# 1973 Raleigh Carlton Super Course



## Terry66

I picked this up back in the fall. Bike was pretty much all original other than missing the front derailleur. I had been looking for a nice lugged from to build a single speed. I really liked the lugging on this one and figured the seat was worth more than I paid for the bike. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I kept all the original parts and might slap on a vintage Campy group down the road, but for now, it is a blast to ride!


----------



## SirMike1983

The lugs on that frame are great. Nice frameset overall.


----------



## Dale Alan

Love that frame,cool color to boot . What gearing are you running ? I have a build like that in mind and have 42 and a 17 tooth freewheel,not sure how that will work with 700c.


----------



## Underground Bicycle Shop

That is beautiful and you made me want a bike that color!


----------



## sailorbenjamin

I've got a couple of these.  I rebuild them every now and then just to try something different and they're always a blast.  I just put a coaster brake on my green one (a 1970 with the more common lugs, not the Capellas that you've got.  I forget what they're called).  I haven't finished it off yet.  Can't wait to try it out.


----------



## bulldog1935

Dale Alan said:


> Love that frame,cool color to boot . What gearing are you running ? I have a build like that in mind and have 42 and a 17 tooth freewheel,not sure how that will work with 700c.



here's Sheldon's gear calculator
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/ 
most people want a single speed about 65" to no more than 72"
your combo comes out 67", which is just right


----------



## Dale Alan

bulldog1935 said:


> here's Sheldon's gear calculator
> http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/
> most people want a single speed about 65" to no more than 72"
> your combo comes out 67", which is just right




Thanks for the info,that is great to know.I was hoping to be able to use what I have . Sheldon was such a wealth of information, Saved us all a bunch of guess work.


----------



## bulldog1935

I've spent a lot of time on Sheldon's calculator.  
I live in the TX hill country and the end of most rides is a 400' climb up steep slopes to get home.  
I began with my old Raleigh, wide 5-speed rear, then wide ultra-6 and went to half-steps on the chainrings (46/41) to get rid of cliffs in the gear steps.  
This is the second rebuild of my then 35-y-o bike.  The 1st rebuild was in '78 around a 27" Zeus/Rigida wheelset, which is still rolling in the photo just below - actually, the rebuild began because the factory splined crank stripped on Austin hills, and the guys at the UT Co-op bike shop had the Mighty Comp (and Zeus hubs) for such-a-deal.  



Eventually went to a a cyclotouriste triple crank with half-steps and a little bail-out ring, combined with a 700c wheelset that gave me a wide-7 in the rear.  
This was also a cold-set of the rear triangles to 126mm rear axle width.  
here's the wide-7 triple for the 3rd rebuild



and the gear chart - didn't have much control on freewheels (the 12-32 7 is a Suntour Winner), so was using the calculator to pick rings on the triple crank
____26__42__46
32-	21.9		35.4		38.8
25-	28.1		45.4		49.7
21-	33.4		54.0		59.1
18-	39.0		63.0		69.0
16-	43.9		70.9		77.6
14-	50.1		81.0		88.7
12-	58.5		94.5		103.5
this worked really well for me, though the 104 inches was really more than I needed, and didn't mind the 70" overlap, because 70 is such a useful cruising gear and having it accessible from either chainring was great (it's also a good common point to make a full-step rear shift).  I shift the front on the triple more often than the rear, taking those little steps on rolling hills, and spend a lot of time on either the 18 or 16 in the rear.  But it's nice to have those under 30" gears for the steep climbs at the end of a 20 or 30 mile ride.  

On the newest bike I built, I tried to duplicate the range and steps of the triple as much as possible in 9-speed compact double - this was a custom cassette, so I could pick everything 



and here's that gear chart 
____25___42
29-	23.6		39.6
25-	27.3		45.9
21-	32.5		54.6
18-	37.9		63.7
16-	42.7		71.7
15-	45.5		76.5
14-	48.8		82.0
13-	52.5		88.3
12-	56.9		95.6
of course on this bike, I'm almost always on the big ring, and the 9-sp rear is index shift.  You can see on the little ring, I have 5 narrow gears taller than the lowest gear on the big ring.  I use the little ring for approach and climb, but they're also good gears for off-pavement, and keeps both the chain and RD lifted high out the rocks


----------



## bulldog1935

maybe it's because I live in the hills and ride long distances, but when nice road bikes are involved, I find the whole fixie thing a bit creepy - I was really happy when its demise was reported two years ago  
http://www.bikeradar.com/us/commuting/gear/article/is-the-london-fixie-dead-36928/


----------



## SirMike1983

bulldog1935 said:


> maybe it's because I live in the hills and ride long distances, but when nice road bikes are involved, I find the whole fixie thing a bit creepy - I was really happy when its demise was reported two years ago
> http://www.bikeradar.com/us/commuting/gear/article/is-the-london-fixie-dead-36928/
> View attachment 254668




The issue with the fixed gear was that in recent years it eventually became the vogue way for bike "snobs" to set themselves "above" other people who rode. Fixed gears go back to the earliest days of the safety bike, but with the rise of free hubs and coaster brakes, they became a specialty item for a handful of uses and riders. I think the most recent bump fixed gears got came largely from the "cork sniffers" of the bicycle hobby. 

Sure some people just liked them better and were legitimate riders (which is great), but there were many people who just wanted to say they rode a fixed gear. Not everyone was just being snobbish, but there were quite a few around, especially in the major cities.


----------



## bulldog1935

Mike, most of my experience with them is walking into a bike shop where the only things steel were a male and female version of a recent townie cruiser, and a really nice lugged steel road frame converted to fixie with custom paint that has never been ridden by anyone.  
I'm glad to see both trends giving way to appreciation of the original fine steel road bikes as well as a new golden age of modern steel bikes that we seem to be entering.

I do appreciate that people like the light weight and responsiveness of a fixie.  
In most cases, I prefer something at least similar to the original.  
My buddy bought a Schwinn World Sport frame for peanuts, and built into this cool town bike with a SRAM 2-speed auto rear hub - his two gears are 55" and 72" - it's a neat bike


----------



## Terry66

Yep...gears are cool too. 

Personally I have knee issues, so if you look closely, the Raleigh has a coaster brake hub and not a fixie. It is an awesome bike to ride around downtown and on the bike paths. 

I do prefer the ride of steel frames over my carbon and aluminum frames. I built up my 3x10 touring bike from a modern steel Salsa frame. Most of my touring is limited to only 3-4 day self support trip, but even loaded down with 30-40lbs of camping gear it rides like a dream.

I ride carbon, mountain, vintage, touring, fixie, etc. They all have their place and are cool in their own way. I just love to ride.

Trust me, bike snobs and posers exist in all forms of biking which is unfortunate really.


----------



## bulldog1935

I get a few smirks from roadies on my upright - it's a totally thought-out distance, speed, hill-climber, and especially, all-road.  
(I was surprised last week when I got a smirk from a guy on a rando)
I give them a pretty good run for their money - basically, I've sacrificed a little speed for a lot of comfort.  
I built this bike for 10-20 mi, but find myself riding 50 all the time, and have been up to 88.  



When they're going my way, they have to get on their stuff to pass me, because I'm out for calories.  And of course, if they're in any kind of shape, they should be able to pass me.  
I rode yesterday (went in early to work, bike on truck, got a lot done, and headed to the trailhead) - we've had weeks of nasty weather and now we're in the why we live in S. Texas weather - brisk mornings, sunny and 60 degree afternoons.  
A guy on a recent Specialized road bike finally had to stand to pass me after chasing me for a few miles.  We had a great conversation at the next water stop. He wanted to hear why my upright bike was not a hybrid or cruiser.  
He was especially interested in my custom gearing, because we both live in the hill country, and he was describing that his gearing was not quite short enough for some of hills he has to climb.  
Turns out his dad used to race Raleighs, so we got to talk about "brand love" as well.  Specialized is one of those marques that draws it.  

The snob thing is inherent in any individual sport that's gear-intensive.  Fishing is a distant second to cycling in the sports-entertainment market.  I fish cane and venerable fiberglass fly rods by choice - much like we like the way steel rides, I like the way they fish.  
I repair vintage reels for a hobby business, and have paid for 3 bikes and 2 kayaks swapping vintage tackle.  
http://bulldog1935.u.yuku.com/ 
But many times when I show up at the river with my cane rod, I run across people expecting me to be a snob.  

Didn't mean to offend about the fixie thing - no intentions beyond exactly what I said, and your bike has a definite touch of cool and nostalgia - great photos.


----------



## Terry66

No offense taken in the least. 

When I am doing a training ride, Sometimes I'll do intervals. It never fails that when I am in a high gear spinning a high cadence someone on a touring bike or skinny tire hybrid will "pass" me and take great pride that they passed a guy on an expensive carbon road bike. I figure it is all good and if it motivates them, then more power to them. I've passed TT bikes while riding my touring bikes with panniers and I've been dropped by guys 20 years older than me on rickety old bikes. I just ride to stay healthy and have fun.


----------



## bulldog1935

all the local clubs come out to my rural borough to ride my creek bottom roads.  
I'm always out for spin and calories, but of course get passed by training groups (except on wet days and I blow by them on fenders and big tires).  
But when they pass, there is a cadence of "nice bike", which of course is only meant for its encouragement value, and that's cool, too.


----------



## Terry66

maybe they know their stuff and know that it is an awesome bike. I ran into a guy the other day on a belt driven internal geared commuter. Fenders, springer Brooks, etc. that thing was amazing! I was home researching frames that evening looking for one that would take a belt drive! Honestly, I think the coolness of a bike is when someone builds a bike that perfectly fits their needs and rides the heck out of it. I ride my gray steel touring bike with 700x38 tires and fenders probably 80% of the time. 

Speaking of fenders, are those Raceblades on your red bike? Thought about those for a rigid Surly Ogre gravel touring bike I am building. I ended up with the SKS velo 65. They aren't full coverage but they are wide enough for the 29er Mtb tires.


----------



## bulldog1935

It's some of each.  If your brain is into TdF, it's hard to look at an upright steel bike and see a distance bike.  That really takes a trained eye.  
I think it's mostly a portion of the guys who joust with me who learn to recognize the difference - certainly not all of them.  
I had one guy after two miles who didn't quite pass me last week and turned into me from the outside, forcing me to brake hard.  All I said was, "Really?"  
(I was on a mission - had to get back to pick up my daughter at her wrestling trainer)
On the big low pressure tires, my bike out-corners everything else on the road, especially when you add rough.  

It's built on a cross frame, with no holes for anything - not even a brake bolt, and I had to get creative (after months of thinking about it) to mount a front mini rack - I used a Mark's rack, which has 4 rod-bolt attachments, Tubus LM-1 clamps to the fork tops, Paul canti mounts, and L-brackets from McMaster.    



The Raceblade XL have worked out great - just recently was happy enough with the fit to use the screws and pin the stay positions on the fenders.  
Of course, they're not full coverage, but I made them close-enough by adding a PDW Origami downtube splash guard to the seat tube - I used a blow drier to heat and bend the origami mounting bracket back a bit. 
I got a really good deal on the Raceblades - Leftlanesports had them for $35, but have since sold out (though they're closing out for $40 and change all over).  They provide adequate coverage even on my 38mm tires (Compass Barlow Pass EL).  After getting used to them, they take about 3 minutes to install, and 20 seconds to remove.  


 I put a little Columbus beauty mark on the rear fender


----------



## chucksoldbikes

View attachment 262092View attachment 262091View attachment 262090my raliegh super course mkIIView attachment 262088


----------

