Raleigh Flyer - Worth saving?

[SpaceFlightOrange]

Hi.

I haven't been on here for a while, but I recently came across a bike that I felt was worthy of discussion.

A guy I used to work with has left and moved to China. I used to see him outside of work on a tired old Raleigh Flyer, and one day I discovered that due to leaving the country, he wanted to get rid of it, so much so, in fact, that he left it in the bike stand at work unlock in the hope that someone would nick it!

Nobody did so I told him i'd take it off his hands. Initially I thought maybe I could use convert it to single speed, but then guilt set in and I thought maybe I should restore it. This to'ing and fro'ing has resulted in it sitting for about 12 months!

I wanted to get your thought's on whether it was worth the effort and cost to restore it, or should i look to make it a single speed and actually use it, or should I just dump it.

I have no emotional attachment to the bike, personally, other than feeling a little bit sorry for it.

I haven't really worked out costs of restoration or conversion to single speed.

 

[Midlife]

With the front wheel straight does the forks look a bit pushed back and the front wheel close to the down tube. The reason I ask is that it looks like it has had a front end shunt..... Or it's the angle in your pic.

 

[SpaceFlightOrange]

Re:

Oh yeah, i see what you mean. I don’t recall seeing any evidence but I’ll check tomorrow. Its at my Mum and Dad’s so i dont see it often.

 

[allenh]

With the front wheel straight does the forks look a bit pushed back and the front wheel close to the down tube. The reason I ask is that it looks like it has had a front end shunt..... Or it's the angle in your pic.

I thought exactly the same

 

[SpaceFlightOrange]

Looks ok to me. Thoughts?

Having a good look at the bike. I kinda feel sorry for it, but I have no experience restoring road bikes of this age, only 90's mountain bikes, so I have no parts, and if anything can't be saved, I'll have to source. and then there's the decals.

I don't want this to result in me spending more than the bike's worth

But I quite like the idea of turning it into a retro-modern single speed that I'll actually use.

It's a pretty small frame but I think it fits ok (I'm just under 5' 10" but I have a short torso, so I tend to favour a smaller frame.

Any suggestions appreciated

 

[Nob]

Clean it up, put some new tyres & tubes on & sell it on as a Christmas present to someone...

 

[pigman]

Clean it up, put some new tyres & tubes on & sell it on as a Christmas present to someone...

tyres, tubes, cables, brake blocks etc easily fifty quid. plus there's hours of cleaning.
At the end of the day, it's a budget youth's "racer" with very little value

if it were mine, i'd be wheeling it to the local bike recyclers

 

[SpaceFlightOrange]

Re:

There’s also a significant amount of rust on the frame that will need attention.

I know a place that will powder coat for about £40 but it won’t be to showroom standard.

The seatpost isn’t seized, so that’s a plus