Raleigh Pursuit 30 years later. Finished pics on page 2

[MrW]

Thank you Dave

It may 'only' be a 'gas pipe' but it's my gas pipe

(well, actually it's MrsW's, as it's too small for me!)

I see too many of these chucked in the metal skip at the local tip.

Yes, I have spent lots of time, effort and probably too much money, but I think it's worth it

 

[big_dave]

Yes I have spent way way more than my bike is worth, but I love it, still altering "the settings" on the bars and seat seeing which position/height/tilt is most comfortable to ride, it's such a pleasure to ride, I'm getting used to the 30/42/52 road triple gearing a bit now having been spoilt on 22/32/44 & 11/34 MTB gearing for so many years it was a real shocker when I first got the Kellogg's with 42/52 14/24 how the hell do you people get up the hills on those gears lol

Well Done on the Pursuit build, A fine looking bike worthy of saving.

 

[MrW]

Still some 'fettling' to be done yet me thinks...

Need to 'treat' it to a half decent alloy chain set (period ish correct) and an alloy seat post (the one I got from you is for a 501 frame so is too big! :-( )

It's been on a 'diet' whilst being restored, and I've tried to lose everything made from steel, including the original wheels which weigh a tonne!!

 

[MrW]

Updated

Had problems with rear wheel coming adrift when pedalling hard, so had to straighten out the drop outs.

Changed the gear shifters for period Raleigh black resin ones, and added a Selle Italia Turbo.

Need to sort a new seat post, but found the one now on the bike in the garage!

 

[OnaRaleigh]

"Saddle - Need to recover" ..

I am in exactly the same state on the Raleigh Pursuit I am doing up. I have taken off the torn cover and the saddle looks just like your pic. I have a sheet of leather from an old sofa that I picked up at the tip. How do we go about recovering a saddle? Any ideas?


I am considering cutting out a pattern and soaking and stretching it to start.
P.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Looking good.

I do wonder about the time and effort, not to mention money spent on a gas pipe bike, but these are what most of us started on and are a part of the cycling history of the country. So chapeau to you on a job well done.

 

[MrW]

Thanks guys

I never got around to recovering the saddle..

I did, however buy 2 NOS Selle Royal Dolphin's on the understanding they were black, but they turned out to be Shark Grey!

For now, it has the repro Turbo on it, maybe one day I'll recover the old one!

 

[Bats]

The secret of gaspipe is that it doesn't ride any worse than 531. Just feels a bit different.

 

[Dare]

Nice work! I like the way it looks and I hope it rides the same.
I have to say I dislike color of hb tape and the rest of the bike deserves for the tape to be little better applied; more even

 

[Tamandua]

Re:

Sorry to dredge this thread , cracking bike btw!

Is the tange bb the original? Im restoring a Raleigh Banana that has the exact same cranks but the bb is shot, just wondering if you know the length. The original is 123-124 but wondering if I can get away with somethng shorter, bbs that long are hard to come by !

cheers