Raleigh Winner

Al1000

This had been left out in the street for the refuse collectors, so I rescued it. The original wheels were badly rusted, as were the pedals. The tyres were like cardboard, brakes and gears were seized up; it obviously hadn't been ridden for a long time. The rear gear assembly (the part that changes gear, not the actual cogs) had become detached from the frame, and was tangled up in the upper chain run. The chain was also badly rusted, but cleaned up ok. Apart from that the rest of the bike looked solid. Even the cables were all in good condition.

New parts fitted:
Wheels (steel) with rear cogs
Tyres and inner tubes
Handlebar tape

Second hand parts fitted:
Pedals
Shimano gears at rear (since they only cost £1, and I couldn't get the original gears working properly)

All in I've spent just under £85 on it. I could probably have bought a similar bike for less, but it wouldn't have shiny new wheels on it.

So far I'm delighted with it. I've been using it for less than two weeks and I've ridden it for perhaps 130 - 150 miles so far, including two 40 mile rides. It seems amazingly light for an old steel framed bike, and it's much faster up hills than my mountain bike as it's around half the weight. I had another "10 speed racer" like this (Carlton Cyclone) when I was a teenager, but this is the first road bike I've ridden in decades.

I will probably end up buying a modern road bike at some point, but plan to stick with this for the summer.

SimonGoesSideways

Nice job ! I have never seen bikes left out for refuse collectors to be worth anything, so it's good this worked out for you.

cookeeemonster

Looks great - good stuff!!

velogee

Great find and way to good to be thrown out. I saved an old Rockhopper in similar circumstances, I found restoring it a very pleasurable experience.