1950's Raleigh Single-Speed Hack

[mosh2death]

Hi and welcome to my build, I have an old lugged steel raleigh racer frame that has inspired me to build a 1950's style single-speed hack. it has a great patina an is begging to be built up into something 'special'

My thoughts so far on the way the build should go are as follows:-

Leather sprung saddle
drop handlebars
cotter-pin steel cranks
Aluminium water bottle(s)

Any suggestions/comments are welcome, be kind!

 

[raggedjim]

Sounds like a great plan, and you have a blank canvas to start with!

Rg

 

[jats]

cool old skinny frame! love these bikes!! my daughter rides a sprite 27 and I have 3 others kicking around. this will bw a cool build!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Welcome! Sounds like a cool plan, don't forget to post an intro in the Intro's section.

Luke.

 

[Scribble]

I love this type of bike, the tricky thing is trying to date the frame I spent 3 hours just looking for the right serial number on mine, I think mine is from 1919-1920's at lest that's what the serial number would have me believe

 

[kingsting]

Welcome to RRB and the build-off!
Those Nottingham Raleighs can have some proprietary parts like bottom bracket cups and headsets. Make sure you got those before diving in too deep. I hate having a project on hold while I scour the world looking for some oddball tidbit...
Scribble - if the decals are original, it appears you have a DL-1 frame from the mid 1960's. Wonderful riding bikes!

 

[Bicycle808]

The frame in the OP doesn't seem to have a fork, so no worries on Raleigh threads (26tpi) for the headset. Any 30.2mm cup/1" headset will do; just match the threads and crown race to whichever fork you use. But, yeah, that BB is Raleigh threaded and you'll need to use Raleigh cups, but you can MacGuyver an Italian-spec square taper spindle to work with it.

 

[junknutz1975]

Welcome to the forum & welcome to the Build Off

 

[kingfish254]

Welcome to RRB and the build off.
Where ya from?

 

[mosh2death]

Welcome to RRB and the build off.
Where ya from?

Sunny Bolton, England

 

[mosh2death]

Got hold of some old steel forks but they were just in too goo condition so I stripped the paint of the fork legs and applied a few coats of my aging solution. I left the other bare metal for comparison.

Vinegar and salt!!
After a couple of days, the result was surprising.

Result. I better do the other one now!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Nice work! Looks good!

Luke.

 

[kingfish254]

Sunny Bolton, England

Cool, we have the biggest international contingent of builders ever this year. At least 15 people outside of the USA.
I like the results of your aging potion too.

 

[sdframe]

I can't wait to see a UK entry; best of luck to you!

 

[Uncle Fide]

Sunny Bolton, England

Welcome fellow Englishman, I'm in Ipswich but ironically I work from our office in Bury Tuesday to Thursday every week. Good to see you on here too


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mosh2death]

Fitted bottom bracket and headset this morning, cotter pin type of course.

I then felt all motivated and then gathered together some bits I have been hoarding for a while and test fitted them while I am waiting on my flat varnish to arrive.

Parts include a SR quill stem and an old Brooks saddle.

 

[sdframe]

What I love is that you have no brazed-on cable guides or tire pump brackets. It will make for a super-clean single-speed/fixie with an old-school twist. Good luck to you!

 

[mosh2death]

Applying a few coats of dead flat varnish to the frame to stop the rot today.
The heat is on now as I have agreed (been dared!) to do the Bolton SkyRide http://www.goskyride.com/bolton on this bike on Sunday, so I need it to be functional if not finished.

Pictures to follow..

 

[mosh2death]

Done abit of work on the bike today, fitted some CONEX SOLINGEN vintage grips (partially, will finish the last piece tomorrow, they are a git to fit!) and some drilled alloy safety levers

PS cried off SkyRide today with an injury.

 

[mosh2death]

Finally got around to putting the last part of the bloody grips on and fixed the puncture in the front wheel

Built up the back wheel and converted to single speed (18t freewheel), put a new tire and tube in as the old tan wall was booshed, shame.

now looks like a bike!!

I feel inspired to finish this puppy off, watch this space!