Trek Commuter Update

I received the Specialized Armadillo tires and mounted them on the Trek 970 commuter bike. My tastes have evolved to the right combination conglomeration of parts and ingenuity for me, and the Trek will be very similar to my Raleigh commuter bike.

Because the Trek has no fender eyelets on the front forks, fenders may be a challenge. Also, I had to go with 26X1.95 tires, the more narrow Nimbus Armadillos were no longer available. Beach cruiser style fenders would fit. A commuter bike needs fenders, so I guess I'll fit the cut down fenders that I had on the Raleigh at first.....

This afternoon I am off to photograph a local guitarist for an album release.

Pawn Shop Circuit: Trek 970

I swung into Kenny's pawn shop while Christmas shopping today, and hanging on the rack outside was a purple bike. Hmmmmm I looked it over..... A Trek mountain bike. Cro-moly lugged frame. Solid Shimano components. No suspension to wear out, and a rack on the back. $49. A perfect base bike for a back-up commuter bike.

"Hey Kenny," I asked as I entered the shop, "How much do you want for the purple bike out there"

"Well, all the bikes are 20% off today," Kenny said. "Let me figure it up."

"Mind if I take it down from the rack and ride it a bit?" I asked.

"Go ahead," said Kenny.

Forty dollars, another bike. My wife is going to kill me.

My Commuter Bike

My dedicated commuter bike started out as a Raleigh M-30 mountain bike that I purchased for thirty bucks at a pawn shop. The bike had several things going for it. It was a rigid steel frame bike with a rigid steel fork. The 26 inch aluminum wheels were made by Araya. It also sported center pull cantilever brakes and an Shimano indexed shifting system for 15 gears. While a decent enough old bike, it was hardly ready for dedicated commuting.

When I decided to toss my hat helmet into the ring of bike commuting, I began to read up on the activity. I quickly subscribed to the school of thought that I would rather have my bike still chained in place after work than have it ridden away by a thief. I took a two prong approach to the problem. First, I ordered a heavy Kryptonite chain to slow down the thief, or at least draw enough undesired attention to him that he would be reluctant to steal the bike. Then I decided to make my ride appear as undesirable as possible through uglification. The overall effect was a bike that just wasn't worth the effort to steal.

It is the details that make a dedicated commuter though, and over time, my black Raleigh mountain bike was transformed. One of the first things I installed was a set of handlebars off a little girl's BMX bike. The narrow width makes negotiating between parked cars easy, while the high rise allows me to assume an upright posture to see over them. Two Planet Bike headlights, a Blazer and a Beamer light my way. I can set them on a combination of steady light, or steady and flashing, or just use one. I like the flexibility of two headlights. Both disengage easily to take with me when I leave the bike.

I needed a bell on the handlebars, and I wanted it by my thumb, so I moved the forward derailleur lever to the handlebar stem. I rarely use it anyway in the city streets, but it is there if I need it.

I agonized over tires for a while. I knew I needed to ditch the knobbies for smooth rubber, but I wanted durable tires that could avoid flats. I found exactly what I wanted with the Specialized Nimbus Armadillo tires. I finally bit the bullet and paid the $45 each price for the Kevlar belted tires. I have not regretted it. The bike rolls noticeably easier, and flats are a thing of the past. Of course, a $45 tire is ripe game for a thief, so I remove the front rim with the quick release hub, and run the chain through it as well when locking the bike.

Any commuter bike should have full fenders. Even if a rider is not getting drenched in a downpour, wet streets can still make a dirty stripe up his back without fenders. One benefit of the more narrow Specialized Nimbus tires is they allowed me to bolt on the fenders I desired. I chose some old British fenders for the commuter bike that came off my Armstrong. The flaky white paint added just the "You're gonna get tetanus if you touch it" look I wanted. I riveted some splash guards on the rear fender and bolted a leather shoe tongue on the front as a mud flap.

A comfortable commuter bike needs a comfortable seat. I was lucky enough to get a free one when a friend decided to replace her Bontrager seat with a wider one. What was uncomfortable for her was ideal for me. To make certain it stayed on the locked up bike, I ran some bicycle chain through both seat rails and around the seat stays. Then I pinned it back together, and zip tied it taut. My Kryptonite New York Noose wraps around the whole shebang for transport.

I quickly learned that carrying a backpack on one's back while bicycling is not the way to go. The weight shifts and the rider swelters underneath the load, with the sweat unable to evaporate or wick away in the wind. I needed a way to carry gear, but I needed it off my back.

At Toys R Us I found an outrageous deal on Bell bike racks, and I bought them out. I bolted one down to the rear of the Raleigh M-30. On one of my commutes, I found a galvanized gym basket being tossed in the trash. I immediately snatched it up to attach to the rear rack. It is secured with heavy duty zip ties, nuts and bolts, a padlock, and finally a trigger lock running through everything. If some antique hound decides to make off with this basket, it will have a hole in the bottom when they are finished removing it.

The rear of the basket is adorned with a large automotive reflector and a pair of Planet Bike Extreme Blinkies. Two heavy duty zip tie loops provide a place for the blinkies to clip onto. Scotch tape secures the lenses on the blinkies after a hard lesson. A can of Fox Labs Mean Green pepper spray stands ready inside the black nylon pouch clipped to the side of the basket.

Not everything done to this bicycle was done in an orderly progression. The bicycle evolved over time, based on my needs and experimentation. Serendipity played a large role in the finished product. Regardless, the thirty dollar Raleigh underdog has become one of my favorite bicycles, and the one I chose each morning for effective pedal power transportation.

Another Commuter Bike

A friend had a set of his and hers Huffy mountain bikes gathering rust and dust in his garage. When he offered them to me, I did not hesitate. I finally brought them home today.

Neither are rideable right now, but with a bit of TLC, I plan to convert the men's bike into an uglified commuter cycle for my son. I've sprayed all the rusted nuts and bolts down with automatic transmission fluid to help loosen them, and I'm making up a parts list. First on the list are two 26 inch road tires. I already have a rear rack from my Toy's R Us clearance buy out. I also have some old Brit bike fenders in the garage, as well as a decent seat.

That will come later though. I'm getting some sleep.

Weekend Envy

This afternoon, I riveted some mild steel splash guards on the rear fender of the commuter bike. They ought to keep my ankles somewhat dry clean if I have to ride in the rain. Even if they don't help, they give the bike a more finished look.

I have more items on my agenda, cleaning tank filters, laundry, cleaning a couple of guns, maybe doing a pawn shop run and going to the range..........

Oh yeah..... Going to the range. Several lucky gun bloggers are shooting at Blackwater with Todd Jarrett this weekend. How about a report or two folks....... Video? A little vicarious viewing for those keeping the gun blog fires burning....... You know you can do it from your laptop in your room........

Armadillo by Morning

I wore gloves for the pre-dawn commute today. I suppose, as one who works with his hands in infectious situations, I should wear gloves at all times while biking. I don't though. What made this morning different was that I was running new tires for the first time. Last night, I installed the 26 X 1.5 Specialized Nimbus Armadillos on the commuter bike.

The Specialized Armadillo line of tires is a kevlar belted tire that is billed as the most flat resistant tire available. They have a reputation for being hard to install on the rim, and for being a hard riding tire. I chose them for the virtual elimination of flats though. I commute through some rough urban areas littered with broken beer and wine bottles, and I do it in the dark pre-dawn hours. I see flattened puddles of glass shards held together by battered labels sparkling menacingly in the sun on my afternoon commute back home, and I wonder how I missed them on the morning commute. With the cheap Cheng Shin knobbies I was running, I would be flatter than Daddy's wallet one day after his daughter's wedding if I were to hit one of those. Intervention was needed.

Last night, putting the Armadillos on my commuter bike's 26 inch Araya aluminum rims, I used my hands only. I had no problems at all. I put them on with a tube, and pumped them up to 60 PSI. No big deal. This morning, I left home a half hour early to give them a preliminary wringing out.

The ride was more harsh. The cheapo knobbies had a mushy quality that cushioned the bumps, cracks, potholes, and all the other uneven surfaces that make up urban commuting. They hummed going across a smooth parking lot at speed. The Armadillos were silent, and rode more roughly. On a smooth surface, I am certain they would be faster. On the city streets, the comparison was similar to a Buick LeSabre and a Jeep. The ride was more solid, as well as more certain, but you felt the effects through the seat and handlebars. Suspension in either of those areas, or both, would minimize the effects. For a rigid frame bike like mine, tighten your nuts and bolts, and consider lock washers and Loctite®.

I may decrease the inflation to 40 PSI and re-evaluate, as that is the pressure I was running in the Cheng Shins. Maybe that extra 20 pounds of pressure in each tire made for an unfair comparison. When cornering, the Specialized Nimbus Armadillos were superb. No drift, and no mushiness. The commuter bike cornered like a quarter horse. I had worn the gloves in case I bit the pavement getting around turns. I didn't need them. One experienced reader had cautioned me about wet mornings, steel grates and manhole covers with the Specialized Armadillos. I will have to put the gloves on at another time to evaluate that. This morning, they were more than adequate in holding the road through turns.

One of the unexpected fringe benefits of these tires was the more narrow width. The skinny profile allowed me to swap out my fenders to some old rusty Raleigh classic middleweight fenders I had stashed in the garage. Saying that photography helps the appearance of these relics is an understatement. They are scratched, dented, rusty, and have a Rustoleum white paint job that is battered in it's own right. The black and white color scheme is as stark as a Weegee photograph.

I wanted these old fenders on the commuter bike, and the Specialized tires allowed me to install them. They give the black and white Raleigh a quality of "don't touch me" that is usually reserved for rusty barbed wire, contaminated sharps containers, and lepers in Calcutta. OSHA may require me to place a biohazard sticker on the bicycle as a result of these fenders. In the genre of bicycle uglification, my commuter package is complete. With the rattling of the fender stays over bumps and such, a bell is redundant in warning pedestrians of my approach. I installed a bell on the handlebar stem anyway.

Do I like the Specialized Nimbus Armadillos? Yes. If they live up to their billing as being virtually flat proof, they are worth the money to me. Like the $70 Kryptonite lock that makes sure my bike is still there when I get off work, this $90 set of kevlar reinforced tires is insurance that will make certain I get to work on time in an unforgiving urban environment.



More to read here.

Tiring Thoughts

Eventually different tires will be mounted on my commuter bike. Presently it wears it's old mountain bike tires, and while serviceable, some street tires would have less rolling resistance and better braking.

Jack "Ghost Rider" Sweeney at Bike Commuters wrote an excellent article regarding commuting on a retired mountain bike. Pun intended.

After a couple of weeks researching the 'net, I decided on the tire I really want. Specialized Nimbus Armadillo tires. At $45 a tire I just tripled what I have invested in the bike itself with the tire swap. The kevlar flat protection might be worth it though.

Another option is the Specialized Hemisphere. Of course, it has "Flak Jacket" protection rather than "Armadillo".



More to read here.

Leather Mud Flap

I put a leather mud flap on the fender of the commuter bike. I used contact cement to attach it. Recognize what it is? Highlight the area below to find out.

The tongue cut out of a leather shoe.

Fenders

I added some fenders to the Raleigh M-30. I refused to purchase any, but at the same time I did not want ghetto fenders made out of campaign signs or water bottles. The fenders I found required a bit of tin snipping and bending, especially the rear fender, but it did not take much. I will line the bottom of the basket with corrugated plastic to prevent any road spray from getting on the contents.

Cheap Commuter Bike

I purchased the Raleigh M-30 on a whim at Neil's pawn shop for thirty bucks. Since that time, I have decided to make it into a dirt cheap commuter bike. It was rideable, but the chain, cogs, nuts and bolts were rusty. I sprayed them down with Liquid Wrench.

The bike was a bit small for me, so one of the first things I did was clamp on some riser handlebars from a little girl's powder puff bike. I thought about painting them black, but I just could not bring myself to purchase unneeded spray paint. Instead, I stuck some wheelchair hand grips on the ends, and called it quits. They give me a more upright riding position, allowing me to see over automobiles easier. The polymer pedals were trashed, so a pair of cheap metal rat trap pedals were installed.

The seat was a piece of hard dried dung. One of my scrub techs was wanting a wider seat for her Trek mountain bike, so I told her about the local bike shop's bargain bin. She got an Electra cruiser style seat for $15, I got her barely used Bontrager seat for free, as thanks for the information. To protect my new seat from bike thieves, I installed a NYC seat retention system made from a bike chain.

I was fortunate to find Bell rear racks on sale at Toys R Us for the unbelievable price of $1.60 each. Yeah baby, that's clearance! It bolted right up, and a wire gym basket zip tied to the top of it will increase my carrying capacity. Fenders and lights are also in the works. I've seen the water bottle fenders, but I'm thinking of something a little more durable. The knobby tires will be replaced with street tires when they wear out.

The Raleigh M-30 rides great. The smallish BMX style handlebars make it very maneuverable, and the gearing works well for getting around town quickly. So far I have $31.60 invested in it.



UPDATE:
I have zip tied the laundry basket to the rear rack. A trigger lock in the center makes certain nobody will clip the zip ties and make off with the basket.....At least not without a hole in the bottom.




UPDATE:
I added some fenders that I had in the back of the garage.

.


UPDATE:
The final permutation, with a Kryptonite chain lock, lights, Armadillo street tires and an uglier set of fenders.

Screamin' Deal

I was wanting a rear rack for a urban warrior bike I am building from the Raleigh M-30 that I picked up at Neil's pawn shop for $30. I was starting to see this as a bike I could ride to work and lock outside in the elements. A bike I wouldn't worry about. I needed a rear rack on it to carry my scrubs and such though.

I stopped by the local bike shop for an inexpensive rear rack. $30. No thanks.
I went on ebay......The cheapest was around $23-25 with shipping.
I figured I could do better at Wal-Mart. They had no racks.
I remembered, however, that Toys R Us had Bell rear racks for $20 last year when I bought one for the Raleigh Passage. I sucked it up and drove to the blue store with Jeffery Giraffe outside. They were having a clearance sale. I went to the bike section, and the Bell racks were being clearanced. The shelf said $4.00. I decided to get three. That's too good a deal. I went to the register, and when they were scanned, they rang up as $2.00.........Then the lady took off an additional 20%! The things were $1.60 each! I paid my money, and I took my three bike racks to the Jeep. Then went inside and purchased the remaining two.

Track Pedals

I got some old track pedals and put them on the Armstrong.

It's done.

Shellac

I purchased some Bullseye/ZInzer amber shellac to finish off the cork grips on the Raleigh Grand Prix this afternoon.

New Chainwheel

I put a Rudge chainwheel on the Armstrong. It's a 48 tooth cog rather than the previous 46 tooth one. That will give me a bit more speed. Plus, it has the cool Rudge hand cut into the center. Apparently, the Rudge hand is derived from the symbol of the Irish Gaels of Ulster.

The ancient Rudge rubber pedals will do for now, but I am keeping an eye open for some vintage track pedals with a 9/16 inch thread.

"The Red Hand of Ulster's a paradox quite,
To Baronets 'tis said to belong;
If they use the left hand, they're sure to be right,
And to use the right hand would be wrong.
For the Province, a different custom applies,
And just the reverse is the rule;
If you use the right hand you'll be right, safe and wise,
If you use the left hand you're a fool."

One More Raleigh

I located another old Raleigh lugged steel frame. This one is from a Raleigh Super Course, and it's remarkably light. The paint is far from perfect, all scratched up, but the tubes are straight, it has beautiful ornate lugs, and it's green.

The only problem is the handlebar stem is stuck. It's a nice GB stem, so I presently have the bike inverted and am filling the inside of the fork tube with automatic transmission fluid to help break it free. I have found that the seeping incredibly oily quality of ATF to be a perfect penetrating oil for freeing up stuck parts. I use it on rusty bolts, seized components, and I have even been known to soak an entire handgun in a vat of the red stuff. Here's hoping that in the next few days i can knock the stem free.

Coaster Brake Comeback

When I returned to bicycling, I was wanting a durable, simple bike similar to the ones I remembered from my youth. I also wanted an adult bike, one that fit well, and rode well. There was a void between the cable wrapped, derailleured monsters and the colorful cruisers at the local bike mart. After a hybrid, which I still use, a fixie and a series of cruisers and clunkers, I installed a coaster brake on an old ten speed frame with 27 inch rims. The result was spectacular. Then I did it again. Same result.

Coaster brakes are generally thought of as being brakes for slow moving beach bikes and kid's bikes. The fact is, they are virtually bullet-proof, and they require no cables, levers and accessory mechanisms to function. They are also quiet when coasting. They require little to no maintenance. They work in rain, sleet or snow. You always have the ability to apply the brake, regardless of hand position. The coaster brake allows the use of the stronger, less stretchy 1/8 inch chain. On flat terrain, where multiple gears are frequently only used to get the bike up to speed, the coaster brake has the advantage of greatly reduced weight over all the extra gears, levers and components of a modern multi-speed velocipede. The simplicity of the bike allows the rider to enjoy the ride rather than fret over whether he is in the best gear.

I was cautioned about several things. First, I was told the narrow tires would have less stopping power with a coaster brake than a caliper. This is ludicrous. A caliper does not result in a larger rubber/asphalt contact patch, unless both a front and rear caliper brake used simultaneously is compared to the coaster brake. I was told the spokes would stretch and eventually result in a sloppy rim, as they are designed for braking by rendering the rim motionless rather than the hub. This has not been my experience. My 27 inch and 700c coaster brake rims have remained true and tight.

It looks like I am not the only person who has found a strange void in the types of bicycles available. If you want to experience the joy of uninhibited bicycling ease, yet are reluctant to take the plunge into wheel lacing and rolling your own, there is now another option.



OSO Bike

Why didn't I think of that? ><((((º>

Finishing Touch

After I applied the Bike Punks sticker to the Armstrong, I still felt something was missing.

I rode a while and pondered. I didn't know what it was.......But it was missing. At a donut shop, I looked through the glass at the bike as I stirred my coffee. Since I first fabricated it, I never really liked the brass reflector support on the scruffy old Armstrong. I had done the same thing on the Raleigh One Speed. It was appropriate there, but on the Armstrong, it was repetitious. Then I looked into my coffee.......And I found my solution.

The silver spoon is a Chantilly design, in keeping with the French Super Champion rear wheel and Norex saddle I suppose. I like the ornate Rococo filigree as a tension of opposites with the weathered velocipede itself.

The Armstrong Single Speed

It started as another found 10 speed frame. The old lugged steel frame was spray painted drippy white and it had some grotesque tape pin striping on top of that. It did, however, have a Raleigh style headset and bottom bracket. It also had a very nice brass head badge, which read Armstrong; Made in England. Horizontal dropouts capped off the chain stays, meaning I could make it into a fixie or a single speed. The frame even had screw on cable guides instead of braze-ons, so I did not have to remove any superfluous bumps.

I took the frame home and began stripping off the white spray paint. Underneath was glossy black paint, and bare metal. As I brushed on paint stripper and scraped away the crinkled white finish, I found that I rather liked the weathered result. Once I had most of the white paint in a gooey clump on the garage floor, I took another look at the result, and elected to stop. It was kind of the anti-road bike, a contemptible mess to the fastidious weight wienie set. I clear coated the frame leaving the random specks of white and bare metal as they were.

I had some extra parts in my garage, so I selected a skewered 700c chrome steel wheel set for the bike, after removing the rear gear cluster. A leather suspension seat from France fit right on the seat post. It had been hanging on a nail in my garage rafters for half a year, waiting for the right application. It was probably taken off an old Peugot bicycle, but who cares? It's a great alternative to the expensive Brooks seat.

After a bit of thinking, I decided to go with drop handlebars this time, and an old pair of Nitto B123 bars provided the right flavor. I also need a cottered crank set, and I wanted a plain Jane chain wheel. Ebay provided both. The big question though was whether to go with a fixie or a coaster brake. I knew I wanted a minimalistic bike, so I finally decided on a coaster brake to prevent having a handbrake lever on the handlebars. I ordered a new Sturmey Archer coaster brake hub and unlaced the rear rim. After a bit of work and using Sheldon Brown's pages as reference, I had the coaster brake hub laced in the rear rim. Some Specialized gum wall tires and vintage rat trap pedals set things off nicely.

To finish the bike off, I wrapped the handlebars with padded black handlebar tape, and I ordered a Bike Punks sticker from Sticker Giant.

When I took the bike for a spin, I found that it rode superbly. It was nimble, quick, and mechanically simple. Just the thing to chain up beside the color coordinated road bikes at the local pub.

Armstrong Updates

Spokes

New Chainwheel

Pedals

Finishing Touch

And finally, the finished velocipede. Click the pic to enlarge.

Armstrong Frame

I found another lugged steel British ten speed frame today. This one has an Armstrong head badge in brass, and a bottom bracket set up for a cottered crank. The seat tube is 58 cm center to top. I'm thinking about stripping off the bad white spray paint and perhaps just clear coating the result. Then, some vintage drop handlebars, a leather seat and a set of 700cc chrome rims with a single speed coaster brake to finish things off. It will be kind of the rat bike of road bikes. This should be fun.

The Raleigh Grand Prix Single Speed

Americans can sometimes be fickle creatures, and those who manufacture products for sale in the States will sometimes simply produce what is selling. It's the nature of business. Raleigh, of Nottingham England, is a long time bicycle producer with a history of brisk sales in the U.S. Still, they followed the trends for sales to the American consumer, delivering the Raleigh "Chopper" to compete with the Schwinn Stingray, and a plethora of multi-speed bicycles from the three speed "Sport" to 12 speed racing machines during the great bike boom era. To my knowledge, other than cruisers, they never aggressively marketed a single speed classic bicycle to the adult market in the United States. The closest they came was the three speed Raleigh Sport. Thus, if I wanted such a thing as a single speed Raleigh, it was up to me to build it.

I started with a 63cm Raleigh Grand Prix 12 speed racing bike frame in bronze green. The frame was a chromoly steel lugged frame, the kind many cyclists bemoan the loss of, with the advent of lightweight aluminum frames. It had a tall head tube, and a threaded bottom bracket for the venerable Raleigh cottered crank. It came with a steel front fork, with chromed tips. The gold and black decals were present and accounted for, but had become battered a bit over time. The paint was glossy verdant metalflake with the usual assortment of mystery scratches etching it's surface. I removed the braze ons. Perfect.

I wanted to spin the original tall skinny 27 inch by one and a quarter chrome steel rims, and I was lucky enough to find an original high flange Raleigh front wheel on ebay, along with the quick release skewer. I quickly sniped it. I also sniped a cottered crank from a Raleigh Superbe. The Superbe is the classic English three speed roadster made by Raleigh, a bicycle that is rare on this side of the pond, but as ubiquitous as fog in old London. The Raleigh cottered crank is a heavily chromed steel 46 tooth 1/8 inch unit with three Raleigh herons cut into it. The crank arms slide onto square spindles and are wedged into place with steel "cotters." It fit right onto the Grand Prix bottom bracket.

The rear hub presented a challenge. I considered a fixed gear for a while. The horizontal rear forks of the Grand Prix frame would lend itself to such a conversion, but I wanted a bike that was as pleasing to ride as it was simple. A fixie would demand cables and brake levers for me. I opted to go with a coaster brake for simplicity's sake. I was surprised to find one new from Sturmey-Archer, a British manufacturer of parts for Raleigh. The next problem was finding a suitable rim that would match the chrome front rim. After asking around, I decided to purchase a low flange front rim and lace it up myself. Once laced and trued, the coaster brake rear wheel slid right into the rear forks of the Grand Prix, and I capped off the axle ends with chrome acorn nuts. Leverage is kept under control by a heavy brass strap around the left chainstay. For rubber, I opted for prototypal gumwall racing slicks. I used a nickel plated chain from KMC to connect the drivetrain.

It would have been commonplace to install drop handlebars, or a "chop and flop" set of messenger bars. I wanted an upright riding position. I looked towards the Raleigh Superbe again, and acquired a set of vintage "North Road" handlebars which I capped off with real cork grips, and installed on a tall British stem. An Electra bell lets pedestrians know I'm approaching.

The seat is one of my favorites, a lightly sprung Brooks Champion Flyer in honey brown. These classic leather seats are still made by the original manufacturer, Brooks of Birmingham, England. Many people shun the leather suspension saddle, saying they must be broken in like a new pair of shoes. I have not had that problem. Whether they need no breaking in, or whether they adjust to the rider's bone structure over time, there is nothing quite like a sprung and suspended leather saddle for comfort. I used a modern micro-adjustable aluminum seatpost to mount the saddle to the frame.

Many people would wonder why so much effort was invested in revitalizing an old bike such as this. The truth is, it's hard to explain. An understanding can best be found through riding the bike. The ride quality of the vintage steel Raleigh frames is like no other. It is stiff and unyielding to the rider's effort at pedalling. The lugged and brazed joinery that connects the sections of tubing is both beautiful and superbly engineered. The durability, height and ease of speed provided by the tall steel wheels and narrow rubber is something few bikes can match. Minimal exertion is required to propel the machine at hair blowing speeds. The look of the bike is pure yesteryear, a relaxed but efficient velocipede. The traditional road bike frame geometry and wheelset combined with the upright riding posture and a clear expanse of uncluttered handlebars typical of a cruiser makes for a unique old school ride. Add the durability of a chunk of granite, and there is nothing else quite like it. This is most certainly a bicycle that Raleigh should have built!

Ironic Twist