Nicely put together, I do many Vintage Road Bike Restorations here on TH-cam. Just finished a Raleigh Road Ace 531 it really is like stepping back in time. The Joy that it can gives you riding that bike you had as a kid, well for me is just priceless. I ride modern and vintage and love them both for different reasons. Doing these old bikes up and saving them from the scrap heap, which should be classed as a criminal act by the way, I feel it gives you a sense of achievement and preserves a little piece of cycling history at the same time! Thanks for the video enjoyed you sharing your childhood memories, all the very best Andy
Lovely video, I've just acquired one of these bikes which was being thrown in the scrap, complete and original, I've taken it apart and am having it sand blasted actually tomorrow. I m so looking forward to putting it back together and using it. Thank you again for the video. Best wishes. Gérard lacey in Ireland.
High tensile steel. Wow. Some serious nostalgia right there! My first "mountain bike" was an 1988 Halfords Apollo number; resplendently dressed in 'Hi Ten' tubing. ..I used to refer to it as 'welded scaffolding'.. Riding it up hill made you feel like an asthmatic Sisyphus on shopping day. Chromoly steel when it first appeared was a god send, lauded at the time for it's light weight and advanced technology(!) How times have changed!
Great story, and a nice looking oldie there. In 1973 I had a custom built 10 speed - Reynolds 531 double butted tubing, Stronglight cranks, TA chain rings, all good stuff etc. I rode it everywhere until it got a bit forgotten in the shed. Some time later I pulled it out and did the bike up nice and shiny again. It was 'memorable' to ride but transferred every bit of road buzz to my 65 year old spine. So it got put aside and a Specialized Roubaix took its place. There is a special kind of magic in old bikes, especially when they have such a strong link to our younger years.
You young whipper-snappers… I still have the first bike I bought as a middle aged adult: a Raleigh Super Course. I took my socks off to help me count up the years… It's a 1977! The year they went to 700c wheels, and now I've got to go dig it out of the barn and get it street ready. Thanks a lot!!!
Just acquired a early 70”s Raleigh Sprint. I’ve got it completely disassembled in preparation for restoration and modification. I intend to modify it to be a commuter of sorts for running errands. I love these old bikes; remember old doesn’t mean bad. Darlington, South Carolina USA
I've now done well over 100 miles on my (£20) 1980 Raleigh Carlton Grand Prix. Apart from new cables and tyres it just needed a clean. Yes, the brakes (felt pads) were appalling so some new Kool Stop Continentals. have sharpened that up a treat. Classic / Vintage bikes are well worth the effort of seeking out a bargain!!
Please more of these instead of those half-cocked "the pros ride this-and-that" stories! Loved this video!!! I asked for a Raleigh bmx myself but got a rear suspension bmx-like contraption which my dad converted from some chopper-wannabe bike. It had a coil suspension, weighed 16 kilos and due to that weight and sluggishness alone it was the ab-so-lute safest bike money couldn't buy :-) But I loved it and it lasted the best art of two decades, being upgraded only as parts disintegrated due to hard landings and friends borrowing. Still miss it sometimes...
My recently sold aluminium Boardman weighs about that! it's always good to ride a back to basics classic bike, reminds you how much fun cycling can be.
that's about just over 30lbs are you serious 😂 budget 29er aluminium mountain bikes are around that. that must have been a cheap overpriced Boardman lol unless it was a mountain bike?
Jaybie Dayy ha ha, yeah it was only £500, it was the cheapest one with cheap parts. Just bought a commuter to replace it which was cheaper and lighter...go figure.
I feel your pain with that folding bike Rob. Late 70's christmas, brought up by my Grandparents I asked for a racer. A Chopper was out of the question (too dangerous) but imagine my horror when a Green BSA Twenty was unwrapped. Apparently a racer was deemed too dangerous well because "you can't see where you are going". I survived 2 years on that bike before I convinced them to buy me a Puch Pacemaker, blue, 5 speed ! Result :-)
I wanted a ten speed racer (no one called them road bikes in those days) but was similarly disappointed. I didn't care if I got a Raleigh or not; just a beautiful racer with thin tires, shifters on the down tube and lots of white tape on the bars. I got a...Dawes Kingpin with a front basket and a back rack. I was crushed...like the pebbles I destroyed as I hauled the Kingpin's 900lbs over my rural roads. Now don't get me wrong: the Kingpin was a very good bike, so long as your priorities didn't include being seen by your friends or impressing girls. I had time to mull this over on the many long, solitary rides I took. Well, they didn't start out as solitary, but since my racer-riding friends dropped me after about a hundred yards they quickly became solitary. Still, it was always fun to wave at them as I neared the destination and they headed home in the other direction. On a good day, third gear on the mighty Sturmey-Archer hub was about equivalent to their middle gear. It made up for it on climbs though, as I stood red-faced on the pedals, each knee cap at breaking point and with both testicles about to explode as I slowly ground to a tottering halt about two thirds of the way up anything steep. And to round things off, mountain bikes and BMX appeared, so my "cool" friends, who'd scored Raleigh Choppers instead of racers, could now take up downhill and stunting. Well, the Kingpin could occasionally get as much as a clear inch of air given a hundred yard run-up, though on landing it sounded like a supermarket trolley full of frying pans had been launched off a twelve foot roof. Good times. How I cherished each day's cycling, as I applied the Kingpin's brakes--a bit like stroking the rims with a feather--and coasted to a gentle yet noisy halt a mere hundred feet or so from my house. And with only a spanner, screwdriver and thesaurus of swear words, I could tighten everything up and do the same again the next day!
Recently bought a classic 1980 Dawes Galaxy - absolute beauty, Reynolds 531, Weinman centre-pull brakes, SunTour derailleurs and some very comfortable randonneur bars - can’t wait to hit that Peak District gravel!
Great and honest clip. I just recently bought a Puch pacemaker which was the road bike that I got for Christmas when i was ten years old. Am now looking for a larger frame Raleigh and woild love to complete one of these vintage rides....
Great video, and massive fan of the Raleigh brand, I have a 1923 Raleigh, too big for me to ride but a family heirloom. I run a "modern" Raleigh AIRlite for summer months, but have a 1982/83 Raleigh Ace. Don't know what it is, but there is so much soul with an old bike, yes it's heavy, and won't win many races now, but love the look on other roadies faces when I cruise past them on it :)
Searching Google brought me here.. today I discovered my '84 Raleigh Sprint was stolen from communal storeroom. I have had the bike since new and been riding it every year. Funny thing mine doesn't have safety brake levers, nor spoke protector, nor wheel reflectors. And.. fork blades completely pearl white, QR wheels, Union chrome pedals WITH toe clips. Only thing worn out (besides tyres) was recently broken plastic fitting ring of front changer, thanks to use of Dupont wonder plastic from space programme.. making it a temporary 5-speed, even bar tape was grotty original (not that new stuff in video). Gone but not forgotten. :(
If I want an authentic Retro Ride experience. I just have to pull out the oldschool rigid saracen so called 'MTB' and go for a blast.. It makes the local XC & DH trails feel much more gnarly, and the rougher fun features are properly scary! Best described as 'falling down a hill balanced on a small step-ladder' It must be said that we go proper fast on the old bikes as the good old 'John Bull' brake blocks are aspecially crap on steel rims & useless when even mildly moist. For retro fun on the roads (because they are way too dangerous offroad) there's the 1978 Raleigh Chopper, or 1952 BSA 3speed. (all steel bikes 'cos steel is still real') Best thing about a retro-ride session is it really makes You fully appreciate the more modern bikes with sensible geometry and hydraulic brakes that actually work in all weather conditions :-) Go retro, feel the fear, take the pain, then praise the 'new technology' that makes it so much better! :-) Whatever old bikes You have lurking in the shed, cellar or garage, Take em for a spin for Old times sake. Enjoy!!
Thanks that was fun,great video just bought myself a 1986 record sprint to do the same thing but i'm changing the gearing to 8 speed with a 52/34 front and a 13/26 rear,have the bike in bits waiting for the frame to be wider at the rear and resprayed with new transfer's.my dad did the same to me back in 1972 I wanted a chopper but got a 5 speed Raleigh racer instead,but have been into road cycling since then.
i had a raleigh ultra burner, mainly because it looked cool with gold alloy wheels and bars, though a bit of a turkey compared to todays bmxs. before that i think i had a europa. gotta love those weinmann brakes lol, weren't they 'GT' levers?
Wait a second. 13.8 Kg? I know, its 35 years later, but my 180mm freeride bike is just slightly heavier with 14.5 Kg and it doesnt even have carbon. How far weight reduction has gotten...
It's not just a matter of technological advancement, the Raleigh Sprint was a cheap and heavy bike at the time. A good road bike in the early 1980s would frequently weigh 10kg or less, and weight weenies were sometimes enjoying bikes below 8kg.
Your thinking of a different carbon. The carbon he is referring to is the elemental carbon in steel, NOT the carbon fiber used in bikes and just about everything else today. Carbon fiber was not used in bikes until the mid 2000's (I think). The carbon he is referring to makes steel stronger and tougher to a point which would have allowed the frame maker to make the bike lighter. Then all steel has carbon in it or else it would be called iron because steel is a alloy of iron and carbon, so your bike (assuming it is a steel frame) does contain some carbon in it.
I think you misinterpreted TH-cam User. They were saying that it was amazing that their modern mountain bike was nearly as light as this old road bike, despite the modern mountain bike not even being a carbon-framed model. As for when CF was introduced to bicycle frames. The earliest known frames using CF tubing date from about 1975, and were bonded using metal lugs. By the late 80s, monocoque construction was introduced and we had all-carbon frames showing up (notably the Kestrel 4000). From 1999 onward, there's been only one year (2006) where the winner of the Tour de France wasn't riding a CF bike.
Not only that.... I call a 14,2 kg, 180/20mm freerider my own (technically its a DH bike, Alutech Sennes FR 2.0 if someone outside germany knows this badboy). I´m doing trips around 40-50km with this thing, up the hill and down. Would I do this again? Sure. So whats the point of not cycling a vintage bike which is kinda heavy for nowerdays standards very often? Back in the days it was as heavy as now, but now its a problem because its not state of the art..... I dont get it. A friend of mine istn't going to bikeparks anymore, because his bike (Ironhorse Sunday) is not up to date. A few years back it was totally ok, made him a lot of fun, but newer bikes are longer, got a slacker head angle and got bigger wheels.... So in his brain, he can not longer have fun. Ride what you like, thats it.
I rode my 1978 Falcon Olympic in the l'eroica. I cheated and used a Stronglight compact (46/34) and 6 speed block but did have a contemporary leather Wrights saddle and Carradice bag. I had Lyotard Berthet pedals from new with the original leather straps and Pete Salisbury shoes from the 70s. It was my first new bike and my sole transport for some years.
Very interesting this video, I got myself a Raleigh for winter bike use, not as old as the bikes mentioned and shown here of course, but I was pleasantly surprised... The Raleigh Revinio 2 ... I am shocked on how the "Newer Raleigh bikes" feel!! Very comfortable, sure a bit heavier than my summer bike (Specialized Tarmac) which by the way is a heavenly ride... but overall the Raleigh is an extremely comfy road bike, and very durable, built like a tank!!
10 gears (2x5) seemed plenty back in the day - most bikes where single speed or 3 speed at best. Old school rim brakes on steel rims...get some water on them and the only way to stop was fall off or hope there was room to coast to a stop as I recall.
A very similar-sounding story to me !! I never had to go through getting a shopping bike the year earlier, nor did I particularly hanker after a Raleigh Burner (well, I did love some of the Burner range, Night Burner, Chrome Burner etc., but they were just too slow and uncomfortable to ride any distance on, anyway, back in about 1982 or so, when I was 10, I got a Viking Superstar II, in deep met blue. Still looks great today IMO ! Some years later, I part-exed it for a Raleigh Pulsar.
I just love seeing those old classics, though I am scared of clip pedals and much prefer clip less where at least I know I can unclip any time I want. On the disk brake comment: When I bought my Cervelo R2 a few weeks back I thought the same as the FSA brakes that come on it are quite horrible. Now I have a new set of Ultegra brakes on it and they are amazing and give me the same confidence as I have on my XC MTB.
I could live with the weight (my touring bike weighs the same amount) but I couldn't do it with those gears. I need gears to be happy on a bike. Gears are the #1 reason that vintage bikes will never tempt me.
Most enjoyable. I think many cyclists who ride modern bikes have a tendency to take themselves far too seriously and are weight/speed obsessed with eking out a few seconds off their ride times, when as you noted in the video, cycling is meant to be FUN. Of course there are many vintage bikes which will weigh far less than the Raleigh Sprint, my 531c 1984 Dawes Imperial for example weighs under 10kgs which is about the same as my Giant Defy0. It's just a quick as any carbon bike on the flat, and whilst it'll clearly be slower uphill, I'm not a pro so who cares? It's just great fun to ride, as are all my vintage bikes which go right the way back to a 1955 Sun Manxman.
Raleigh? Do they make bikes as well? I happen to have a 1983 Basso road bike. In its original configuration, it weights around 11 kg. Rides very well, better in fact than my Merida Sculptura w/full ultegra groupset.
I have one of these, the breaking is, interesting let's say, and I sometimes have to use my feet sometimes but I love it to bits. If anybody actually cares I have changed the break pads and not much improvement
What shoes are you using? I have a 1984 Raleigh Record and I just use flats because I couldn't get on with toe clips and the current shoes I use. Thanks.
Enjoyed the film brought back fond memories of my late 70's Raleigh Record with a Brooks leather saddle. Cut my teeth on the suicide lever brakes and still continue to prefer that riding style using an endurance road bike. T
Wish I had found this video sooner; what a fun view! Now I need to convince myself not to buy that pea-soup green Super Course languishing in the back corner of the bike shop…
Same. Xmas 1984, i really wanted a BMX. Dad said it's kiddy fad crap! He got me a proper bike in his words, a cheap racing bike! I was the only kid my age who had a racer. Everyone had a BMX. Unlike them, i ride everyday as transport, for fun, for life. Still ride only Road bikes. Looking at some older modals these days like yours! Dad was right. I took to the roads like a nutter, got really into it! Follwed pro cycling ever since!
I have 1980 Ralegh "Grand Prix" Made in Notingham, England. All part are original. Joop Zoetemelk, won Tour de France, on Ralegh Grand Prix, in 1980. I love my bike. It doesn't need much attention. Very well built. Yes, it is heavy, but it glides on a good road. Riding it, is tentamount to riding 1980 Porsche. Nothing but bare bons. LoL Relative to modern Porsche. Modern bikes are great. But in 50 years they will not be as poular, as today's vintage bikes.
50 pounds for a Raleigh Sprint. That is a bargain but the question is whether you are going to buy one of the freshly made Aero Burners? I too wanted a Burner as a kid but never got one either. Father Christmas must have been all out of Burners so brought me a Grifter instead. Thinking about it now he a drop bar bike might have been the way to go. Of course now now is I guess the new Aero Burner will be too small anyway.
Hello bike radar I need your help plz. I am new to cycling and have just purchased my 1st road bike. I have bought a Trek emonda s5 and I need your assistance with something. I have seen on the chain stay of my bike that their is some "duotrap bontrager ready" sensor on the chain stay. Could you please tell me what this is and what's the purpose of this on my bike?. Thank you kindly
Duotrap is a speed and cadence sensor. The main unit attaches to the chainstay mount, and it can detect a magnet on the wheel (for speed) and crank arm (for cadence). It can communicate via bluetooth to a cycling computer.
HaloTupolev forgive my ignorance on this matter but if I had to buy a wahoo element bolt now, would i still need to buy the wahoo speed and cadence sensors or does this duotrap serve as a speed and cadence sensor to which the wahoo connects?.
Bolt should work fine with DuoTrap. However, if the thing on your chainstay only says "DuoTrap Ready", I would guess that you don't have DuoTrap. The bikes are designed so that you can easily mount a DuoTrap sensor, but they generally don't come with the sensor itself.
Shit and I was just complaining about how out of date my first road bike was... (2007 Trek SLR1600 56cm, 30 speed) hahahaha maaaaaaan was I ever spoiled! Now I've got a Masi Evoluzione and a Dale SuperSix Evo.... Love em both but man I miss my old Trek now... Oh the memories of riding drops for the first time.... The thrill of dirty speed through the BC Rockies
Those aren't 'suicide' brake levers, they are actually called 'safety' brake levers (late 1970s US bike regulations) , suicide levers describe early front mechs from companies like Simplex and Huret (1930s-1950s) where you had to reach down between your legs to shift.
At the risk of being the "Actually..." guy (and telling you something you know already): Modern "cyclocross" levers work quite differently from the old suicide levers, despite being reached from the same place. They avoid the problems (primarily, different mechanical advantage) that made the older auxiliary levers so difficult to adjust properly and thus dangerous. Dropping the name has little to do with PC ;)
These bikes were not very well rated in 1983. These are definitely lower end bikes. I have a 1980s Raleigh Road Ace with Reynolds 531c and it is only 9.8kg with Shimano 600 and it rides amazingly well. Can easily do 150km on it. Love it.
13.8kg. That's nothing to the late 90s-00s kids who got those fully suspended steel Y frame things that where all the rage back then. My kids bike must've been at least 20-25kg. :D
Another great American intervention is mothers aluminum polish and Naval jelly put the mothers only when I'm polish on those aluminum parts and watch a mirror finish come out put the Naval jelly on those old steel rims and watch the same happen
I have heard alot of talk from modern riders about "heavy bicycles". Which seems to be anything 20 pounds or above. To me anything 30 pounds or less is "light". Differing times and generations not withstanding.
Why didn't you just buy a 25 inch framed bike if you need the seat post so high that you needed to buy a new post to get the hight. I'm 5,11 and I only ride 25 after struggling on 23, 1/2 my brother is 6 ft and swears by riding with his knees in his chin on a 23, 1/2
Nicely put together, I do many Vintage Road Bike Restorations here on TH-cam. Just finished a Raleigh Road Ace 531 it really is like stepping back in time. The Joy that it can gives you riding that bike you had as a kid, well for me is just priceless. I ride modern and vintage and love them both for different reasons. Doing these old bikes up and saving them from the scrap heap, which should be classed as a criminal act by the way, I feel it gives you a sense of achievement and preserves a little piece of cycling history at the same time! Thanks for the video enjoyed you sharing your childhood memories, all the very best Andy
Heh heh, reminds me of my ice green Raleigh Record Ace ( 531 ) from 1983 ; - )
@@jayaybe1 Hang on to it my friend; they don't make them like that any more.
Love fixing old bikes.
Please do more of these kind of videos. I seriously love old bikes and I enjoyed watching this.
Good to know! We'll try our best.
Yes more of these old vintage bikes please.
Love fixing old bikes.
Lovely video, I've just acquired one of these bikes which was being thrown in the scrap, complete and original, I've taken it apart and am having it sand blasted actually tomorrow. I m so looking forward to putting it back together and using it. Thank you again for the video. Best wishes. Gérard lacey in Ireland.
High tensile steel. Wow. Some serious nostalgia right there! My first "mountain bike" was an 1988 Halfords Apollo number; resplendently dressed in 'Hi Ten' tubing. ..I used to refer to it as 'welded scaffolding'.. Riding it up hill made you feel like an asthmatic Sisyphus on shopping day.
Chromoly steel when it first appeared was a god send, lauded at the time for it's light weight and advanced technology(!) How times have changed!
I daily a 16kg 1971 shwinn le tour made out of 1020 steel. Modern bars, brake levers, pedals and tires
Great story, and a nice looking oldie there.
In 1973 I had a custom built 10 speed - Reynolds 531 double butted tubing, Stronglight cranks, TA chain rings, all good stuff etc. I rode it everywhere until it got a bit forgotten in the shed. Some time later I pulled it out and did the bike up nice and shiny again. It was 'memorable' to ride but transferred every bit of road buzz to my 65 year old spine. So it got put aside and a Specialized Roubaix took its place.
There is a special kind of magic in old bikes, especially when they have such a strong link to our younger years.
The Roubaix was a great choice for a 65 year old spine ; - )
I had a Raleigh chopper. Loved that thing!
You young whipper-snappers… I still have the first bike I bought as a middle aged adult: a Raleigh Super Course. I took my socks off to help me count up the years… It's a 1977! The year they went to 700c wheels, and now I've got to go dig it out of the barn and get it street ready. Thanks a lot!!!
Wonderful bike and I have vintage road bike Raleigh records sprint, thanks for your videos
Just acquired a early 70”s Raleigh Sprint. I’ve got it completely disassembled in preparation for restoration and modification. I intend to modify it to be a commuter of sorts for running errands. I love these old bikes; remember old doesn’t mean bad. Darlington, South Carolina USA
I've now done well over 100 miles on my (£20) 1980 Raleigh Carlton Grand Prix. Apart from new cables and tyres it just needed a clean. Yes, the brakes (felt pads) were appalling so some new Kool Stop Continentals. have sharpened that up a treat. Classic / Vintage bikes are well worth the effort of seeking out a bargain!!
Please more of these instead of those half-cocked "the pros ride this-and-that" stories! Loved this video!!!
I asked for a Raleigh bmx myself but got a rear suspension bmx-like contraption which my dad converted from some chopper-wannabe bike. It had a coil suspension, weighed 16 kilos and due to that weight and sluggishness alone it was the ab-so-lute safest bike money couldn't buy :-)
But I loved it and it lasted the best art of two decades, being upgraded only as parts disintegrated due to hard landings and friends borrowing.
Still miss it sometimes...
Great article and the detail. Thanks for your review. Glad you enjoyed the old ride! I also have a classic but only 7 years old with the latest kit.
My recently sold aluminium Boardman weighs about that! it's always good to ride a back to basics classic bike, reminds you how much fun cycling can be.
that's about just over 30lbs are you serious 😂 budget 29er aluminium mountain bikes are around that. that must have been a cheap overpriced Boardman lol unless it was a mountain bike?
Jaybie Dayy ha ha, yeah it was only £500, it was the cheapest one with cheap parts. Just bought a commuter to replace it which was cheaper and lighter...go figure.
I enjoyed that kind of video.
I feel your pain with that folding bike Rob. Late 70's christmas, brought up by my Grandparents I asked for a racer. A Chopper was out of the question (too dangerous) but imagine my horror when a Green BSA Twenty was unwrapped. Apparently a racer was deemed too dangerous well because "you can't see where you are going". I survived 2 years on that bike before I convinced them to buy me a Puch Pacemaker, blue, 5 speed ! Result :-)
I wanted a ten speed racer (no one called them road bikes in those days) but was similarly disappointed. I didn't care if I got a Raleigh or not; just a beautiful racer with thin tires, shifters on the down tube and lots of white tape on the bars. I got a...Dawes Kingpin with a front basket and a back rack. I was crushed...like the pebbles I destroyed as I hauled the Kingpin's 900lbs over my rural roads. Now don't get me wrong: the Kingpin was a very good bike, so long as your priorities didn't include being seen by your friends or impressing girls. I had time to mull this over on the many long, solitary rides I took. Well, they didn't start out as solitary, but since my racer-riding friends dropped me after about a hundred yards they quickly became solitary. Still, it was always fun to wave at them as I neared the destination and they headed home in the other direction. On a good day, third gear on the mighty Sturmey-Archer hub was about equivalent to their middle gear. It made up for it on climbs though, as I stood red-faced on the pedals, each knee cap at breaking point and with both testicles about to explode as I slowly ground to a tottering halt about two thirds of the way up anything steep. And to round things off, mountain bikes and BMX appeared, so my "cool" friends, who'd scored Raleigh Choppers instead of racers, could now take up downhill and stunting. Well, the Kingpin could occasionally get as much as a clear inch of air given a hundred yard run-up, though on landing it sounded like a supermarket trolley full of frying pans had been launched off a twelve foot roof. Good times. How I cherished each day's cycling, as I applied the Kingpin's brakes--a bit like stroking the rims with a feather--and coasted to a gentle yet noisy halt a mere hundred feet or so from my house. And with only a spanner, screwdriver and thesaurus of swear words, I could tighten everything up and do the same again the next day!
I feel your pain! This sounds just like my story! My dad reckons it helped build strength of character!
Awesome video, as always very informative and also entertaining!
when he said "50 pounds" I wasn't sure if it was the price or the weight
Mr808Late good one little child
Mr808Late did you spill your tea yeah?
LOL !!!
Jeeze man you must have a really unhappy life lol
did you spill your tea again yeah? lmao
I had an 84 Raleigh "Gran Prix" frame(531c), with Campy NR groupset and Mavic GP4 rims. Loved and raced that bike
Recently bought a classic 1980 Dawes Galaxy - absolute beauty, Reynolds 531, Weinman centre-pull brakes, SunTour derailleurs and some very comfortable randonneur bars - can’t wait to hit that Peak District gravel!
Great and honest clip. I just recently bought a Puch pacemaker which was the road bike that I got for Christmas when i was ten years old. Am now looking for a larger frame Raleigh and woild love to complete one of these vintage rides....
You would have been the editor of UK's best selling bmx magazine lol. Too bad.
Great video, and massive fan of the Raleigh brand, I have a 1923 Raleigh, too big for me to ride but a family heirloom.
I run a "modern" Raleigh AIRlite for summer months, but have a 1982/83 Raleigh Ace.
Don't know what it is, but there is so much soul with an old bike, yes it's heavy, and won't win many races now, but love the look on other roadies faces when I cruise past them on it :)
Searching Google brought me here.. today I discovered my '84 Raleigh Sprint was stolen from communal storeroom.
I have had the bike since new and been riding it every year.
Funny thing mine doesn't have safety brake levers, nor spoke protector, nor wheel reflectors.
And.. fork blades completely pearl white, QR wheels, Union chrome pedals WITH toe clips.
Only thing worn out (besides tyres) was recently broken plastic fitting ring of front changer, thanks to use of Dupont wonder plastic from space programme.. making it a temporary 5-speed, even bar tape was grotty original (not that new stuff in video).
Gone but not forgotten.
:(
Amazing video! Thank you for sharing, from your friends at OutdoorsNW Magazine!
If I want an authentic Retro Ride experience. I just have to pull out the oldschool rigid saracen so called 'MTB' and go for a blast.. It makes the local XC & DH trails feel much more gnarly, and the rougher fun features are properly scary! Best described as 'falling down a hill balanced on a small step-ladder' It must be said that we go proper fast on the old bikes as the good old 'John Bull' brake blocks are aspecially crap on steel rims & useless when even mildly moist. For retro fun on the roads (because they are way too dangerous offroad) there's the 1978 Raleigh Chopper, or 1952 BSA 3speed. (all steel bikes 'cos steel is still real') Best thing about a retro-ride session is it really makes You fully appreciate the more modern bikes with sensible geometry and hydraulic brakes that actually work in all weather conditions :-) Go retro, feel the fear, take the pain, then praise the 'new technology' that makes it so much better! :-) Whatever old bikes You have lurking in the shed, cellar or garage, Take em for a spin for Old times sake. Enjoy!!
Lol still riding 2x5 on my old racebike too, its quite fun to ride but climbing hills is just painful...and I am living in a hilly area..
Thanks that was fun,great video just bought myself a 1986 record sprint to do the same thing but i'm changing the gearing to 8 speed with a 52/34 front and a 13/26 rear,have the bike in bits waiting for the frame to be wider at the rear and resprayed with new transfer's.my dad did the same to me back in 1972 I wanted a chopper but got a 5 speed Raleigh racer instead,but have been into road cycling since then.
I wanted a raleigh burner too and got the same "its too dangerous" line so I share your pain 😂
cycling stuff I on the other hand had a Raleigh Ultra Burner and loved it. Still ended up a Roadie though 😂😂
i had a raleigh ultra burner, mainly because it looked cool with gold alloy wheels and bars, though a bit of a turkey compared to todays bmxs.
before that i think i had a europa. gotta love those weinmann brakes lol, weren't they 'GT' levers?
Adele May I think those wheels were called Arayas
Adele May I know that look. I waaaaaanted one :(
Westcliff GoPro I had a skateboard I loved instead :) A metal one with bones wheels.
Wait a second. 13.8 Kg? I know, its 35 years later, but my 180mm freeride bike is just slightly heavier with 14.5 Kg and it doesnt even have carbon. How far weight reduction has gotten...
It's not just a matter of technological advancement, the Raleigh Sprint was a cheap and heavy bike at the time. A good road bike in the early 1980s would frequently weigh 10kg or less, and weight weenies were sometimes enjoying bikes below 8kg.
Your thinking of a different carbon. The carbon he is referring to is the elemental carbon in steel, NOT the carbon fiber used in bikes and just about everything else today. Carbon fiber was not used in bikes until the mid 2000's (I think). The carbon he is referring to makes steel stronger and tougher to a point which would have allowed the frame maker to make the bike lighter. Then all steel has carbon in it or else it would be called iron because steel is a alloy of iron and carbon, so your bike (assuming it is a steel frame) does contain some carbon in it.
I think you misinterpreted TH-cam User. They were saying that it was amazing that their modern mountain bike was nearly as light as this old road bike, despite the modern mountain bike not even being a carbon-framed model.
As for when CF was introduced to bicycle frames. The earliest known frames using CF tubing date from about 1975, and were bonded using metal lugs. By the late 80s, monocoque construction was introduced and we had all-carbon frames showing up (notably the Kestrel 4000). From 1999 onward, there's been only one year (2006) where the winner of the Tour de France wasn't riding a CF bike.
Not only that.... I call a 14,2 kg, 180/20mm freerider my own (technically its a DH bike, Alutech Sennes FR 2.0 if someone outside germany knows this badboy). I´m doing trips around 40-50km with this thing, up the hill and down. Would I do this again? Sure. So whats the point of not cycling a vintage bike which is kinda heavy for nowerdays standards very often? Back in the days it was as heavy as now, but now its a problem because its not state of the art..... I dont get it.
A friend of mine istn't going to bikeparks anymore, because his bike (Ironhorse Sunday) is not up to date. A few years back it was totally ok, made him a lot of fun, but newer bikes are longer, got a slacker head angle and got bigger wheels.... So in his brain, he can not longer have fun.
Ride what you like, thats it.
My xc is 11 kg...
I rode my 1978 Falcon Olympic in the l'eroica. I cheated and used a Stronglight compact (46/34) and 6 speed block but did have a contemporary leather Wrights saddle and Carradice bag. I had Lyotard Berthet pedals from new with the original leather straps and Pete Salisbury shoes from the 70s. It was my first new bike and my sole transport for some years.
I am 13 and I ride the specialized allez jr and that weighs just over 9kg ( roughly 20 pounds ) which is light.
good for your dad!
Wrap your spanners in a bit of old cloth which stops them rattling and you can then use the cloth to wipe all the oil off your hands.
David Torr Great advice! I'll do that in future
Very interesting this video, I got myself a Raleigh for winter bike use, not as old as the bikes mentioned and shown here of course, but I was pleasantly surprised...
The Raleigh Revinio 2 ... I am shocked on how the "Newer Raleigh bikes" feel!! Very comfortable, sure a bit heavier than my summer bike (Specialized Tarmac) which by the way is a heavenly ride... but overall the Raleigh is an extremely comfy road bike, and very durable, built like a tank!!
Glad you enjoyed the video!
You dont ride a vintage bike because it is fast. You ride it because of what it represents and where it has come from.
10 gears (2x5) seemed plenty back in the day - most bikes where single speed or 3 speed at best. Old school rim brakes on steel rims...get some water on them and the only way to stop was fall off or hope there was room to coast to a stop as I recall.
A very similar-sounding story to me !!
I never had to go through getting a shopping bike the year earlier, nor did I particularly hanker after a Raleigh Burner (well, I did love some of the Burner range, Night Burner, Chrome Burner etc., but they were just too slow and uncomfortable to ride any distance on, anyway, back in about 1982 or so, when I was 10, I got a Viking Superstar II, in deep met blue.
Still looks great today IMO !
Some years later, I part-exed it for a Raleigh Pulsar.
I just love seeing those old classics, though I am scared of clip pedals and much prefer clip less where at least I know I can unclip any time I want.
On the disk brake comment: When I bought my Cervelo R2 a few weeks back I thought the same as the FSA brakes that come on it are quite horrible. Now I have a new set of Ultegra brakes on it and they are amazing and give me the same confidence as I have on my XC MTB.
I could live with the weight (my touring bike weighs the same amount) but I couldn't do it with those gears. I need gears to be happy on a bike. Gears are the #1 reason that vintage bikes will never tempt me.
Thank Christ bikes have come a long way since 😃
13.8kg is positively lightweight compared to the 18kg worth of East German steel I've got in the shed.
Most enjoyable. I think many cyclists who ride modern bikes have a tendency to take themselves far too seriously and are weight/speed obsessed with eking out a few seconds off their ride times, when as you noted in the video, cycling is meant to be FUN. Of course there are many vintage bikes which will weigh far less than the Raleigh Sprint, my 531c 1984 Dawes Imperial for example weighs under 10kgs which is about the same as my Giant Defy0. It's just a quick as any carbon bike on the flat, and whilst it'll clearly be slower uphill, I'm not a pro so who cares? It's just great fun to ride, as are all my vintage bikes which go right the way back to a 1955 Sun Manxman.
Raleigh? Do they make bikes as well? I happen to have a 1983 Basso road bike. In its original configuration, it weights around 11 kg. Rides very well, better in fact than my Merida Sculptura w/full ultegra groupset.
I have one of these, the breaking is, interesting let's say, and I sometimes have to use my feet sometimes but I love it to bits.
If anybody actually cares I have changed the break pads and not much improvement
Great story!
What shoes are you using? I have a 1984 Raleigh Record and I just use flats because I couldn't get on with toe clips and the current shoes I use. Thanks.
Enjoyed the film brought back fond memories of my late 70's Raleigh Record with a Brooks leather saddle. Cut my teeth on the suicide lever brakes and still continue to prefer that riding style using an endurance road bike.
T
Wish I had found this video sooner; what a fun view! Now I need to convince myself not to buy that pea-soup green Super Course languishing in the back corner of the bike shop…
Yeah if I ever do eroica itll be on an old tourer or randonneuring bike with nice thicc tyres and small gears
I'd love to do one on an old 531 Cycles Gitane ( Hinault style ) or a gorgeous blue Gios Torino ( with a Brooklyn jersey no less ) ; - )
My first bike in 1986 was a Gitane road bike all steel road it for many kilometres.
Same. Xmas 1984, i really wanted a BMX. Dad said it's kiddy fad crap! He got me a proper bike in his words, a cheap racing bike! I was the only kid my age who had a racer. Everyone had a BMX. Unlike them, i ride everyday as transport, for fun, for life. Still ride only Road bikes. Looking at some older modals these days like yours! Dad was right. I took to the roads like a nutter, got really into it! Follwed pro cycling ever since!
Haha ..Love it !
I ride that bike daily to work .
Is it possible to replace chainsets on these? Or are you screwed once they've worn out?
Chainring or chainset.. both can be replaced.
great video!
I'm sure this video is great and all, but right now I paused it at 1:15 while I'm investigating this sleeping baby porch thing :| WTF!
They were all the rage in the 30s - www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/news/a33058/hanging-baby-cages/
Man gears! 42t 19t!!
In the nineties as a poor juvenile racer 42×18 was the best I could ask for on those 1 in 4 inclines.
Puts hairs on your chest.
Thanks a Lot
is that a cortina team car?
I have 1980 Ralegh "Grand Prix" Made in Notingham, England. All part are original.
Joop Zoetemelk, won Tour de France, on Ralegh Grand Prix, in 1980. I love my bike. It doesn't need much attention. Very well built. Yes, it is heavy, but it glides on a good road. Riding it, is tentamount to riding 1980 Porsche. Nothing but bare bons. LoL Relative to modern Porsche. Modern bikes are great. But in 50 years they will not be as poular, as today's vintage bikes.
50 pounds for a Raleigh Sprint. That is a bargain but the question is whether you are going to buy one of the freshly made Aero Burners? I too wanted a Burner as a kid but never got one either. Father Christmas must have been all out of Burners so brought me a Grifter instead. Thinking about it now he a drop bar bike might have been the way to go. Of course now now is I guess the new Aero Burner will be too small anyway.
How much such a bicycle worth because I have the same one
Hello bike radar I need your help plz.
I am new to cycling and have just purchased my 1st road bike. I have bought a Trek emonda s5 and I need your assistance with something. I have seen on the chain stay of my bike that their is some "duotrap bontrager ready" sensor on the chain stay. Could you please tell me what this is and what's the purpose of this on my bike?.
Thank you kindly
Duotrap is a speed and cadence sensor. The main unit attaches to the chainstay mount, and it can detect a magnet on the wheel (for speed) and crank arm (for cadence). It can communicate via bluetooth to a cycling computer.
HaloTupolev forgive my ignorance on this matter but if I had to buy a wahoo element bolt now, would i still need to buy the wahoo speed and cadence sensors or does this duotrap serve as a speed and cadence sensor to which the wahoo connects?.
Bolt should work fine with DuoTrap.
However, if the thing on your chainstay only says "DuoTrap Ready", I would guess that you don't have DuoTrap. The bikes are designed so that you can easily mount a DuoTrap sensor, but they generally don't come with the sensor itself.
HaloTupolev aha understood. Thank you for the help
Shit and I was just complaining about how out of date my first road bike was... (2007 Trek SLR1600 56cm, 30 speed) hahahaha maaaaaaan was I ever spoiled! Now I've got a Masi Evoluzione and a Dale SuperSix Evo.... Love em both but man I miss my old Trek now... Oh the memories of riding drops for the first time.... The thrill of dirty speed through the BC Rockies
is that 36 cm handlebar??
Those aren't 'suicide' brake levers, they are actually called 'safety' brake levers (late 1970s US bike regulations) , suicide levers describe early front mechs from companies like Simplex and Huret (1930s-1950s) where you had to reach down between your legs to shift.
At the risk of being the "Actually..." guy (and telling you something you know already): Modern "cyclocross" levers work quite differently from the old suicide levers, despite being reached from the same place. They avoid the problems (primarily, different mechanical advantage) that made the older auxiliary levers so difficult to adjust properly and thus dangerous. Dropping the name has little to do with PC ;)
Nothing like a real bike 🚳
I wanted a Grifter and the Raleigh Sprint mk2 black frame gold lettering and crank!!! I still do - I'm 55 lol
It is a good thing, you're right.
I have a 1985 raleigh sprint! And yeah the brakes are terrible, not great when i used it as a commuter in sheffield!
Love fixing old bikes.
Why are they called suicide levers? Totally different to the way they are known today (safety levers... Don't feel safe anymore) o.o
I'm just gonna say it- that bar tape is HORRENDOUS
These bikes were not very well rated in 1983. These are definitely lower end bikes. I have a 1980s Raleigh Road Ace with Reynolds 531c and it is only 9.8kg with Shimano 600 and it rides amazingly well. Can easily do 150km on it. Love it.
BikeRadar, very good video.
Thanks!
13.8kg. That's nothing to the late 90s-00s kids who got those fully suspended steel Y frame things that where all the rage back then. My kids bike must've been at least 20-25kg. :D
3:36 that pie plate, oof
Well done excellent video but surely you should be allowed to use quick release wheels- they've been around a lot longer than the early eighties??
Trying out some of Shimano's disc brakes from the late '70s would cure your longing, and have you cheering for even crappy rim brakes on steel rims.
1823 steel..............hmmmm nice vintage hahaha!
I can't believe he called L'eroica leroyka.
I want bike too😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Another great American intervention is mothers aluminum polish and Naval jelly put the mothers only when I'm polish on those aluminum parts and watch a mirror finish come out put the Naval jelly on those old steel rims and watch the same happen
I had an old peugeot dont know its model name
305?
My grandfather have a rare raliegh bike
Raleigh
Your Dad was right!
brooks cambium, and not breaking eroica rules???? i think the first cambium was invented in 2010
When he said "it's a Brooks Cambium so it's a classic saddle", I was very much scratching my head.
American where really bad at building road bikes, my Italian Patelli bike (an artisan from Bologna) which was made in the 84 is 10.9kg
I have heard alot of talk from modern riders about "heavy bicycles". Which seems to be anything 20 pounds or above. To me anything 30 pounds or less is "light". Differing times and generations not withstanding.
Jeez, modern day roadies are pretty soft...
go get a vintage BMX anyways ,l had both as a teen in 80s and l loved both :)
It’s not pronounced “eh-roy-ca”, it’s pronounced “eh-roh-i-ca”
رالي داءمان في الطليعه وهو الاول
he said 1983 title say's 1982
Why didn't you just buy a 25 inch framed bike if you need the seat post so high that you needed to buy a new post to get the hight. I'm 5,11 and I only ride 25 after struggling on 23, 1/2 my brother is 6 ft and swears by riding with his knees in his chin on a 23, 1/2
My fully fletched downhill mountain bike is lighter than this
he say 1983 but the tittle say 1982
i have a blue one
Still weighs less than my bike