I picked this bike up a while back, its been sitting waiting for me to get around to it, and me to find a tire solution for it.
The decals say Mountain Tour Grand Mesa.
Its got the original Raleigh scripted Cheng Shin 26x1 1/2x1 5/8" tires on it now. basically they're 650x42B sized tires, or ISO 584 or 27.5"
The tires on it roll nicely, they're marked 70 psi but these are so rotted I don't dare go that high. They start looking iffy around 45 psi or so. 45 psi is not enough to protect the rims though.
The tread area is fine, the sides are pretty well cracked and starting to open up a bit.
The frame limits width. I did found a set of 26x1 1/2x 2" tires which when inflated look more like an old 26x2.125 balloon tire. They're so wide they rub on occasion. (less than 1/32" or so of clearance in several areas).
Overall tire diameter is also a concern, there's only 3/4" or so above the tire in the front and less between the brake bridge and the rear tire. The biggest issue with larger tires is the front of the chainstays which aren't much wider than many road bikes. There's only 1/4" clearance on each side with the stock tires which are narrower than even old school middleweight tires.
I was thinking of converting the bike to a three speed SA hub to simplify it a bit and to find some tires that weren't too aggressive for street and hard packed trail use. All I'm finding is $100/pr tires from overseas and too wide 27.5 sizes meant more for a full on modern MTB.
Condition wise the bike is decent, the decals are the worst part. The paint is actually decent, the bearings will be getting serviced and it'll get a good cleaning throughout.
The best part is its tall enough for me to actually use when ever I get around to it.
The decals say Mountain Tour Grand Mesa.
Its got the original Raleigh scripted Cheng Shin 26x1 1/2x1 5/8" tires on it now. basically they're 650x42B sized tires, or ISO 584 or 27.5"
The tires on it roll nicely, they're marked 70 psi but these are so rotted I don't dare go that high. They start looking iffy around 45 psi or so. 45 psi is not enough to protect the rims though.
The tread area is fine, the sides are pretty well cracked and starting to open up a bit.
The frame limits width. I did found a set of 26x1 1/2x 2" tires which when inflated look more like an old 26x2.125 balloon tire. They're so wide they rub on occasion. (less than 1/32" or so of clearance in several areas).
Overall tire diameter is also a concern, there's only 3/4" or so above the tire in the front and less between the brake bridge and the rear tire. The biggest issue with larger tires is the front of the chainstays which aren't much wider than many road bikes. There's only 1/4" clearance on each side with the stock tires which are narrower than even old school middleweight tires.
I was thinking of converting the bike to a three speed SA hub to simplify it a bit and to find some tires that weren't too aggressive for street and hard packed trail use. All I'm finding is $100/pr tires from overseas and too wide 27.5 sizes meant more for a full on modern MTB.
Condition wise the bike is decent, the decals are the worst part. The paint is actually decent, the bearings will be getting serviced and it'll get a good cleaning throughout.
The best part is its tall enough for me to actually use when ever I get around to it.
