# Vintage 1974 Raleigh Sports & Rider



## rdg20 (Aug 21, 2015)

In February 1975 I bought myself a new 1974 Raleigh Sports for my 25th birthday present. 40 years later I'm still riding it daily. In May  of this year I retired so I have more time to ride. My morning routine is to struggle out of bed, have two cups of coffee then check for a pulse. If I find one, I go for a 3 to 5 mile ride. It's a great way to start the day.

I've had to do surprisingly little maintenance over the years, tires, tubes, cables, etc. Oh the joys of Whitworth fasteners! I have a set of Whitworth wrenches which helps, but I haven't found a reasonable source for nuts and bolts.  

I have the twist grip shifter and love it! It's a genuine Sturmey-Archer and works great. I had a third party one originally and it never worked well.

I still like the bike and hope to be riding it another 40 years. I found this forum while searching for information on doing maintenance and it has been very helpful – Thanks to the posters!














Don


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## SirMike1983 (Aug 21, 2015)

Those are great. I took a hiatus from old bikes from 2001-2003 and a 1974 Sports was the first bike I got when I got back into bikes in September 2003. Mine is the taller frame and Bronze Green in color.

These are great vintage bikes that are still new enough to ride very reliably with most original parts, maybe aside from brake pads and the tires. The original shifter would have been the trigger type with the transparent plastic cover that year. The brakes are self-adjusting, but are pretty cool when they are working properly.

That 1974 Sports was my primary ride around college until I caved and got a car in law school.


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## bulldog1935 (Aug 22, 2015)

she's a beauty


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## rdg20 (Aug 23, 2015)

While browsing online forums, I've seen several complaints about the self-adjusting brakes, but I've never had a problem. I've just replaced pads and inner cables.The cables tend to fray at the pinch bolts. I still have the trigger shifter around some place but I never liked it. I had a Western Flyer 3-speed when I was a kid and I swapped the trigger for a twist on it as well. I also swapped the front and rear brake levers from left to right - I ride motorcycles and like the controls to be consistent. 

The old Raleighs seem to have a personality I don't find in the newer bikes. My first bike was a 1956 or 7 Evans with a horn tank - now that was cool!


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