes from the early 90s, I think I still prefer the slightly earlier era.

For a couple of sports that I actually participate in, they were at there best before they hit their peak. Diversification and becoming overly popular - to me at least - was kind of the start of their downfall. They all seemed to follow the same boom and bust pattern.

 

[darrenh]

british motor industry was never lacking in innovation (case in point moultons hydrolastic/hydro-pneumatic suspension) what it did fail in was build quality and marketing

 

[superstar1]

british motor industry was never lacking in innovation (case in point moultons hydrolastic/hydro-pneumatic suspension) what it did fail in was build quality and marketing

hydrolastic/hydro-pneumatic suspension!!!

Please tell me you're not referring to the Austin Allegro?

 

[raleighrider21]

a bit has been going on. decided to put it in this thread instead of starting a new one.
unfortunately i have just lost my job. the company i was working for went bust. ive had to sell the car so that i dont have to sign on for a month or so. im now living back with parents and my relationship went bad so weve parted ways. I got the hawk trakatak back for free and it needs quite a bit of work but i need to keep it safe and rideable so i can still get about and get to interviews etc. so today i got it back to mums and set about getting some work done ready to do a 10 mile round trip on tuesday.

tried to take crankset off but wrong tool. going to whack them off with a hammer as theyre scrap to put ones off another bike on.

front and rear mechs could do with a good scrub.



generally the bike could do with a strip down, everything being cleaned and regreased, new cables, new tyres/tubes, new chain and freewheel and itll be good to go. want to just keep this bike going so after the initial tear down itll just be accesorys getting fitted and maintenance being done.
took her for a ride though -

got a nice 32kms in. longest ride ive been on in a loooong time.

 

[raleighrider21]

some new tyres. new innertubes. new rim tape. trued the wheels. adjusted the brakes. fine tuned the gears. all ready for tommorrow.