The Twenty is done for now

So here is the Raleigh Twenty that I rescued a while back. I removed much of the house paint but there is still a fair amount of it left on the bike-call it patina.

I removed the rack on the back and rattle canned it a black glossy coat of Krylon, it looks much better than the half assed house paint that wa on it before. I also had a trunk bag that I got from Nashbar a while back, it seems to fit nicely.

I replaced the tubes, rim tape and tires (with Schwalbes). I also replaced the seat post with an alloy one with an integrated clamp. I repurposed an old mountain bike saddle that I had in the parts bin.

I took the bike on its' first trip this past weekend to Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. I used it to venture around the paddock, and see all of the vintage race cars.

The bike did well although the clearance between the the front tire and the mudguard stay is pretty tight. I also need to replace the grips as the originals look like they could split at any point and they really don't help reduce road shock.

Pretty psyched how it turned out so far.

got the new parts...

The pic above, even though it gives me a headache to look at, sorry about camera phone pics in advance, shows that my shipment finally came.

I received 2 Schwalbe tires in 1.75x2, two new tubes, and an aluminium seat post with an integral seat clamp. The post should help the little bike shed a couple of pounds as the current steel post is kind of heavy as is the clamp. This post is also a little longer.

Developing...

Big Apples Do Not Fit

After an easy time mounting the tires and tubes onto the R20 rims, I threw the front wheel and alas, the mudguard stays will not clear the tires.

No big deal, right?

Except, my favorite tire source Bike Tires Direct had a massive fire and is out of commission for a while.

Apparently, the 20 x 1.75 size is a bit more difficult to find, so after much searching, I think I found some Schwalbe Marathons at Universal Cycle. Should be ordering up today.

Projects are always more involved than you think...

More Raleigh 20 info, original instruction sheet

Here is the original R2o instruction sheet.

http://www.bikexprt.com/bicycle/twntyinst/index.htm#pictopEach of the sections of the booklet enlarge if you click on them.)

Raleigh 20 Update

As yet another project continues to wend its' way though my life, here is the latest little bit of progress on the Raleigh 20 that I picked up a little while back.

I have been working on removing the ugly green brush paint from the frame, but it is tedious and the turpentine fumes do get to be a bit much after a while.

As such, my first sidetrack was to remove the front wheel. I took off the original 1.75X20 dry rotted tire and tube and tossed them into the trash. After some inspection, it appears that the front tire had never been removed. I ditched the factory rim strip which also looked quite virginal. I got ahold of my preferred rim tape, the cloth Velox style and stuck it on the rim, the tape looked to be made for 700c rim, so I used my trusty Swiss Army knife to make the cut.

Now here is the rub, I have some nearly new Schwalbe Big Apple Tires and tubes that I had in the cupboard from a Dahon that I upgraded. These tires are 20X2". Will they fit? I am pretty sure that they will fit the rims but as the mudguards are connected directly to the axle and not to an eyelet on the fork, I am worried that there won't be clearance between the fatter Big Apples and the mudguard stays. I will mount them up and see how it goes.