raleighmagnum

[raleighmagnum]

Click the pic to see what became of some of the parts.

[raleighmagnum]

My Raleigh is done and dealt with, but I've used many of the parts in my new project, the recreation of an early  Hipstå-Küntz  DB500 (you probably haven't heard of them) - check it out.

[raleighmagnum]

I think it's the end.

Under any sort of pressure my left side chain stay is moving around.  This is making it difficult to keep the wheel inline for more than a mile at a time.  Most distressing, but I think it's the end for the bike.  I think over time the the stays have been pressured too much and now it's about to give completely.  

I'd spend money on repairs, but frankly, I think the next project is a Surly Long Haul Trucker frameset and some very exotic parts.   I may be done here.  A huge personal shame, but I've learnt such a lot, I can't be too sad, it was a good experience.

#raleigh magnum bike porn raleigh vintage racer racer rebuild #raleight #raleigh magnum #vintage #road bike #racer rebuild #gas pipe #vintage bicycle

[raleighmagnum]

She's a single speed for now.  

Slightly disastrous.   Too much weight on a pedal going up a hill and I managed to bend the crank and the pedal stem.  So off came the cranks, in goes a new BB and I find the drive side thread is now slightly cross threaded.  

I had an old pair of shimano cranks lying around, as well as a 16 tooth freewheel and a pair of Wellgo pedals, so it was a fairly simple job to just sling them on.  

It's actually fine for riding around town, for now, but I'm not altogether happy to be in this position and might address the problem when I get some cash.

[raleighmagnum]

All done and on the road.  Graphics applied and I found a Raleigh Magnum wedge pack that I never new existed.   The stickers are Raleigh factory NOS and were originally for a Record, but who cares, they are black and pretty.  

These are now my daily wheels.  Very happy indeed.  My only complaint is the rear dérailleur is already making noise and auto changing on the smallest cogs.  I'll adjust that out when I get a chance.

Mission accomplished!

I can now concentrate on getting my Hipsta-Kuntz DB500 on the road.  Here's a link to that blog.

#raleigh magnum #bike porn #raleigh #vintage racer #racer rebuild #bicycle rebuild #raleigh decals #raleigh wedge pack #lowestoft

[raleighmagnum]

She's done!  Working a treat.  So good to have it back on the road.

The only thing left is some new graphics and a cleanup.  Really pleased.  

The non-shimano freewheel works well enough, but is noticeably less freewheely than the real thing, and noticeably heavier. I might get around to replacing it with a real one at some point, but to be honest, probably not unless it goes wrong.

Ultimately I'm getting a new front rim to match the rear, but in terms of getting this thing on the road, we're there.

#racer #vintage road bike #raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

Cost breakdown

Chain and labour: £15

Frame: 50

Donor: 60

Labour and cables: £100

Forks: 30

Headset: 10

Bar tape: 35

Tools: 64

Graphics: 50

Rear wheel, pair of tyres: 65

Powdercoat 20

US spec (metal) positron levers. 30

Spare/gash dérailleur. 15

Conclusion: £544.  Plus incidentals I'm sure I've forgotten. Not worth it in cash terms, I could have had this instead, but I have the bike of my youth back, albeit in slightly modified form.

#raleigh raleigh magnum raleigh racer racer rebuild vintage racer vintage road bike #rebuild costs #racer #80's racer #80's racer rebuild costs #raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

The story so far.  Original ebay frame halfway through stripping, one of the donors (small frame), first fit, final fit and disaster :)

#progress photographs #racer #vintage raleigh #vintage rebuild #raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

Progress (again)

I've whipped off the broken freewheel (pretty easy, only hurt my hand a bit), installed a new third party copy of the fivespeed (which I hope is going to be OK) and have rescued a manky positron derailleur from one of the donor bikes.  My LBS is going to fit it tomorrow, hopefully. 

If this fails I'm going to install Shimano 105. It's got kind of personal though, I really want this to work with its originally intended gears.

#broken positron 400 #freewheel replacement #raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

So I got it on the road, up and down changes working perfectly.  A little noise, but nothing I couldn't adjust out later.  Then BANG!  Rear derallieur in the back spokes.  Wheel stopped, spokes mangled, teeth removed from largest sprocket.  It looks like it's just given up, and it looks like it was over tightened.  

Right now, I'm thinking 'fuck it.'  To be honest.

#DAMMIT. RALEIGH MAGNUM #broken positron 400 #broken shimano #shitting fucksticks #raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

Finally, a working bike.  Rear mech needs some alignment work, new stickers are needed after my local bike shop destroyed them, but other than that, we're there.  And it's like meeting an old friend.

#Magnum #vintage #bicycle #vintage bicycle #restored bicycle #raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

Ditched the rear Weinmann centre pull

I've ditched the rear Weinmann 010 for something that actually works, just a cheap side pull that was hanging around in the LBS.  Something potentially interesting is that there may have been different sized calipers used, as this one didn't want to reach my rim and even after bending still wouldn't get a proper grip at the right angle.  Could have just been a whacked copy, but I'm certain that on my 80's bike there was plenty of adjustment to spare.

Anyway, my original was never in original spec, so I'm not being too anal about it where things just aren't working.  The new brake stops the wheel, that'll do.

#racer rebuild #magnum #vintage raleigh #raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

Shimano Positron installation and setup manual for those that might need it.

#positron #positron derailleur manual #raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

Known issues

Heavy (I'll weigh when I can)

Forks have a reputation for folding and causing catastrophic damage.   I don't know how true this is, mine did many miles through the 80's and into the 90's without issue until I hit a car turning in front of me.   Won't be an issue for my build because I couldn't find any Raleigh ones with a long enough steerer tube so am using Oxford Cycle parts Hybrid forks.  Which are quite horrible, but not as horrible as they could be.  The bike steers very well with these, which is all that really matters.

I used to go through bottom brackets at an alarming rate.  I'm heavier now, so I'm assuming it will be worse.

#vintage #vintage bicycles #raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

Raleigh Magnum data

This is incomplete, and will be completed in the future.  There's nowhere I can find on the web that has all this data, so hopefully this helps someone.  All of this *should* be independent of frame size, mine is a 26". Comments and corrections are very welcome!

Crossbar: 23" x 8.5mm

Seat post: Sturmey Archer (Raleigh branding on there, too) 25.48 mm (1.003")

Tubes (down and seat) 9.5mm

Bottom Bracket: 68mm English thread.

Drop out spacing: 133 mm

Headset: 1" threaded

Brake levers: Weinmann with Diacompe safety levers (double action)

Brakes: Raleigh branded Weinmann 010 centre pull.

Gears: 10 speed Shimano Positron 400

Wheels: 27" Weinman

Cranks: 8" (20cm)

Material: HT steel. Often derided as 'gas-pipe' bikes and the Reynold's 531 snobs hate them.  Perfectly fine by me :)  High Tensile actually has some advantages over more fancy items.  Mainly that it tends to bend rather than snap and dent rather than hole.  On the downside, it's a fairly wide spectrum of material and can tend towards the heavy. Of course there is a discussion to be had about the benefits/drawbacks of a heavy bike.  Lighter is not always better.  Here's the late, great Sheldon Brown on the subject.

#raleigh magnum measurements #raleigh technical data #raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

Hi!

This is a place to keep my notes about the Raleigh Magnum, set down some specs and put some pictures.  Also hoping to get some information from other people as this bike is almost forgotten, though was once a popular runaround for a lot of people.

I've just rebuilt one, as it's the bike I did thousands of miles on as a teenager.  It was made very tricky and expensive by a lack of online information, so that's my motivation for setting this up.

#raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer

[raleighmagnum]

Back from powdercoating and this is the first, loose fit to see how's it's going to look.  Quite pleased with that, actually!  Those forks are the inappropriately sized tiny ones, that won't be on the final bike.

#raleigh #raleigh racer #raleigh magnum #bicycle rebuild #rebuild #cycle rebuild #cost breakdown #strip down #powder coat #positron 400 #gas pipe #gas pipe bike #80s racer #vintage racer