old mtb

zanado

hi a quick hello as only just joined the group
been riding for years but not been using my bike for a long time ,anyway just sold my motorbike and thought id dig out my old mtb ,was thinking of upgrading but find this bike a nice bike to ride .
a bit about the bike its a very old school raliegh must be about 20 years old forgot the name as pulled off all the stickers years ago,it has a reynolds k2 cromoly frame,shimano altus a10 gearing and brakes,zoom head set,avenir brahma bars,alesa 610 wheels,shimanodeore hubs richey megabite tyres shimano sgx crank/sprocket .
is this stuff that can still cut the mustard or just old outdated crap was thinking of putting some suspension forks on it but would be on a budget as i dont want to spend a lot on it if its not worth it and i need to upgrade to a new bike ,your thoughts would be welcome thank

supersonic

Any pictures of the bike?

gt-arrowhead

I had (still have) a really nice retro raleigh which is about the same age. It too has reynolds cromoly tubing and it was a really really nice bike. A little on the heavy side though.

Judging by the specs youve listed it sounds really decent! Mine sounds similar to yours but with slightly lower spec parts in some areas and slightly higher in other areas. As Supersonic said a picture would be useful

Ive got a feeling yours might potentially be a Raleigh Mirage, which is what i have. Maybe an Apex?

Put up a picture

cooldad

Depends what you want to ride. My old ('87) Spesh handles pootles in the woods fine, but trails have gotten tougher and a modern bike with suspension that actually works makes it easier.

zanado

thanks for you replies i.ll try and get some pids up it is a lightish metalic blue and had orange decals on it ,
from what you say it still sounds like its not too badly speced i know when i got it is was a decent bike but have to admit havent got a clue these days .
i would like to put some new forks on it im not botherd about going mental just general offroading is there any worth getting around the £100 mark or are the not worth bothering with at that price

gt-arrowhead

You should be able to get a nice fork that price. Best bet would be having a look at a second hand fork. I doubt you will need something properly expensive if you will be doing just general offroading.

zanado

what is a brand you would recomend as my wife has a shitty apollo bike with zoom fork and they are terible they seem to flex alot under braking ,seen some brand like rst,rockshox, etc for around £100 but the last thing i want is for them to feel like hers. im not too bothered about how they will perform in jumps etc just want a bit softer ride while still feeling tight if you get ehat i mean

gt-arrowhead

To be honest, i wouldnt want to recommend you anything personally. Ive been riding rigid all my life and ive just switched to a zoom fork myself coincidentally! Had it on there for about 3-4 days so honestly i wouldnt try and recommend anything.

If you make a new thread in the tech section you will get really good recommendations. Or you can wait for cooldad and supersonic to recommend you something in this thread, they always come to the rescue

zanado

cheers thanks

cooldad

Won't be very useful I'm afraid but I would not put a decent fork on an Apollo. The fork would cost more than the whole bike is worth. Unless you look for a decent old RS Judy or something. Probably around £75. But first what size headset does it have?

zanado

i think you miss under stood i have a raleigh my wife has an apollo with zoom folks that came with it but they are rubbish what i was saying is if i bought some suspension forks for around £100 is this the quality you would expect ,they seam to flex a lot especialy under braking

Chunkers1980

No sure what you are actually asking here? Cam you explain further?

cooldad

I think he was using the example of the rubbish Zoom forks on his wife's Apollo as an example of what he doesn't want.
So to rephrase my earlier post:

cooldad wrote:

Won't be very useful I'm afraid but I would not put a decent fork on an old Raleigh. The fork would cost more than the whole bike is worth. Unless you look for a decent old RS Judy or something. Probably around £75. But first what size headset does it have?

zanado

sorry i have a 1.1/8 headset quil fitting

gt-arrowhead

If you do stick with the threaded fork, you should get a quill to aheadset adapter. Really nice piece of kit. You can get in halfords. You can use a stem like you would on a threadless system. Looks a lot better and is supposed to be stronger

zanado

thanks for that i always wondered if some of these modern forks will fit with a quill ,i.ll look into

gt-arrowhead

No worries.

This is what i used Was perfect.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_230508

It also fits 1" steerers too, just has a shim that allows you to use it on 1 1/8 steerers.

zanado

should look quiet trick ,only problem is now with all these thing on my shopping list may just be better to just get a new bike, lol

gt-arrowhead

Ahh, i see. haha.

Well, do you have a picture of your bike yet (im actually really curious to see it, i LOVE classic raleighs!)

Whats on your shopping list mate?

zanado

i,ll take some tomorrow if i can take figure out how to put pics up on here.
took the bike for a quick blast yesterday must be the first time ive riden on it for about 10 years still feels not too bad although a little hard (it dont soak the bumps up too well)but its all i know this was my first proper mtb this is why ive been thinking of a replacement because the rear wheel needs a bit of work has some buckles the crank has a bit of play and also would like to make a phew upgrades and i was thinking it may be better invested in a more modern bike ,but ive had a lot of fun on this bike in my younger days i gave it a hard time on some rough trails and jumps but its stood up well and always looked after it ,i,ll try and get some pics for ya

gt-arrowhead

zanado wrote:

i,ll take some tomorrow if i can take figure out how to put pics up on here.
took the bike for a quick blast yesterday must be the first time ive riden on it for about 10 years still feels not too bad although a little hard (it dont soak the bumps up too well)but its all i know this was my first proper mtb this is why ive been thinking of a replacement because the rear wheel needs a bit of work has some buckles the crank has a bit of play and also would like to make a phew upgrades and i was thinking it may be better invested in a more modern bike ,but ive had a lot of fun on this bike in my younger days i gave it a hard time on some rough trails and jumps but its stood up well and always looked after it ,i,ll try and get some pics for ya

Thanks mate. Looking forward to seeing it.

If i were you, id just give it a good old service without buying anything that you dont need and see how that goes. Then if there are parts that you need to get replaced, you can weigh up your choices according to how much you are looking to spend on upgrading/repairing your old Raleigh. If its your only bike then id recommend you keep it, even if you do get a new bike. But at the end of the day its all down to you

Or if you commute on a bike, you can buy something more suited to rough trails etc and bang a pair of slicks on the old Raleigh and turn it into a commuter. Mine was a great commuter before i decommissioned it. I have great plans for it though. It shall return one day!

If you dont know how to fix everything on a bike, then it would be good to repair it for that reason too. Thats how i learnt quite alot of what i know now. Just by repairing bikes at my own accord, then turning to Papa when i get properly stuck, then he teaches me.

zanado

hi sorry no pics im afraid wont seem to upload them,anyway i dont use the bike for commuting its just for pleasure so its either a case of doing what it needs, iam a motor mechanic by trade so not afraid to get stuck in ,im not really phased by mtbs to be honest the only thing i struggle with is all the different sizings for thing like "will these forks fit my head set" .
so i made a start on trying to make the rear wheel true only to shear off a spoke at the first turn so gonna get a new wheel ,would like some new forks too but its a fine line before spending more than the bike is worth or not bother and get a new one ,,,ps any idea how to upload pics, think doing it right but just keeps saying file entity too large???

gt-arrowhead

Damn, that sucks. Dont get a new rear wheel. Go down to halfords with your old spoke and pick a new spoke up for 50p!

The fork is purely down to you.

Make an account on a photo sharing website. Its a real good help. I use photobucket and i really like it so far, its simple to use. And i have the photobucket android app which is also really to use, you can upload photos straight to your photobucket from your phone, so you dont have to transfer them from your phone onto your computer. I recommend it.

You can ask questions about any of your problems, i didnt know jack shit about my bike at first, but after some looking at it myself and asking, people helped me out and now i know pretty much everything.