Raleigh Bomber (family heirloom)

[Spoke n Bean]

Hey guys,

I was visiting my grandparents over the weekend and after chatting to my gran about my Mongoose MTB I was building, she decided it's time to hand her childhood bicycle down to me to give some much needed love to.

It's a Raleigh bomber (not sure what year model it is yet), mostly surface rust and alot of dirt but the bike is solid!

Back then there were no "Girl bikes" and my gran is a short lady, they decided to manually convert the bike to a ladies bike by cutting, inverting and re-welding the top tube back on. The original mount is still there with the marks the grinder left and the bar has it's (now upside down) "bomber" logo on it. The welds were left untreated and has some significant surface rust.

Bike is mostly chrome, I suspect the handle bars aren't original as the interweb pics don't show a center stiffening bar like the bmx's have and mine does have.

So I've opened up the crank, the front and rear hub, scrubber the bearings, re-greased and refitted the lot, she actually freewheels now and rides quite nice.

 

So I'm wondering, full restore (including fitting the top tube back to it's original position) or partial restore which entails a wire brush, rust killer and maybe a clear coat to keep that patina old school look, this way the bike keeps it's story. The components I will strip down, refinish and replace where necessary but I'll keep the old look?

So I need help (as usual):

1. Where do I get old school parts (brakes, handle bar, seats, rims, hubs etc)

2. What clear-coat can I get (rather cheaply) that will stick to the metal as is?

3. Where can I find old school (preferably slick white-walled tyres)?

4. Where can I get new (but old looking) decals?

 

I'll pop some pics up for you guys.

[Ed-Zulu]

Wheelie machine of note, I have nothing else to add

[shaper]

Nice build project... get it back to it's former glory so that you Gran can see

[Dexter-morgan]

Nice build, I am planning to ride the 947 next year on this, this is a newer model.

 

Most bicycle shops in the city centers will sell these "old" parts, they cater for commuters and low cost bikes.

[Spoke n Bean]

Brilliant idea, I think I'd like to try the 947 on mine too if I can get the right tires.

As for parts, I'll pop in to some shops over the next few weeks and start collecting them.

I've been thinking about the level of restore and come up with a great (to me) idea.

I'll do a full rust removal to get the frame right (tips, tricks and products here please?) and then re-seal the frame to prevent future rust, but I'm keeping that low bar, it just adds to the awesome history of the bike, since it's not really worth much as a full restore, but more a sentimental project.

 

I was furthermore shocked to see the quality of the parts on the bike (all Shimano by the way),

the way they made things and the attention to detail back then was outstanding, especially the rear derailleur! It looks amazing up close, I'll post more pics once I've removed it to clean deeper and replace the cables.

 

At the moment, the bike is functional again, brakes work amazingly well thanks to the rims being rusted, but the rest is really smoothe! I actually can't wait to get really stuck in!

[DJR]

.................., but I'm keeping that low bar, it just adds to the awesome history of the bike, since it's not really worth much as a full restore, but more a sentimental project........................

 

 

I agree with you on this one. Keep the low bar and every time you ride a Moonlight Mass on it, or do a trip to the coffee shop, it will be in honour of your granny.

 

If you are interested, I did a total restore on an old 1920/30 Hercules that belonged to the great grandfather of one of my boys. It was just too far gone to keep the original chrome and paint, or I would have. It was posted in the Retro Bike thread. Here's the link.

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/46935-retro-bicycle-thread/page-109?hl=hercules&do=findComment&comment=1938565

[Spoke n Bean]

I agree with you on this one. Keep the low bar and every time you ride a Moonlight Mass on it, or do a trip to the coffee shop, it will be in honour of your granny.

 

If you are interested, I did a total restore on an old 1920/30 Hercules that belonged to the great grandfather of one of my boys. It was just too far gone to keep the original chrome and paint, or I would have. It was posted in the Retro Bike thread. Here's the link.

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/46935-retro-bicycle-thread/page-109?hl=hercules&do=findComment&comment=1938565

Wow DJR! I really enjoyed looking at that build! I have some new energy to fully strip the old girl down and get a REAL restoration done.

[Spoke n Bean]

SOme more pics of the build. I decided to go for the "as close to original as possible look", I couldn't afford to re-chrome the bike so I sat for a few days with rust stripper, a wire brush and 120grit sandpaper.

You'll see that I got most of the rust off, in the hard to reach areas I left it to let it have a little patina, I love the look!!!

I was busy rebuilding the wheels at the shop and by the time I had all the parts the uncle told me I'd save a few rand by just buying complete wheels, which I did. The hoops were shot (holes in the braking surface) and spokes were rusted right off in some places, the only usable part was the hub, so I bought the whole wheel, I'll keep the old hubs as a spare. Re-used the rear freewheel as it was beautiful under all that grease!

The welds look so so so flippin cool, I was going to do a 2 tone paint where I paint all the welds black but once the deoxidine got in there and revealed the copper colour of the welds, I fell in love and kept it looking raw.

I clear-coated every single part I worked on, so now I'm hoping to keep her looking this good for many years.

I'm not done yet, the headset bearings were rusted stuck to their races (what's with me and headsets???) so i cleaned them out with sandpaper and a wire brush, I'll buy the bearings today (might actually pick up the handlebar I saw there earlier this week, let's see what my money looks like..) and reassemble tonight.

Hopefully by Sunday I'll be done, but I'm in no rush, this is by far the most fun I've had in ages!

 

[Spoke n Bean]

Some more pics

[Spoke n Bean]

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[Spoke n Bean]

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[Spoke n Bean]

Prepping for clear coat

[Spoke n Bean]

So much clear coat, not bad for a few hours work...

[DJR]

I like it, keep the pictures coming!

[Spoke n Bean]

Right, so I'm just about done. A few more bits I'm waiting for, like the sweep back handle bar (chrome if possible), seat and some really sweet brake levers. Look old but brake like new

I hope these pictures do justice.

I'm struggling to get the derailleurs set, especially the front.

Might still Spray some parts, I really want a white?silver + brown theme, but we'll see when I get more money..

This was a basic initial restore, only parts that I actually purchased were new cable inners, wheels and bearings, otherwise every bolt, nut and screw were scrubbed with a wire brush and deoxidiser to remove rust.

[Spoke n Bean]

Even got a thumbs up from the previous owner. My gran absolutely flipped when she saw it!

Not bad for 7 days.