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!
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
1973 Raleigh Carlton Super Course
- Thread starter Terry66
- Start date
#eBayPartner Most Recent BUY IT NOW Items Listed on eBay
SirMike1983
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
The lugs on that frame are great. Nice frameset overall.
That is beautiful and you made me want a bike that color!
sailorbenjamin
Finally riding a big boys bike
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
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
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
I live for the CABE
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
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
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
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
Last edited:
bulldog1935
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
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/
http://www.bikeradar.com/us/commuting/gear/article/is-the-london-fixie-dead-36928/
SirMike1983
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
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.
Similar threads
-
- Locked
