Hello. I’ve been watching your videos for a very long time, since I lived in Ukraine. Now I live in the UK and can repair bikes like the ones in your video.👍
Cheers, very nice, informative video. I'm torn a bit by these rebuilds/ restorations. The reason is that I know how modern bikes are different and improved, in my opinion. I have an old Gitane and have tried to make it a gravel bike. In doing so, there are too many compromises. For example, the French BB standard. Ok, just my opinion, again, thanks so much for showing us your effort on this bike. Much appreciated appreciated .
I have the Ukrainian bike in my shed i want to give it to a Ukrainian living in the uk do you want it,i live in London so you would need to come & get it or i can meet you half way ?
I've often heard the argument on bike rehabbing (but it certainly applies to other old items) "it's only original once". And, I think those true words of advice are always something to consider. But, I'd always offer up the counterpoint of also wise words, "yeah, but it's only my bike once". I'm impressed that you put so much effort to get this frame/bike back into usable condition. Certainly, with all the "opportunities", it could have easily been stowed away and never tackled. So, no judgement for you, or for anyone tackling bicycle rehabs... only admiration.
Thanks Virgil. It’s always worth weighing up the ‘only original once’ vs practicality thing. I think at the end of the day this will be sold on so at least now it’s much easier for someone to work on!
Loved this vidéo. I like that you tell about some mistakes and moments of discouragement. It all adds up to make a good story with an happy ending. Thx!
@@MonkeyShredhaha oh boy it might not fit the "character" of this bike, but for versatility and the ability to keep breaking performance in muddy and wet conditions... I don't want to start a rim Vs disc fight in your comments section or anything, but for my (lack of) skill level I really want disc brakes for riding off-road.
Little tip for you mark , I've done it many times , use electrical heat shrink at the end of the bar tape that way it will never unwrap , great build I'm just doing a restomod 1973 BSA tour of Britain, you've explained the odd size bb thank you very much , keep up the builds and enjoy the rides 👍
@@MonkeyShred hi Mark yep it's basically a tube that you cut down to length , it's normally used on electrical connections etc , Ive used it on a few bikes now really does work well , your Raleigh build has pushed me to getting my BSA build underway 👍
Enjoyed your interesting video. I am doing something very similar with a 1977 Raleigh of indeterminate model. What I found was that a Shimano UN300 square taper bottom bracket has such soft alloy threads you can run it in easily until it starts to bind by which time it is nice and square and then using a nice big adjustable spanner on the bracket tool and plenty of lubrication the hard steel threads in the shell reformed the cartridge threads. I just needed to back it out a few times to clear the swarf. I put on a three speed chain ring and spread the rear dropouts to take a hub with an eight speed cassette. Probably more by luck the chain line was perfect. I laced some 27 inch rims to the new front and rear hubs as the old 26 inch rims were badly corroded. Now all the butchery work is done I can strip it back down and give it a coat of paint. 👍
Ooft. Did they revert to a standard 68mm BB in ‘77 or did you have to space a 73mm BB out? Sounds like you luckily got that cross threading spot on to get it aligned.
Looks great! I'm still looking for some old 70's style cowhorn handlebars for my build. Cant do the bum in the air thing. When me and my friends were kids back in the 70's, we used to put cowhorn bars on old 5 speed racing bikes, take the front brake off and call them 'tracker bikes' . This was before mountain bikes came along.
Looks like a lovely ride. It reminds me of a bike I rode through my teens in the 80’s and that was just thrown together with bits from my Dad’s bike drawers. I resprayed it myself with a similar colour to your bike here. It was cheap as chips but took me everywhere, to school, then college and my Saturday job. By today’s standards it would be classed as a heap of poo, but I LOVED it.
Such a great job the hardest park was probably having patience… I bought 70’s Dawes 2 years ago some stared retro fitting bottom bracket superbe crankset and alloy wheels almost done. …..again great job. More retro builds😎
Those Tektro R539 brakes are my favorite brakes, I have them on several road bikes spaced for fenders / bigger tires and they, for whatever reason, have terrific stopping power.
Nice! I've not watched one of your videos for months, notifications seems to have turned off. Spotted you've finished the Sprite! Looks great though a little disappointed you didn't got down the full resto route in the end. But totally understand why you didn't. Love the Torvey chat too!!
Great build, wish you did more vintage road bike builds. Love those R559's have them on my vintage bike. I also used recessed nuts just drilled the nut side hole a bit larger works great.
@@sirbentley5526They are almost as stiff as my ultegra brakes which is surprising. I'm not sure of the flex while stopping the bike haven't really paid attention.
Lovely DT Swiss rims and hubs there Mark. I've also used (once!) the heat shrink electrical tubing for securing the ends of the tape. Unfortunately at the diameter you need for the bars the heat shrink tube is much thicker and does not look as elegant and it's a real pain to get off when one needs to unwrap the bar tape. I will second your observation on just how expensive some of the tools you needed for this project are. I was lucky to chance on 50% off when I got my bb thread cutting/facing tool from chain reaction and it still cost an arm and a leg. That Raleigh decal looks really nice. Did you use a silver under layer and a translucent red when painting the frame. I've done a few in that metallic look, usually powdered coated in two passes with silver then the colour. Great Job on the restomod.❤
Fortunately… those wheels were free (apart from having to buy a few spokes) and I also got that Park facing tool half price from CRC 😅 The paint just went on top of a light primer. Nothing fancy like a translucent paint!
Nice build! I understand that 26 threads per inch was a bicycle-specific British standard once upon a time; nutted 3/8” hub axles still use it… except for coaster brake hubs 😑
great to save another old frame. looks really nice too. the build did make me wonder though, whether some engineering minded person could fabricate a disc brake set up using the old mudguard eyes as one fixing point, and another maybe bolt on boss for the other? perhaps the eyes would be too weak?
I'm doing the same thing with this P8 Peugeot Carbolite 103 I'm keeping original blue royal with shimmery flakes in the paint. Of course it has some dings but looking to color match the imperfections in order to keep it somewhat original. Going for 2x7 set up. And 700x35c wheels I know I could go for 38c but honestly looking to stay in the road for 90% of the rides . Not going with saddle Brooks or dt swiss. Affordable route it is for me. Nice build tho. Cheers from California USA
Beautiful build and I totally agree to the restomod - if you want to have something practical yet stylish, that's the way to go. But then, why not going the full length and install something more modern, 3x9 or 3x10, and complete it with a more shallow gravel drop bar? Ultegra 6510 3x9 is a beautiful groupset, all aluminium finish, and would look stunning on that bike.
Honestly - because I already had that crankset and derailleur lying around and I think they look great. I went for the classic bars to keep the classic look too.
wow! great work. a tremendous resto-mod. I have those same brifters which I'd like to put on my gravel conversion. tell me if you would, did you have any issues setting them up? Thanks in advance.
I’ve used Raleigh cups with an axle for a wider BB she’ll the trick is smaller ball bearings I got the tip from Sheldon brown’s website I used center pull longer reach weinman brakes 750 reach ma40 rims sturmey archer 3 speed conti contact 35 mm tires
Turned out lovely and useable too. Interesting info about changing from 27 to 700c wheels. Would BMX brakes have the reach or is it dependant on the bike?
Great work, liking the canal side route too. Bigger tyres really improved the experience i imagine. I put 38 and 40 on an 1989 rust bucket - rides fine with a fag paper clearance 😮
Nice resto mod 👍🏼 I’ve got one hanging up here waiting for the same treatment. Fortunately it’s got a standard BB shell though some I’m expecting it to go a little smoother… I hope 😉
What did you mean about the quick release coming out on the rear, so you switched to solid axle? I didn't understand that, do you mean the lever was coming undone? Or it was flexing? I thought it would be quite a big job to change that, but you just mentioned it in passing. Sorry I don't know much about wheels, but I'm curious.
Nah it’s a simple job to swap out an axle on a cup and cone wheelset. The wheel was indeed slipping out like it didn’t have enough grip. Could have been a worn QR but for piece of mind I switched to a solid axle with nuts.
Mark, do you have to deflate 38c’s to fit through 559 calipers? They have huge clearance alright, but what I found that even unlocked pads are too close so I have to squeeze tyres really hard to fit them through. And I’ve got slick 32c! It’s worse at the rear where it gets stuck in chainstays too as it has to come forward a bit to engage into horizontal dropouts. I’m trying to figure out if these 32c’s I have are too wide or I’m doing something wrong. I wanted to put something wider but now I’m not sure.
How does Shifter work with FD? I ask, cause from time to time, i do some "gravel conversion's", and mtb fds are making me problems cause road shifters have different pull ratio from mtb's one.
I was gutted the other day, was offered a 653 with campagnolo groupset for £60, yes £60!!! The only downside was the frame was 22" and I'm need a 23" minimum. I didn't want to buy just to part out, so let it go 🤦
@@MonkeyShredKnow your pain. I picked up a Proflex 550, cleaned it up, new chain and cables, got about 55 quid in it and just can't shift it at 110. If I broke it the XT groupset, Girvin flex stem etc would easily make more but I don't have the heart to.
@@KitVonRadical oh yeah. After owning a few Proflex I wouldn’t buy another unless I really wanted to keep it. As much as people love to look at them. Nobody wants to buy them. I ended up selling my full DX equipped 752 with the original Vector fork for…£150. Crazy.
Hello. I’ve been watching your videos for a very long time, since I lived in Ukraine. Now I live in the UK and can repair bikes like the ones in your video.👍
Nice! Glad you’ve picked up some skills and are putting them to good use!
Cheers, very nice, informative video. I'm torn a bit by these rebuilds/ restorations. The reason is that I know how modern bikes are different and improved, in my opinion. I have an old Gitane and have tried to make it a gravel bike. In doing so, there are too many compromises. For example, the French BB standard. Ok, just my opinion, again, thanks so much for showing us your effort on this bike. Much appreciated appreciated .
I have the Ukrainian bike in my shed i want to give it to a Ukrainian living in the uk do you want it,i live in London so you would need to come & get it or i can meet you half way ?
I've often heard the argument on bike rehabbing (but it certainly applies to other old items) "it's only original once". And, I think those true words of advice are always something to consider. But, I'd always offer up the counterpoint of also wise words, "yeah, but it's only my bike once". I'm impressed that you put so much effort to get this frame/bike back into usable condition. Certainly, with all the "opportunities", it could have easily been stowed away and never tackled. So, no judgement for you, or for anyone tackling bicycle rehabs... only admiration.
Thanks Virgil. It’s always worth weighing up the ‘only original once’ vs practicality thing. I think at the end of the day this will be sold on so at least now it’s much easier for someone to work on!
Immensely more practical and enjoyable build than the period spec. Nice job
Thanks!
Completely agree with your reasoning for modding instead of just restoring. Glad to see this in my feed. Take care and ride on.
Thanks Carlos. Ride safe!
Loved this vidéo. I like that you tell about some mistakes and moments of discouragement. It all adds up to make a good story with an happy ending. Thx!
Thank you! All part of the building process!
Resizing a BB Is a backyard bike mechanics final boss level. Great build. Sub earned.
Thanks! Plenty more to learn! Welding for one. Adding disc mounts would be great.
@@MonkeyShredhaha oh boy it might not fit the "character" of this bike, but for versatility and the ability to keep breaking performance in muddy and wet conditions... I don't want to start a rim Vs disc fight in your comments section or anything, but for my (lack of) skill level I really want disc brakes for riding off-road.
Little tip for you mark , I've done it many times , use electrical heat shrink at the end of the bar tape that way it will never unwrap , great build I'm just doing a restomod 1973 BSA tour of Britain, you've explained the odd size bb thank you very much , keep up the builds and enjoy the rides 👍
As in a large diameter ‘pipe’ type of heat shrink? Or was it a tape?
@@MonkeyShred hi Mark yep it's basically a tube that you cut down to length , it's normally used on electrical connections etc , Ive used it on a few bikes now really does work well , your Raleigh build has pushed me to getting my BSA build underway 👍
Dude, sweet ride . I love the sweep on that fork.
Thanks! That’s 60s styling for you!
Enjoyed your interesting video. I am doing something very similar with a 1977 Raleigh of indeterminate model. What I found was that a Shimano UN300 square taper bottom bracket has such soft alloy threads you can run it in easily until it starts to bind by which time it is nice and square and then using a nice big adjustable spanner on the bracket tool and plenty of lubrication the hard steel threads in the shell reformed the cartridge threads. I just needed to back it out a few times to clear the swarf. I put on a three speed chain ring and spread the rear dropouts to take a hub with an eight speed cassette. Probably more by luck the chain line was perfect. I laced some 27 inch rims to the new front and rear hubs as the old 26 inch rims were badly corroded. Now all the butchery work is done I can strip it back down and give it a coat of paint. 👍
Ooft. Did they revert to a standard 68mm BB in ‘77 or did you have to space a 73mm BB out? Sounds like you luckily got that cross threading spot on to get it aligned.
Looks great! I'm still looking for some old 70's style cowhorn handlebars for my build. Cant do the bum in the air thing. When me and my friends were kids back in the 70's, we used to put cowhorn bars on old 5 speed racing bikes, take the front brake off and call them 'tracker bikes' . This was before mountain bikes came along.
Would BMX bars work in the same way for that?
Nothing wrong with restomoding! Nice job,Mark!
Some people might not see it that way 😅 Making it more user friendly is the right way to go though I think.
Looks like a lovely ride. It reminds me of a bike I rode through my teens in the 80’s and that was just thrown together with bits from my Dad’s bike drawers. I resprayed it myself with a similar colour to your bike here. It was cheap as chips but took me everywhere, to school, then college and my Saturday job. By today’s standards it would be classed as a heap of poo, but I LOVED it.
Thanks! Sounds like you did a great job with what you had and it worked well for you!
That was a very nice build, and video! (and even featured the boss - Torvi)
I made sure she got involved in this one 😅
bike looks great!
Thank you!
Such a great job the hardest park was probably having patience… I bought 70’s Dawes 2 years ago some stared retro fitting bottom bracket superbe crankset and alloy wheels almost done. …..again great job. More retro builds😎
Patience was putting it away for a few months between each problem 😅😂
Great build i have to say.. love it as usual..
Thank you!
Bravo. That's a lovely restomod mate.
Many thanks!
Those Tektro R539 brakes are my favorite brakes, I have them on several road bikes spaced for fenders / bigger tires and they, for whatever reason, have terrific stopping power.
Yeah they weren’t too bad actually. I was worried about flex but they stopped fairly well. Some upgraded pads would make them a bit better though!
Cool build. Sometimes things happen and you have to reassess the project to save it and a good save it was.
Thank you!
Nice! I've not watched one of your videos for months, notifications seems to have turned off. Spotted you've finished the Sprite! Looks great though a little disappointed you didn't got down the full resto route in the end. But totally understand why you didn't. Love the Torvey chat too!!
Ah no worries! I didn’t upload for a couple of months to be fair. Just casually getting back in to it again!
Great video and an awesome build!
Glad you liked it!!
That’s a great looking build! 👌
Thanks!
Great build, wish you did more vintage road bike builds. Love those R559's have them on my vintage bike. I also used recessed nuts just drilled the nut side hole a bit larger works great.
Thanks! I have a couple tucked away. I’ll get round to them eventually!
Do you notice much brake arm flex with those calipers? The bike forums all say they suck in terms of stiffness.
@@sirbentley5526They are almost as stiff as my ultegra brakes which is surprising. I'm not sure of the flex while stopping the bike haven't really paid attention.
Muy buena!!! Quedó impecable a continuar disfrutando las bike 👍👍
Thanks!
Proper build.
Thanks!
this is the way!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Well done!
Lovely DT Swiss rims and hubs there Mark. I've also used (once!) the heat shrink electrical tubing for securing the ends of the tape. Unfortunately at the diameter you need for the bars the heat shrink tube is much thicker and does not look as elegant and it's a real pain to get off when one needs to unwrap the bar tape. I will second your observation on just how expensive some of the tools you needed for this project are. I was lucky to chance on 50% off when I got my bb thread cutting/facing tool from chain reaction and it still cost an arm and a leg. That Raleigh decal looks really nice. Did you use a silver under layer and a translucent red when painting the frame. I've done a few in that metallic look, usually powdered coated in two passes with silver then the colour. Great Job on the restomod.❤
Fortunately… those wheels were free (apart from having to buy a few spokes) and I also got that Park facing tool half price from CRC 😅
The paint just went on top of a light primer. Nothing fancy like a translucent paint!
Nice build! I understand that 26 threads per inch was a bicycle-specific British standard once upon a time; nutted 3/8” hub axles still use it… except for coaster brake hubs 😑
Yup! Pretty much just Raleigh (and it’s subsidiaries) for the BB and headset though.
nicely done!
Thanks!
great build!
Thanks!
Nice one!
Thanks!
great to save another old frame. looks really nice too.
the build did make me wonder though, whether some engineering minded person could fabricate a disc brake set up using the old mudguard eyes as one fixing point, and another maybe bolt on boss for the other? perhaps the eyes would be too weak?
It could be done. I’m sure it has been done. I do wonder if the fork would cope with the different forces though.
I'm doing the same thing with this P8 Peugeot Carbolite 103 I'm keeping original blue royal with shimmery flakes in the paint. Of course it has some dings but looking to color match the imperfections in order to keep it somewhat original. Going for 2x7 set up. And 700x35c wheels I know I could go for 38c but honestly looking to stay in the road for 90% of the rides . Not going with saddle Brooks or dt swiss. Affordable route it is for me. Nice build tho. Cheers from California USA
Thanks! That wheelset was actually a freebie 😅 had to replace a few spokes but it’s a solid wheelset now. Hope your build goes well!
Beautiful build and I totally agree to the restomod - if you want to have something practical yet stylish, that's the way to go. But then, why not going the full length and install something more modern, 3x9 or 3x10, and complete it with a more shallow gravel drop bar? Ultegra 6510 3x9 is a beautiful groupset, all aluminium finish, and would look stunning on that bike.
Honestly - because I already had that crankset and derailleur lying around and I think they look great. I went for the classic bars to keep the classic look too.
Amazing build! How did you know that the microshift road shifters would work with a MTB drivetrain?
wow! great work. a tremendous resto-mod. I have those same brifters which I'd like to put on my gravel conversion. tell me if you would, did you have any issues setting them up? Thanks in advance.
Not really. The rear shifter works well. The front was a little more difficult but a bit of playing around with the limits seemed to work.
@@MonkeyShred Great! Thanks for getting back to me. Keep up the great videos!
I wonder how many of the new bikes are going to be restored 60 years from now
Only time will tell!
That's niiiiice man 👌👌👌
Thanks 🔥
thank you
You're welcome
I’ve used Raleigh cups with an axle for a wider BB she’ll the trick is smaller ball bearings I got the tip from Sheldon brown’s website I used center pull longer reach weinman brakes 750 reach ma40 rims sturmey archer 3 speed conti contact 35 mm tires
I have read about that before too.
Turned out lovely and useable too. Interesting info about changing from 27 to 700c wheels. Would BMX brakes have the reach or is it dependant on the bike?
BMX would definitely have enough reach I reckon.
Great work, liking the canal side route too. Bigger tyres really improved the experience i imagine. I put 38 and 40 on an 1989 rust bucket - rides fine with a fag paper clearance 😮
Definitely. It was still a bit of a bone shaker though! 😅
Bigger padded shorts 🩳😲
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Thanks!
Another great vid. I'm thinking of donating you one of my bikes to do some sort build or charity one
That would be nice. I’m really trying to cut back still though 😅 I need more room. 😂
@@MonkeyShred well it's not going anywhere
Nice resto mod 👍🏼 I’ve got one hanging up here waiting for the same treatment. Fortunately it’s got a standard BB shell though some I’m expecting it to go a little smoother… I hope 😉
I hope so too! Damn Raleigh and their old standards.
What did you mean about the quick release coming out on the rear, so you switched to solid axle? I didn't understand that, do you mean the lever was coming undone? Or it was flexing? I thought it would be quite a big job to change that, but you just mentioned it in passing. Sorry I don't know much about wheels, but I'm curious.
Nah it’s a simple job to swap out an axle on a cup and cone wheelset. The wheel was indeed slipping out like it didn’t have enough grip. Could have been a worn QR but for piece of mind I switched to a solid axle with nuts.
Mark, It is the floating bike shop near by?
The floating bike shop? I’ve not heard of that.
Mark, do you have to deflate 38c’s to fit through 559 calipers? They have huge clearance alright, but what I found that even unlocked pads are too close so I have to squeeze tyres really hard to fit them through. And I’ve got slick 32c! It’s worse at the rear where it gets stuck in chainstays too as it has to come forward a bit to engage into horizontal dropouts.
I’m trying to figure out if these 32c’s I have are too wide or I’m doing something wrong. I wanted to put something wider but now I’m not sure.
My 40mm gravel kings fit fine through the 559's when unlocked.
At the moment - I haven’t had to take a wheel out but I think they do have enough clearance.
it seems those are sti levers? what type of rd did you install? i am
asking due to compatibility issue😊
They are. It’s just a normal 7 speed Deore LX derailleur.
How does Shifter work with FD? I ask, cause from time to time, i do some "gravel conversion's", and mtb fds are making me problems cause road shifters have different pull ratio from mtb's one.
Do they? I didn’t realise that. I always thought the front derailleur was kind of ‘dumb’. Those shifters worked well though.
Can the stem be saved somehow?
Probably. I doubt it’s worth the effort though. Someone bought it cheap on eBay though so it lives on somewhere.
👍
🤙
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'sssssssssssssssssssss Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk ❤
Hey!
I was gutted the other day, was offered a 653 with campagnolo groupset for £60, yes £60!!! The only downside was the frame was 22" and I'm need a 23" minimum. I didn't want to buy just to part out, so let it go 🤦
I’ve been there before. I didn’t want to break a bike so sold it on… only for it to be stripped and sold as parts 🤦♂️
@@MonkeyShredKnow your pain. I picked up a Proflex 550, cleaned it up, new chain and cables, got about 55 quid in it and just can't shift it at 110. If I broke it the XT groupset, Girvin flex stem etc would easily make more but I don't have the heart to.
@@KitVonRadical oh yeah. After owning a few Proflex I wouldn’t buy another unless I really wanted to keep it. As much as people love to look at them. Nobody wants to buy them. I ended up selling my full DX equipped 752 with the original Vector fork for…£150. Crazy.
Ouch, that's got to hurt. Every days a learning day, may be my last Proflex at this rate.
for cleaning up the frame why not just put it in a varsol bath ?
I don't know what that is - but it seems to be a paint thinner or a solvent of some sort?
@@MonkeyShred paint thinner solvent also really good for cleaning up metal and rust and gunk
Is it true that Nottingham, England was once the bicycle capital of the world?
Seems like it could have been. Nottingham was the base for Raleigh and they were world wide but Birmingham had more brands based here
Love this build! And I appreciate you sharing your learning process!
Glad you enjoy it!
Your videos are really very good. How many hours have you worked on this project in total? Or is that a secret?
Ooft I don’t actually know! It’s been built over lots of different days. I’ll have to make a log of the next one.