1983 Raleigh Prestige Overhaul and Upgrades. Complete tear down and rebuild. Restoration
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- čas přidán 9. 09. 2024
- Big mistake in the video. The February bike swap is in St Charles IL on the 11th. My party is on the 10th of February.
In this video we totally break down and rebuild this Raleigh. It's not in bad shape but in desperate need of an overhaul. We also throw on some upgrades. Great example of your typical Japanese made early 80s bicycle
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Chris's CZcams Channel (Bicycle reviews, tools and more)
/ @chrisenockson
Last years Vintage bike party.
• 2023 Vintage bike show...
Classic Bicycles Auburn
www.classicbic...
#bikelife #restoration #overhaul
nice, losing the pink was a relief!
Lol... I agree
Bicycles in that price tier had a lot going for them. Good values. I still love the Suntour components. Again, great value.
I agree. Every brand had their Suntour, SR/Sugino, DiaCompe equipped bicycles. They did well.
Love the performance durability and endurance well price at the time was spectacular dime a dozen now a thousand percent inflation not affordable any more my boys and I try to ride everyday rain or shine thank you for sharing may GOD Bless you
Could not find cinasport chain anywhere ?
I have a 531c Nottingham Raleigh from around that era. Rides so smooth. Not the lightest but once up to speed its nice.
Totally agree with SunTour shifting being much smoother than Campagnolo. Only other that was as good or arguably better then was Simplex aka Spidel.
Thanks John for sharing another great video!
Hey John , great video.
Looking forward to your next video.
All the best!
Thanks!
John, I must have missed this video when you released it. Glad I caught up now.
Well the commentary on your videos is much appreciated don't go silent!
I'm in England so Raleigh is a nice bike to see in your workshop in USA. My first road bike was a Raleigh Lenton Sport, very old now 1950s and sadly long gone. But I have a "mini bike cave including a nice Condor. Keep these videos coming. Thankyou
Keep your eyes open, I'm going to do a video showing all my vintage English bikes.
Excellent video. Just loved it. It always amazes me two people from different areas fix something the same way. I guess overtime someone learns to fix things correctly and efficiently and that's why the same steps are taken.
I agree. I found that going to Schwinn Service school put many in the same camp. In that class it was all about speed. Thanks for watching
John, this is my favourite of your videos so far. SunTour invented the slant parallelogram derailleur which is the design that even Campagnolo eventually adopted. As you said, at the time they were the best. The Superbe Pro gruppo was even better. Your choice of the chainset raised the level considerably.
I love the yellow bar tape and I agree with you for the direction of wrapping. With thin tape it feels smooth either way but doing it top to bottom is so much neater. I always chose yellow Benotto tape in the 80's. That saddle is perfect.
It was a blast from the past when you mentioned Sedis chains. I always used them too. I believe they went through a couple of buyouts and now is under the SRAM name. In the last many years I opt for KMC
While I like ASMR vids, I also enjoy your approach so keep it up.
Beautiful bike, I had a Donahue ( a local builder in England) the same colour.did most of my racing career using that tape usually in a sort of champagne type of colour. I have the brake cables shorter so if the bike falls the handlebars don’t smash into the top tube 👍👍
My first road bike, the one that caused me to love cycling, was a 1980’s Raleigh Technium. I love me some Raleigh content🥰. Perfect choice on the bar tape too, yellow to match the lettering and hoods match the sidewalls. Very cool bike! 😎👍
I sold Raleigh back in the Technium days. It was a little harder sell when all these lighter aluminum bikes came out. But the Technium rode well. We sold a bunch.
@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage I believe mine to be a 1986. 6061-T8 aluminum main frame tubes with steel head tube, seat stays, chain stays and steel fork (3x6 Shimano 600 group). Certainly not a high end bike but it fit me like a glove and it holds a special place it my heart. Keep up the great content 👍
Bike is fantastic, great video iam so happy you don't do the music I really like all the info on the bikes. I'm favorite stuff is Shimano 600 the hole line is very made, and works perfectly every time. Thanks for the bikes I really injoy them. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I appreciate you watching!
Saturday afternoon, car has just passed inspection and a new johns vintage road bike garage video. Life is good 😊
Glad I can help! lol
I had a Raliegh super course71 road nice… a magnet is very helpful for bearings 😎
Im an idiot. I keep forgetting to get a new magnet! Take a second for a story. I had a damaged 73 International I sent to a painter. He repaired the frame, this is in 1985. He painted it black for me. He said he had international decals but when he finished the bicycle he called and said that they were damaged. But he had Super Course decals....long story short. I had the only Raleigh Inter Course.. Not joking. I cant find a pic if it. If I do Ill put it on the channel.
Never understood why Suntour went away. Suntour Superbe had the performance, look and price point that made sense. Great video
Its a shame about Suntour. People dont know that they had the first index system that worked incredibly. Miyata put it on a 300 bike. But nobody took it seriously. I'll have to find what model that was.
Patents. The story goes that Suntour didn't think to protect all of their inventions/innovations. Shimano came along as the bigger more established brand (they were already big in fishing) and patented many of them. It was a shame Suntour never recovered.
The first Suntour I ever saw was a "Skitter" on a cheap Japanese 5 speed Sting Ray knockoff around 1966.
@@nowyourefinished6481 Nope they did. The patents ran out in 85 shockingly everyone else copied the second they were out. Shimano needed that design for reliable pull ratios for sis and sti to work. Shimano made copies of campy until that patent ran out in 85. Suntour was the best hands down in the friction era for half the price.
That explains why a Dura ace rear derailer looks so much like the sun tour featured in this video
YOUR BEST VIDEO EVER! Great content, narrative, instructions, and perfect editing! Bravo!
And it’s cool to see an “affordable” pretty mainstream bike too.
Aero Gran Compe brake levers were the shizzdaddy in 1983 when Campy still didn’t have aero levers. We ran AGCs with our Campy components.
Also, those are prolly period correct generation one Look pedals that were the new shizzdaddy of pedals at that time.
Thank you sir!
Still using paper towel …cotton is best even after polishing You can bring up the shine.love the shop😎
That's a beautiful bike! I wasn't riding in that era so I hadn't a whole lot of familiarity with what was out there. I love the chrome head tube. Speaking of pink....my first re-entry into road biking again in my mid 40s was with a pink Giant road bike given to me by a neighbor. I rode it one time while it was pink, up and down my block well after dark! I stripped it and did a Dupli-Color refinish, a dark sky blue with silver accents topped with clear coat, it came out amazingly good! Thanks for the tip regarding the bolt when removing the fixed cup, this will be my method from now on. I remember getting in a bit of a heated discussion with a guy who totally hated on the Japanese bikes and components in that era, dismissing them as cheap imitations, even though my experience in the early to mid 70s was very satisfying. The SunTour derailleur on my 73 Nishiki International shifted so much better than anything else I had experienced at the time and made me a believer.
I usually ignore bike snobs. I have 30 campy equipped bicycles and still know and realize that they didn't always perform the best.
The grey colour is lovely, but not sure about the yellow. Beautiful bike and in incredible condition for its age.
I really like that touring bike at Auburn, and that white Peugeot at 30:11 is almost exactly like the one I have. If I can fit some fatter tires (on new 700c wheels), I might convert it to a touring bike.
Thanks for your effort in making these vids, John, they're extremely enjoyable.
Thanks so much.
I still have my 1981 Raleigh Superbe though its in pieces. Complete Superbe groupo. It was a fully cromed frame covered in a gold tinted urethane finish, very pimp looking but it was a great bike and I raced it for 2 seasons all over SoCal in 82-83. Had the Celotape in gold but stripped the gold tint of the frame. I'll restore it this year except for the gold, LOL.
I have one of those on the hit list. However, they're hard to find with the gold still intact. How does yours look?
Love the yellow! Nice work John!
Thanks much!
Yellow was the right choice. Thanks for the video, my freewheel vise is on order. Happy birthday to me, again.
Thanks. A good day is when you can buy a new tool. LOL
Absolutely love the vintage! Keep up the great work. I am hoping go get some epic vintage bikes on my channel 🙏
Hey hey, thanks for the comment. If I can make a suggestion. Looked at your channel. The names of your videos are literally unsearchable. You can email me using the email address on my CZcams channel page. I'll let you know what I mean.
Great vid. The bar tape and saddle are an excellent choice.
Thanks!
Back in the day, when using Cellotape, we would start at the bottom and wrap to the top. On the finishing wrap, instead of cutting at an angle like the cork tape, cut at right angle to the bar and melt the tape on to its self with a hot knife.
Wooh. that's cool. Never seen that done!
Always enjoy your vids. Really love your build here. I Can't help staring at the Bug though. In my shop, I have a fully restored '64 sunroof Bug and my two '71 Schwinns. SS and ST. Sierra Brown. Just turned 66. Liv'n in the past in West TX !
Cool. We are similar. I have a Brown Sports tourer on my must have list. I have a 78 superior on the docket to be rebuilt. I just cant find the perfect decal replacement.
Excellent work John
Thanks
The brake calipers are beautiful!
Always been a favorite...LOOKING> maybe not performing.
In 83 the Campy Super Record rear was the one everyone wanted. Superbe was second.
That is true. The dirty secret was that the Sun tour actually shifted better lol
That's only because Campy was the name to have. SunTour parts were far better designed and of higher quality. Campy sat on their laurels until the 90's when they finally woke up. Now their stuff is exceptional.
Beautiful bike! Looks like it was ridden a half dozen times and then stored indoors. The chromed head tube and fork is quite nice! I think that the Raleigh Competitions of that era had chromed seat tubes in addition to the head tube. Very classy! The SunTour Superbe is indeed great stuff, and the addition of the crank is a nice touch.
Thanks. Ive been holding onto that crank a long time. Keeping the old one just in case I sell the bike later.
I still run Superbe Pro accushift, And it works on a Shimano freewheel 7 sp. Best equipment in that era for me was the late 80s. Superbe pro beautiful looking crankset.
That stuff worked great! Thanks for watching
I really liked this video! I liked the look at the bike shop (nice one! i was on the national bicycle dealers board w Bruce years ago) i smiled at your bar taping though... Those Benotto end caps are designed for have the tape go around the outside of them, not have them plugged on the end like that! But, if that works for you? But the bigger picture is you're doing a really good job with these videos and I appreciate them! Thanks, Dale
Hey Dale. Great catch on the end caps! I only put them on temporarily. I prefer the plug type. I just didnt have any. Bruce has become a friend. Known him since I worked in a shop in the 80s. Then I was his Wisconsin cycle/Riteway/GT Schwinn rep for 10 years. I live in town and now we hang out. Thanks for the encouragement.
nice!
Thanks 👍
Nicely done! Another classic refurbished!
Save those pink water bottle cages (ha, I know you will). IIRC, back in the day Greg Lemond favored pink and had them on his early bikes.
The yellow looks great! I have an 87 red and black Raleigh from Nottingham with yellow tape and a yellow & red Concour lite saddle.
The pink bottle cage is going to the bike swap next week! LOL. Thanks for watching!
The bar tape looks perfect. I might have to get some yellow celo for my Ciocc.
My Ciocc is Blue with Yellow decals and tape and saddle... Im a fan
@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage if I can find a yellow Regal saddle I’d go for that.
531 tubing was used on British motocross made by greeves cotton DOT rickman to name few. The cool the thing about Reynolds was they didn't recommend electric welding only brazing.
Interesting. Didn't know they were a "thing" in other industries. Cool
Big mistake in the video.. The madison bike swap is January 20th! My party is on February 10th! Thanks
Nice bike and build John! I’ve got a 1984 Raleigh Portage (650b) with 555T tubing. The decals on the ‘83-‘86 Raleighs are delicate
Thats pretty cool.. I have a question. It's going to sound negative. It's not meant to be. Please understand.. Im curious. Why is it whenever someone converts to 650B. They always put that in the description of the bicycle? Just a trend I notice when people tell me about their bikes. As if they are passionate about their conversions. I'll be careful with the decals.!
I hear ya John! The Portage came as a 650b touring bike! It’s probably the first ‘mass produced’ 650b in the US market (Raleigh also had their Mountain Tour ATBs at that time, one with 650b wheels). Raleigh produced the Portage’84-‘86 or ‘87. The ‘84 had shorter chain stays than later years. It can fit 38c and even 42c sort of. Came with front and rear racks and the saddle even came with a dual-ended hex wrench (5/6mm) mounted underneath for adjusting on the go! It’s a quite fun bike to ride! I’ll send some pics.
Whoo new Johns vid awesome dude lovely build as always buddy 😊 well done man.. I prefer you talking through the vids John very informative.. Pete 😃🚴🏻👍
Thanks 👍
Nice video. Yellow tape for the win. Hey John, I think it's time you picked up an ultrasonic parts cleaner. It will save you a lot of time on clean up.
Thanks, I'm looking into them. Not sure what model to buy. So many sizes and Wattages. What do you think?
😲😲😲😲😲😲
Hi John. Enjoy your videos, and your fantastic collection, while there is very little riding here in Denmark due to snowy weather, like you have in Chicago. Pls. tell us a little about the tubing on that Raleigh.
Regards, John
Its inconclusive as to who made it. Raleigh in those years were marketed by Huffy and would mimic the Reynolds decals. Some think it was Tange tubing but I'm still not sure even after some research.
Yeah, not a fan of the silent videos myself. Listening to you I can tell how much you love the bikes and what you are doing. The silent ones are just cold and impersonal like it's just a job and not a labor of love. Sometime you should post a list of all the bikes you have. Must finish watching now.
Thanks, I thought about doing a "whole collection" video.. Trying to think of the format. It would be a lot of moving the bikes around....hmmmmm
You don't need the BB sheath. It just traps crud. You haven't truly lived until you've done the research, bought the tools, and rebuilt one of those old freewheels/freehubs with its 47-jillion balls, tiny pawl springs, etc. My 1979 Motobecane has Sun Tour Cyclone derailleurs, and they were great. Sadly, the 1980 I bought came with Altus, still very good but not quite as silky. A cost cutting measure, I suspect. I still think the saddle and tape should be brown leather. Still, it turned out great.
I don't enjoy rebuilding free wheels. I do it once in a while. You had a great idea with the brown leather. Just trying to keep the cost down. I have not done a great job with stitched leather in the past. I'm a little nervous doing it.
@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage I fully get that. Freewheels are a right pain. I did mine because it was glitchy, and I found a pawl was hung and not engaging. It works perfectly now, but the rebuild was NOT fun.
I have used Phil grease for over 50 years. 🙂
Good stuff!
Do love your videos sun tour is great my 1985 Raleigh has that shifter my uncle gifted me that bicycle many years ago I now ride a 1985 Peugeot 27" wheels panaracer tire man $520:00 TT dollars each a car tire is $360:00 installed and speed balanced I do envy you many ppl in Trinidad and Tobago dump good bicycles for scrap because of the cost to maintain and keep it going
Very nice bike and resto John! Those Suntour Superbe components were extremely good and easily competed, if not, surpassed Campy of the time…despite what the Italian Luddite’s would profess (and I consider myself one since all my bike resto’s are largely 80’s Italian steel with Campy😏). They would be good competition for the Dura Ace of the time as well. Back in the 80’s I raced with a Colnago frame and Dura Ace 😊 much to the chagrin of many folks…the Dura Ace was just superior in every way for racing. I certainly would have considered the Superbe but they were hard to get here in Calgary, Alberta Canada. Keep up the great work and restorations! Trevor
Thanks. I still believe that Campagnolo had better quality bearings, races, harder aluminums etc. I just think that Suntour shifted better in that era. I think that Shimano really did damage to Campagnolo when the DuraAce 7400 Group came out. Campy has never recovered from that.
looks like that bike has never seen any moisture in its entire life! either that or it was stripped down every single time it did!
couple of smaller channel recommendations for you - OnRoad Vintage Bikes, Buff's Vintage Biles, DAB Restorations, BikeIt UK
Thank you, I follow three out of the four new suggested. We chat back and forth. Thanks so much!
I love these old Raleigh’s but the headsets were all terrible
LOL> I edited out the time it took to adjust the headset without the proper spanner wrench for the intermediate spanner lock ring. LOL
That was the nicest huffy money could buy. First year of huffy owned the American market of Raleigh. Japanese contract build. Sun tour was the best shifting stuff until the patent ran out and every other manufacturer copied it.
Leave that stock because the value is not there like other Japanese contract builds of the era especially the early specialized that was contract built by 3rensho
That is a part out bike in my world.
Yes. the negative thing about that Era is that brands were not making their OWN bikes. They farmed them out. Curious. Do you know who Huffy contracted with to build it? Was it Panasonic?
@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage I know the 81-83 ailez specialized were 3rensho. They were full campy and tange tubesets they were far from bargin priced. They were more like the 3rensho athlete models their entry level still crazy high quality.
I doubt Panasonic would cut into the already good USA market at the time. By the way you can still order from Panasonic frames today using the pos system of the old days easy you just have to use a Japanese shop online. I ordered a cx frame in Panasonic team paint scheme a few years back. Not expensive at all really. Had it in like three months.
Considering the only frame maker of the era in Japan with tube making abilities was Miyata it could be them but they were in bed with koga at the time. I doubt they could have handled all that work. All I can tell you is tange is on some of the fork steer tubes no idea on the rest of the tube set. Whoever it was they built tons of bikes for Raleigh USA
tengo una Raleigh competitions cómo ésa. pero no es. S S .pero es buena bicicleta 🚲 saludos desde California 🇺🇸
What year is your competition?
I am with you not a fan of the silent videos I like the commentary
Thanks much!
The youtube link for Chris doesn't work? Great video by the way.
Thanks for telling me. I will check the link
Hey John , what was the Schwinn road bike hierchy ?
Was the Paramount made by Schwinn.
No better person to ask these questions to.
Great video looking forward to your next video .
All the best.
The Schwinn Paramount was made by Schwinn. In the late 80s they started to market some bikes under the Paramount name called PDG. Paramount Design group. the hierchy? Meaning best down to the least? Depends on the year. You can google old catalogs and that will spell it out. They added and subtracted so many bikes that it would be hard to tell ya..
Wow John thank you very much for your time in explaining.
I’ve never seen any of these makes and models in Canada.
Thanks again.
John, since you talked about the popular channel's characteristics, I believe it's time to invest in a good-quality microphone for your videos. Popular CZcams channels also draw non-native English-speaking people. Your current recording quality won't cause any trouble for people from the English world. But for non-natives, it's not good enough. Popular CZcamsrs always invest a lot in their recording environment to get the sound controllable. A garage without acoustics enhancement is a terrible, if not the worst, place to record sound.
I totally agree. The channel is starting to take off and I have to invest in some decent equipment!
I have a 1985 Panasonic Sport-Lx with a 27 inch frame in excellent original condition. Can somebody please recommend a good place to list it for sale??? I am the original owner and I just don't ride it very much anymore.
what term did you use when you described the Raleigh yellow embossing on the seat stays as you panned around the frame?
Pantograph..When they engrave their name into the metal.
@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage Thanks. I think that's also a hinged mechanism they use in engraving. Interesting detail.
Nice refurb. What year was the Superb first introduced? Cyclone was the cat's meow when I built my bike. Superb came along a little later and as far as function, I don't see how anyone could knock either Cyclone or Superb, putting all snobbishness aside. BTW, in the early '60s I too lived in Arlington Heights as a child until my dad took a transfer. Fond memories of what was a new suburban neighborhood.
That's a great question! When did Superbe first come out???? I did a lot of repairs and bike builds backin the 80s.. I don't think it came out earlier than 80? Im not sure. I may have to take to google to find out. You wouldn't recognize downtown Arlington Hts. Check out google maps. Alot of high rise condos downtown. My friend John purchased Winklemens Schwinn that was in town there.. That was 40 years ago..
I’ve never seen the brake cables done like that on a Raleigh before , are the actual brake units themselves different from standard ones , I have an old Raleigh Royal which I ride each day but never seen that done with the brake cables before. Great looking bike that one you just did , the jealous scale has blown up.
Hey, Those were pretty standard back in the early to mid 80s. You need the special "Aero" levers to run the cables like that. Just go to Ebay and punch in "Aero DiaCompe Levers"
@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage thanks , funny that’s my time when I was riding but never seen them before now , I was young and probably enjoying myself too much to notice was was going on around me , thanks again , take care nice soul.
What are you doing wrong? Nothing IMHO. I'll say Suntour was the most underrated stuff if not truly the best. An example of how marketing beats engineering quality? Otherwise how does one explain the success of SRAM? Bar tape? What other color would you put on? Nice job, as usual!
Thanks Larry!
What is the maker or model of that saddle ? My Schwin saddle is all eaten up and I would like to replace it with either new or used saddle like the one on the 1983 Raleigh grand sport it is similar to the one on my Schwinn but in better shape or is the some one I may mail the eaten up saddle for repair and recovering !
That is an Avocet Saddle. I think its the "O2" MOdel.. not sure. My friend Cyril thinks its pretty rare.
Thank You👍
hey i got a question. I got my hands on a Bianchi Rekord 910 with a Shimano600 group. An the shifters do have a damaged part. What is the best option now. Getting a new Shifter from shimano600 for 40-60€ or a different one. What is the best budget option for a bike like this.
Greetings from Germany
Hi. I dont know what generation of 600 you have. Is it indexed? If not any shifter will work that is friction.
@@JohnsVintageRoadBikeGarage it is indexed. i am pretty sure it is a shimano 600 sl-6208 6 speed shifter. I now already bought a sl-6400 and hope its gonna work. Its my first bike restoration. Fingers crossed :D
Dura ace 7400 is just as good
Well come on now! Thats an entirely different Era and level. 7400 almost killed Campagnolo. It performed so well!
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Is that a Raleigh USA model from when Huffy owned the rights here? Last year I found and restored the same model Raleigh from that vintage that I bought as a sixteen year old. Raleigh Olympian. Lower spec than this one.
Yes. My intention was to take this video further into the rhelm of why all these Asian bikes existed and how companies were not making their own bicycles anymore. When I was done I felt it was too negative so I edited it all out. Coming soon I'll do a video about why imports became a huge part of the bike industry. Richard Schwinn said he would help me with that. Thanks for watching
put a bike in the back of the beetle & take us all for a spin in it
Don't think ya'll would all fit.
Better late than never. Tree rats ate my internet/cable, going to my house. 3-1/2 days of internet withdrawal DT's......I still have some Suntour stuff. Cyclone crank, rear derailleur, and Sprint calipers.....Are you still able to get Benotto bike ribbon? The only complaint I had with it, was that it would fade in the sun.
The only thing that I would change about your build, would be to screw on a 7 speed freewheel, instead of a 6, along with a 7 speed Sedisport silver chain.
I'm with you there. I'll be looking for an ultra seven at the bike swap this weekend. I have the correct chain on it already. I got my Benotto tape from Boulder bicycle. Check them out.
If I remember correctly this is from the Huffy owned era. Huffy actually had ownership of quite a few high end bike companies and they did it without completely ruining them. Go figure. I had a Rampar from 1983 that had Superbe parts and a 24 karat gold plated frame. The parts were great, but the gold plating would wear off if you looked at it crosseyed.
That was the Rampar or Raleigh Superbe model. That wasn't real gold plating. Im sure you're aware. Im looking for one in Minty condition!