BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

The Raleigh is hot, but it looks like it may have the original steel rims, which are useless and downright dangerous in the rain, so you're looking at new wheels, $300+-. And the downtube shifters are a pain and not fun in city riding, you could change them to bar-ends easily, but there's another c-note.

The Redline is very cool as well, but the single front chainring = no granny gear. That's change-able, but again, money.

The CL Jamis on paper seems like the most ready to go for what you're looking for, but CL is all caveat emptor, that's a lot of money for buying somebodies potential surprises.

Thanks for the info, Edmonds. That's really a bummer. Back to the drawing board, I guess.

I'm generally in agreement with Edmonds.

I'd love to have that Raleigh, but I'd probably end up dumping a few hundred into it off the bat. Are the downtube shifters that big of a pain though? I mean, how often are you shifting?

The Redline looks sweet! If I knew that was there, I would have been tempted to pick it up when I was in town for New Year's. While the single chainring up front makes things difficult, I'd still consider it. At least take a test ride and try a hill or two.

I love the Jamis Aurora, but you never know what you are buying. See if you can't find someone to go with you and take a look at it. Most likely, you'd be dumping money into cables, brakes, and new chain/gears (if worn). Then there's a question of greasing everything up and checking the wheels for true, which would (I assume) be included if you purchase from Thick.

rzod - I've got a ~1991 Raleigh Technium, 54cm, down tube shifters, SunTour components, drop bars, 700x25 wheels/tires, aluminum frame that I have not ridden since I got my new bike and I was planning on selling. I replaced the rear wheel, tire, chain and 6 or 7 speed freewheel with new parts from Kraynicks about 2 weeks before I found my new (used) bike so they only have about 150 miles on them. The things that I know are wrong with it are that it is missing the handlebar end caps and the cranks have developed a wobble. I'm not enough of a mechanic to say whether that is just something that needs to be tightened or if it needs to be replaced, but assume the worst. It is a noticable wobble but not so bad that it is unridable. I think it is something you'd want to look at fixing sooner rather than later. Like the Raleigh in your Thick picture the rear brake cable is routed through the top tube, so that makes noise when you hit bumps but is not a functional problem. There are some scratches in the pains and tears on the side of the saddle and bar tape but no dents in the frame.

In it's day it was an entry level bike shop road bike. It's lived either indoors or in a garage it's entire life. It was my primary bike for 15 or so years, but I stopped using it because I moved to a cross bike which was sturdier for the commuting that is most of my biking these days with the expectation that the Raleigh would be my back up bike, but it's been idle for a couple of years now.

It would come with 4 (I think, I need to look through my box again) 700x25 presta tubes, and your choice of Look clipless or some super cheap plastic pedals. If you take the looks I have 4 unused cleats and if you can fit in a pair of 8.5 New Balance shoes you can have those as well. It will be very difficult to get the current cleats off the shoes as the screw heads are pretty well ground flat from walking on them. All the Look stuff is ~1991 vintage.

I'd like to get $125 for it. PM me if you are interested and please post here that you sent the PM so we can make sure it got through.

You know, I didn't mean to harsh on the old Raleigh at Thick too badly. Since you are looking at something as a second "special" bike as a backup to your ute, it might make some sense, if you dig it. You could always upgrade things incrementally and have a blast. Nobody's making any more mint cond 1970s Raleighs, as far as I know.

fyi, every used bike at thick has been thoroughly cleaned, tuned up and repaired as needed before its sold. if the old parts are still on something its because they work just as well as the replacement parts would.

Vaguely related: How is this bike selling for only $50 more than the Redline linked to above? Izzit just a piece of junk? I mean, I could be convinced to ride a double-boinger for that price.

Personally I would go with something newer. That Redline is sweet and if you're not using it as a utility bike getting up the hills will just be a little harder, but not out of reach. I ran a 1x8 gear ratio on my commuter for over a year.

@brian yeah that price is weird. the seatpost alone costs over 1/4 of that price.

probably because its so big. odd sizes of used bikes tend to sit around forever. but yeah thats a hell of a deal if the bike fits you!

Yeah, 19" might be pushing it. My BuSS is 19", but the frame is fairly compact, so I can live with it. I may have to wander down to Thick during lunch tomorrow and check that rig out.

Hm... I think my old non-suspension MTB is 21", but the seat is nowhere near that far above the top tube. Since you called it "big", I'm wondering if this 19" translates into something that fits me or if it's too small.

Brian, I'll give you right of first refusal, otherwise I'm gonna go check it out.

I bought a used Trek bike at Thick bikes and I have no complaints. The bike was in good shape and seems like it was well cared for by them.