I was given a 20+yr old raleigh road bike which i converted into a single speed last summer to get me the 6 miles to uni and back each day. I spent all of £10 on it, with bar tape and new brake pads. Well i think that finally it is nearly dead, with the bottom bracket making a right noise. Obviously there are 2 options, attempting to pull the old bb out and replacing/chainging complete chainset or trying to find another cheap road bike/single speed.
So having not really spent much time on road bikes or single speeds what would you recommend? I am looking for something on the like of ebay etc. I live in Edinburgh and have no way of travelling anywhere with no car so it would need to be post-able and also needs to be as cheap as possible with me being a student and spending most of my money on my mtb and something i don’t have to worry about too much.

Cheers

So is it just the bottom bracket making some noise? Is it a retro steel frame with all OE on it? Surely a couple of quid on a b/b would be worth it. Alternatively break it down and sell it all individually on ebay and buy yourself something else not on ebay. Personally I would keep it. A mate has just built up an old retro Raleigh for the grand sum of £90 all in

Well i have thought about getting it all stripped down etc and sorting it all out, but tbh I don’t have much time to be doing all that and the bike isn’t exactly running amazingly, could probably do with a completely new drivetrain if i am honest.

Get yourself round to the Bicycleworks on Argyle Place (near Meadows) and ask them for a quote on how much it’ll be to sort? Alternatively, hit the Bike Station in Newington and see what they have in their 2nd hand parts bins – you can use their workstands for a small fee.

Can’t you strip down the BB, clean it up and pack it full of grease? Might just need a little TLC to keep going for another year or two.

Cheap re-builds have a little habit of becoming not cheap rather quickly – just cost me £70 to rebuild the drivetrain and add new brakes to my commuter 🙁

Shame we’re not closer as I quite like working on older bikes and would’ve sorted it for you

Don’t get me wrong I love working on my bikes, when I am at home the only place you will find me is in the garage fixing everyone else’s bikes or riding 🙂 just with this one I have a feeling the bb will be properly seized in. I have all the tools which should be necessary at home, but I won’t be home for another 4 weeks and even then as said I don’t want to have to spend any more than I have to such which is what happens when I re-build things. Ha

http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/Loose+Ball+Bearings/c23/index.html

I had a similar problem with my 20+ year old raleigh. I injected a shitload of grease around the BB and rode around for a while. Enough penetrated to make it stop squeeling. I still ride it.