# More Raleigh's! A pair of 1970 TWENTY's!



## HARPO (Jun 19, 2018)

I feel like I should be living in London! These things are coming out of the woodwork in the last week, finding me whether I want them to or not, lol. 

OK...so I keep typing in "Raleigh" and "Rudge" on ebay and Craigslist, seeing if there's any type of bargains to be found. And apparently there have been. (_My wife has been fine with all of this, happily_). So here they are, in all their splendid rust, grime and dirt eagerly awaiting to be brought back to life.

And so another project begins, times two. Hail To The Queen!


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## bulldog1935 (Jun 19, 2018)

get out the polish


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## HARPO (Jun 19, 2018)

bulldog1935 said:


> get out the polish




And the WD-40...and the 0000 steel wool...and the rubbing compound...and the polishing compound...and the polish...and the wax...and the chrome polish...


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## HARPO (Jun 19, 2018)

So far all I can see that's missing is the seat lever on one of the bikes. Still...I only paid $130 FOR BOTH bikes.


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## bikemonkey (Jun 20, 2018)

HARPO said:


> So far all I can see that's missing is the seat lever on one of the bikes. Still...I only paid $130 FOR BOTH bikes.



You did damn good! I sold a lot of these new to boat owners docked on Hilton Head back in the day... I understand that now hipsters are keeping them popular in urban areas..


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## HARPO (Jun 22, 2018)

Cleanup is coming along quite nicely. Here's are " Before And After" photos taken at the same time...which you can only do with identical bikes in the same terrible condition. 
More detailing needed on the work in progress bike, but I like to see the comparisons as I continue. The other bike might actually be a bit worse...but time will tell. I still want to finish the '55 Rudge girls bike and do the Raleigh Sports I bought over the weekend.


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## juvela (Jun 22, 2018)

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Beautiful work!

Looks like you are having a ball with these new arrivals.

Its great that they are both so complete and undamaged.  Noticed they wear different tyres.  Are both OEM?

Thought whilst shaving - "Fred must have lots of storage space."   

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## HARPO (Jun 22, 2018)

@juvela  Hi Tad

Thanks for the compliment. I try! And yes, I'm thoroughly enjoying bringing them back to life.

The one red circle line tire is the only one that's original to the bike. How it lasted this long I don't know. Oh, and I also had to reattach the 3-speed cable into the shifter on the bike I'm working on. For whatever reason it had popped out, so the previous owner attached duct tape to hold it on and then attached a clamp to it, doing virtually nothing. All I did was remove the plastic shell, place it back into position where it belonged, and reattach the plastic housing.

As of right now, I have over 20 bikes in my 3rd floor "Batcave" (_I have photos attached to other links on here of it_), along with others in my basement and some carcasses in a shed. I sold off quite a few over the last few months, but like the tide, some go out and some come it. Never ending "cycle" I guess.... I had a high of over 50 some years back (_used my garage for quite a lot_ _but wanted one of my cars back in there_), but I'm a little more particular now. Unless, of course, it's to cheap to pass up!!


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## bikemonkey (Jun 23, 2018)

Very nice cleaning - so neat you have the pair for contrast!

Trying to remember how these ride - what do you think about it? Were they geared well? Catalog year?

Thanks for posting the pics!


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## bulldog1935 (Jun 23, 2018)

bikemonkey said:


> Very nice cleaning - so neat you have the pair for contrast!
> 
> Trying to remember how these ride - what do you think about it? Were they geared well? Catalog year?
> 
> Thanks for posting the pics!



http://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/twenty.html
_1976 was the last year this model was listed in the catalog.
_
Dahon and Bike Friday still build their derailleur touring versions of these.  My nephew and his family have traversed the east coast of Australia and the North Sea coast on theirs.  I've heard the small wheels make them a little unstable, but they carry their load down low, which helps.

as far as gearing, all you need is the chainring tooth count, and you can plug them into Sheldon's gear calculator
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html


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## HARPO (Jun 23, 2018)

The rear hub dates both at 1970, and both were purchased at the same time at a bike shop not far from me. Both still have their overly large bike shop stickers (_which I've removed one, covering the Raleigh logo unharmed_), a place where I've  bought bikes for my kids when they were young and my lawnmowers. "Mineola Bicycle Shop". As a matter of fact, they're mentioned (including a photo of the building) in the Schwinn book "No Hands" I have. They were a very large dealership for Schwinn.

As far as riding one, I've gone as far as the end of my block and back when I got them. I'm curious myself as to how they'll handle and ride...


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## HARPO (Jun 23, 2018)

Page from the Raleigh 1970 catalog...but it appears in the photo that the lever to fold the bike in half is mounted on the side of the frame. Mine is on top, which to me indicates different frame tubing design. Am I seeing this correctly???


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## HARPO (Jun 23, 2018)

Here's a page from the 1975 Catalog, showing, showing the way my frame folds.


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## juvela (Jun 23, 2018)

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wrt the two different hinge designs -

when i saw the 1970 catalogue image assumed they must be showing a 1969 model so checked images of 1969 model Twenty and all the ones found had arrangement like your examples.   

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## SirMike1983 (Jun 23, 2018)

These are pretty early Raleigh 20s. I have a 1971-72 model with 1971 rear hub code. 

Tony Hadland's Raleigh book indicates that the Twenty line (which initially was a non-folding small-wheel bike) first appeared in general in July 1968, but that the Twenty was "soft launched" such that few people were made aware of it. The Twenty appeared in Canada in 1969, but that 1970 was a key year in the marketing of the bikes in Britain and the US. By October 1970, the full array of varieties of Twenty were fleshed out. 1970-71 folding Twentys are early models. Mine is basically the same as the ones you've found and it's a 1971-72 model. 

The 1970 catalog picture may show an early variation or experiment with the folding frame - the picture wa likely taken very early in the life of the Twenty folder such that the final production version was completed only after that catalog shot was taken.

It's funny that the Twenty was "soft launched" such that it seemed there was not a great deal of confidence in the bike initially. It turns out the Twenty was one of the greatest of the old generation of folding and small wheel bikes. A survey of consumers in the mid-1970s placed the Twenty firmly in first place for small wheeled bikes, ahead of the rival Dawes Kingpin.

The Twenty gets its "feel" largely from the presence of a plastic bushing in the top of head set. This bushing is prone to cracking and breaking and should be handled with care. The bushing is there to "dampen" the steering so that the bike feels more like a full-sized bike (small wheel bikes can have a light "snappy" steering that takes getting used to compared to a regular bike; the bushing was Raleigh's solution to this). 

The redline tires are the original ones for this era. They're pretty well-made: my Twenty is still running its original tires and tubes, which is an accomplishment after 47 years. The redline tires in good condition have become somewhat valuable on their own because the muscle bike and BMX guys like them.

The Twenty frame is very robust for an old-era folding bike. The bike does not fold up as neatly as a modern folder but, it's still an excellent bike. The Twenty is when Raleigh _finally_ got the small wheel bike "right". Raleigh had problems with licensing the Moulton designs before this, and the Raleigh Small Wheel bike was generally too small (and the tires to slow-running and soft) for a full-sized, adult rider.


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## HARPO (Jun 23, 2018)

Thanks for the info @SirMike1983!!

The 1969 model I believe had painted fenders, and 1970 began the Chrome ones. Oh, I took the bike for a ride and the gears need a bit of adjusting. I kept slipping out of first to "neutral"...but it stayed in third. Fine tuning on the cable and it will be fine.

Well, I'm down to one TWENTY now. A friend came by and saw them and had to have one. So, I sold him the one I hadn't touched yet for basically what I paid for it. He saw what I did to the other, and was all set to begin making it look like that one. A good ending/beginning for the other!

Here's the last comparison shot before the other TWENTY went off to another home.


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## SirMike1983 (Jun 23, 2018)

They're fun to ride - definitely different from the full-sized bikes, and very different from the DL-1. Just remember to watch the turns - the clearance is pretty small and it's easy to pedal strike if you are trying to power through a turn. I think you'll like the one you kept. I enjoy having mine.


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## HARPO (Jun 24, 2018)

Pretty much all done. I still need to clean the cables and pedals, remove the last of the bike shop sticker and adjust the 3-speed. Very happy with my new Toy!


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