# Raleigh Dl-1 Tourist



## SirMike1983

http://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/2016/08/1978-raleigh-dl-1.html

http://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/2016/08/1978-raleigh-dl-1-tourist-on-farmington.html




 

A few pictures of the late model DL-1 Tourist (1978). By this time, Raleigh shifted to a modern, seatpost-type reflectors. The shifters had plastic faces, which often cracked or broke, leaving just the metal core. I have replaced the plastic face twice on the original shifter for this bike, and just recently decided to just convert to an earlier, metal shifter. It functions well. 



 

The rod brakes remained similar to previous versions and functioned reasonably well, though stopping power was not great. Wet stopping could be improved through leather-faced brake pads, though it was still not very good. The front brakes used the anti-vibration extension arms, which usually were positioned facing backward into the fork. However, these could also be reversed to face front, and you sometimes see them this way. I found that these brakes vibrate _less_ with them facing front, so I use them that way. 

Raleigh also had reduced the thickness of the steel used for the rims, those they remained sufficiently heavy-duty to be durable and functional. The decals were of the modern, 1970s-style, though black with gold and red pinstripes remained the basic color scheme. 



 

Overall this is very much an early 20th century bicycle with some 1970s-era changes. I think this style of roadster was the "Model T" of the bicycle world. The DL-1 and its relatives from other companies were built in huge quantities and sent all over the world, and even eventually license built in other countries. They provided basic but reliable transportation on almost every continent.



 



 

 

For those of you in the northeast, visit the Farmington River bicycle trail. The trail is recently paved, and offers a quite, scenic ride along the water. The trail is relatively flat and smooth, with connections to local stores and attractions.


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## Andrew Gorman

Nice bike!  I'm surprised there is no white flash on the rear fender.  Just about every english racer I've worked on has had that.  Good brake pads can make a big difference in stopping a rod brake bike.  I ordered a set of Fibrax pads from Harris Cyclery and they actually make the bike stop.  The 75 year old originals were useless, and the cheap gray Aisian set worked a little better but I was still scared to ride in traffic.  With the Fibrax shoes I even ride it to work.  Kool Stop makes pads to fit both the round and tapered holders now too.


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## Gasbag

I have the 1968 version of the DL-1. It has been completely rebuilt and serviced. I added a two tooth larger rear sprocket for a more leisurely high gear. Brake pads are KoolStop salmon and do a pretty decent job of slowing it down. The Schwalbe tires provide a smooth ride and I wouldn't have used the creme color except for a very good sale price when I bought them. Mine still has the plastic craptastic shifter but I do have a nice early shifter set aside for replacing it when the inclination arises.

I can see a real difference in the build quality of the late sixties bike versus my earlier Brits. Paint quality isn't as good and overall fit isn't quite up to the earlier standards. Still, it is a fun and comfortable bike to ride and rolls surprisingly fast once up to speed plus it has the tonnage to keep it moving.


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## SirMike1983

Andrew Gorman said:


> Nice bike!  I'm surprised there is no white flash on the rear fender.  Just about every english racer I've worked on has had that.  Good brake pads can make a big difference in stopping a rod brake bike.  I ordered a set of Fibrax pads from Harris Cyclery and they actually make the bike stop.  The 75 year old originals were useless, and the cheap gray Aisian set worked a little better but I was still scared to ride in traffic.  With the Fibrax shoes I even ride it to work.  Kool Stop makes pads to fit both the round and tapered holders now too.




There was quite a (de)evolution to the rear reflector. In the early 1970s, Raleigh went to the "larger" round rear reflector. US consumer safety rules expanded in the mid-1970s, eventually forcing Raleigh to use a huge, rectangular rear reflector and white stripe by 1977. In the 1978, they opted to fulfill the requirement by dropping the white and fender reflector, and to put a large, plastic modern reflector on the seat stays. This was easily (and often) removed by the consumer when they bought the bike.

1977: massive, rectangular fender reflector





1978: modern reflector clamps to seat stays. Many bikes do something like this today, but on the seat tube.


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## Andrew Gorman

Thanks for that information!  I actually like the rectangular reflectors- there was one on the last Raleigh Sports I worked on, a 1976/77 ladies frame. Interestingly, it had been painted green, and then repainted by the factory root beer brown.  An interesting way to adjust inventory.


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## fat tire trader

Have any of you ever seen one of these


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## TR6SC

Here's rim I have.


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## blackhawknj

An excellent find. I acquired a 1974-22 inch frame-which I am fitting out. Shimano makes a Sturmey Archer compatible 23 tooth cog which is great for lowering gears, SRAM made a 24 tooth cog-I was able to find a couple-that is even better. The larger cog requires you to lengthen the chain by links, and a half link is just right for the 24 tooth cog. Mine has an all black rear fender , the reflector was missing, I put a black earlier round style on.
I should introduce myself, I bicycle to work on 3-speeds, have a nice albeit modest collection.


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## SirMike1983

Mine has a 22t rear. I do wish I went with the 24 instead, but 22 is not all that bad. The bike is my "vacation" bike in that it's at my family's place up north and I ride when I visit them. I'd go with the 24 if it was a daily rider.

Apparently Sturmey Archer is starting to make 24 tooth cogs again:

http://brandscycle.com/product/stur...-nLPkrThM2e0_8zffIkHYXrYjQoSWzkOk4aAlzg8P8HAQ

BIke Smith Designs is a source for the SRAM 24 tooth. The SRAM is 3/32, I believe, and the Sturmey is 1/8 inch. The SRAM has the modern profiled teeth (square edge with hard bevel) and the Sturmey (at least the 22t one I recently got) has the traditional teeth. I think the SRAM is a little nicer in the 24t cog, but the Sturmey cogs are certainly not bad.


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## TR6SC

I bought a Sturmey Archer 24 tooth cog on eBay. With the 48 tooth front sprocket, that's a 2:1 ratio giving me a very comfy 56 inch effective wheel size on my 28 inch Raleigh in the N position. SirMike has talked on his blog about how SA suggested nothing lower than this for their AW hubs. The interesting thing is that anything larger on the rear wheel wouldn't allow the chain guard to fit. It's finally time for a real ride, and not just a test run!


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## SirMike1983

Here are my gear ratio notes, which are the page referenced above:

https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_17.html


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## TR6SC

SirMike, Every time I re-read your writings I learn something, thank you. I'm newish to the Raleigh, as you know. On my last reading I noticed the reversal of the brake extensions. Were these an afterthought, meaning did the bike ever come without them? And/or, when they first appeared was rearward the standard?


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## SirMike1983

TR6SC said:


> SirMike, Every time I re-read your writings I learn something, thank you. I'm newish to the Raleigh, as you know. On my last reading I noticed the reversal of the brake extensions. Were these an afterthought, meaning did the bike ever come without them? And/or, when they first appeared was rearward the standard?




Those are the anti-vibration arms for the front brakes. They first appeared as a Raleigh innovation in the 1950s. Prior to that, the brake pads went right onto the front stirrup. They found that this sometimes led to excessive grab-slip-grab vibrations and flexing in the front brake. The idea was to offset the pad from the stirrup axis to reduce that grab-slip vibration. The original intent was to have them backward-facing into the fork. I have seen them both ways and found that, for some reason, they vibrated less in the forward position on my bike. Either position is correct, so long as the braking is smoother than without them. In fact, the catalog images above show them forward. Basically "anything that works best" is correct with those. You could even remove them-- it's all pragmatism when it comes to rod brakes.


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## TR6SC

fat tire trader said:


> Have any of you ever seen one of these



Not I. how about a full shot? it looks like lots of frame.


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## blackhawknj

I had no problem fitting the SRAM 24T cog on mine, no problem with it clearing the chain guard. I used a thick washer between the chain guard bolt and the chainguard, holds it nice and secure. I live at the top of a fairly good sized hill, with about a 7/8" of  a mile grade, the 24t cog gives me a 3rd Gear of about 72 which is very close to my favorite level gear of 70, the other two are for hill climbing. I bought half links from a local bike, paid a little more than usual, however they have a superior design, a threaded bolt and nut, easier to install and remove.


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## sam

A guy gave me a DL-1 frame he had in his bone pile for years---so I did a bit of kustom work on it. added modern V-brakes on Alum rims(keep the same rim size as original) and a 5 speed derailleur from a Schwinn. Funny thing is it still feels and rides like a DL-1 only stops better, and can gear it low if needed.


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## HARPO

Figured that I would add mine along with your beautiful bike...


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