Mark Manley
Raleigh Fan
I was for sometime looking out for a particular Raleigh Royal/Randonneur/Granada from I believe 1986 which had the pantographed seat stays and caliper brakes, a year or so later they went to cantilever brakes and last year a Granada came up on Ebay in the right size. It was a one owner bike which had been well maintained but had done a lot of miles so was usable but could do with an overhaul, I travelled by train to pick it up and the very helpful seller picked me up from the station which was good of him.
As it was when I got it home.
As soon as I got it home some riser bars were fitted and the gearing lowered, I find anything with drop bars just about unrideable for any distance and the hills around here are pretty steep so this is my normal practice and used it like that for a while to determine if I really liked it and if I wanted to spent some time and money on it, which I did.
I had a couple changes of mind about what it should look like including stripping it and doing a rough aerosol can job in green which was did not look as good in real life as expected but it did give me a chance to try different components before settling on how it is now.
A month or so ago while looking at vintage Raleigh on another forum I came across the Sprite which I think is a North America only model of roadster a step up from the Sports, the only difference originally appears to only be the colour before the Sprite got 27" wheels and a few other changes. It always had a carbon steel frame and steel components but went from 3 or 5 speed hub to 5 or 10 speed derailleur gears as well as a few other detail changes and I liked the look of it particularly in white which is how it ended up in its current form.
A couple of clues that it might not be a genuine Sprite.
It has become my go to everyday bike and I expect this is how it will stay now.
And the spec sheet.
Frame-Raleigh Granada 531 21" sprayed BMW Alpine white
Frame only weight-2KG
Forks- Raleigh Granada 531
Headset-Tange
Stem-SR
Handlebars-SR pullback riser bar
Brake lever-Weinmann
Brake calipers-Raleigh branded Weinmann centre pulls
Brake blocks-Cool Stop
Rear derailleur only-Raleigh branded Suntour with matching handlebar shifter
Cassette-A British made 6 speed I forget the name of 14-32 tooth
Chain-Sunrace
Crankset-Raleigh branded SR 170mm
Chainring-SR 36 tooth
Bottom bracket-SR
Pedals-Raleigh, the early rebuidable ones
Rims-Weinnman touring 36 spoke
Hubs-SR
Scewers-SR
Tyres-Michelin touring
Saddle-Brooks B17
Seatpost-Raleigh branded SR
bottle cage-Elite
Rack-Showa
Bell-Adie
Mudguards-Aluminium
Weight-12KG the original Sprite weighs 15KG I believe
As it was when I got it home.
As soon as I got it home some riser bars were fitted and the gearing lowered, I find anything with drop bars just about unrideable for any distance and the hills around here are pretty steep so this is my normal practice and used it like that for a while to determine if I really liked it and if I wanted to spent some time and money on it, which I did.
I had a couple changes of mind about what it should look like including stripping it and doing a rough aerosol can job in green which was did not look as good in real life as expected but it did give me a chance to try different components before settling on how it is now.
A month or so ago while looking at vintage Raleigh on another forum I came across the Sprite which I think is a North America only model of roadster a step up from the Sports, the only difference originally appears to only be the colour before the Sprite got 27" wheels and a few other changes. It always had a carbon steel frame and steel components but went from 3 or 5 speed hub to 5 or 10 speed derailleur gears as well as a few other detail changes and I liked the look of it particularly in white which is how it ended up in its current form.
A couple of clues that it might not be a genuine Sprite.
It has become my go to everyday bike and I expect this is how it will stay now.
And the spec sheet.
Frame-Raleigh Granada 531 21" sprayed BMW Alpine white
Frame only weight-2KG
Forks- Raleigh Granada 531
Headset-Tange
Stem-SR
Handlebars-SR pullback riser bar
Brake lever-Weinmann
Brake calipers-Raleigh branded Weinmann centre pulls
Brake blocks-Cool Stop
Rear derailleur only-Raleigh branded Suntour with matching handlebar shifter
Cassette-A British made 6 speed I forget the name of 14-32 tooth
Chain-Sunrace
Crankset-Raleigh branded SR 170mm
Chainring-SR 36 tooth
Bottom bracket-SR
Pedals-Raleigh, the early rebuidable ones
Rims-Weinnman touring 36 spoke
Hubs-SR
Scewers-SR
Tyres-Michelin touring
Saddle-Brooks B17
Seatpost-Raleigh branded SR
bottle cage-Elite
Rack-Showa
Bell-Adie
Mudguards-Aluminium
Weight-12KG the original Sprite weighs 15KG I believe
