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😉 hey my dad just brought me my old 'raleigh estelle' 'racing road' bike back to into my possesion, i had forgotton all about it... the years have flown by lol.... its practically in mint condition for its age, the frame like new (no rust).... just around 29 years old.... now what shud i do with it,, keep it or sell....i have no idea how much a 30 year old bike would be....do people like to collect old bikes... ah its sweet ..the brakes still work and everything plenty of pad left on them.... i guess its a small frame as im only 5ft tall.... 😉
Pics.?
Www.retrobike.co.uk
Everything you need to know will either be already there, or someone will be at hand to tell you what you need to know
Keep it and ride it. Clean and polish. Give it a full service, new tubes and tyres, new cable and bar tape and oil everything.Put a seat bag on it that'll hold enough to go on all day rides and short tours. Fit it with mudguards, water bottles and a pump. Fit a map holder. Kit out with a full set of tools, tubes, spare link, cables and patches. Have it so it's always waiting for you to just jump on and go and is self sufficient in terms of breakdowns.
Then when the sun is shining, leave your phone at home and peddal off and see some places you've not seen before safe in the knowledge that it'll get you there and back.
"That" bike is probably my favourite of the collection.
well i quite like the bike still... just that i have recently made a nice purchase to a specialized road bike... i already have 3 bikes so this makes 4 ! you can never have enuff bikes...eh ? 😉
the raleigh weighs a ton tho 😕 cant really afford extra on doing this bike up too... geez decisions decisions lol
You can never have enough! There really is something to be said for a bike that you can just jump on and go without having to grab this tool from here, swap those pedals over and take the pump off the white one. Maybe your bikes are all like that, but mine aren't for sure! New tyres don't have to cost much, neither does tape or cables. Oil works wonders. It seems a shame to sell it and risk it being turned into another fixie skidder.
pics to follow shortly...... hmmm heavy heavy bike tho....wud you ride a heavy bike..... with a carrier fixed to rear ...hmmmm lol duno....maybe i could train the dog to ride it for next years 'Britains got Talent'...hahahh
I've just restored my old Raleigh Road Ace 531c bike from the 80s to a level where you'd struggle to see any sign that it isn't brand new - helped by the fact that it's spent 20yrs in a frost free environment, covered with a cloth. The Shimano 600ex groupset works as it did on day 1, with no sign of wear and the block on the back has accepted a new chain without skipping. The only non standard bits on it are the cork tape, black (not amberwall) tyres and the Specialized saddle (plus new cables, but original outers). In fact, the only bit that doesn't look new is the worn away anodising on the rims of the grey MA40 rims (where the brake pads have been rubbing). I absolutely adore it and savour the infrequent fairweather rides. The "ChipsAway" guy was completely baffled by my request to make a light 1" scratch on the top tube invisible, but he succeeded in the task and the frame is now blemish free and totally original with all the original frame stickers in place. I dread the day when I'll be unable to replace worn parts. I should post pics, but I don't know how to do it and I don't think that anyone but me would be interested anyway!
I've got an old Raleigh 54 years old, bags of style and fun on the right day. They're not worth anything apart from Record Aces and TI Raleigh team bikes.
They use their own weird thread on bottom brackets and headsets so beware.
They're not worth anything
Very true, in monetary terms, as every bike shop mechanic has reminded me when I've asked about help to get mine sorted.
However, it's full of memories of blasting around the Bwlch, Rhigos, sunny days riding the back roads of mid Wales as a teenager. It's probably not worth £100, even as minter, but I wouldn't sell it for 10x that - not that my bike's anything special.
I remember lusting over the exotic Italian bikes with high end Campag group sets advertised in the mags when I was a teenager. I would love one of those. Shame to think that many of those lovely old bikes may have been scrapped, resprayed or singlespeeded (nothing wrong with singlespeeders, but there's something very special about an old, fully original bike). Perhaps it's just me.
I bought a 70's Raleigh for Mrs B off Ton a few months ago and she adores it 8)
realy...ah how sweet...lol
any way here area few pics....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23692229@N07/5800658123/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23692229@N07/5800658111/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23692229@N07/5800658093/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23692229@N07/5800643415/in/photostream
Keep the bike.
Every memory it brings back couldn't be bought.