Restored 1969 Raleigh Sprite 5 Speed

[kevin525]

Right on!! A respectable rescue mission. Many Canadians grew up with CCM and Raleigh bicycles well into the 70's. Somewhat boring compared to exotic American balloon tire themes like rockets and streamlined wonders. We had some nice ones though. Raleigh Choppers and CCM Mustangs etc. in the late 60's-70's. Read this thread if you wish:

CCM Canada. Canadian Cycle and Motor Company | International Bicycles

CCM History: ( link from Cabe: https://thecabe.com/forum/media/img3-jpg.34109/#xfmg-comment-5642) [URL...

thecabe.com

Those are cool looking bikes. I remember CCMs from the 70s as hockey skates. Same company?

 

[Nashman]

Those are cool looking bikes. I remember CCMs from the 70s as hockey skates. Same company?

Short answer yes. Long answer:
CCM (ice hockey) - Wikipedia

CCM (bicycle company) - Wikipedia

 

[jimbo53]

Very nice job! I’ve transitioned from prewar balloon tire bikes to vintage British bikes and have really fallen hard for these classic 3 speed roadsters. So well behaved and dependable on the road and easy to work on. It’s amazing how many are out there if you look for them. I’ve found 11 so far during the pandemic; Raleigh’s, Hercules’, Triumph, Dunelt, Phillips, Gazelle, even a Twenty, and paid bargain basement prices!

 

[kevin525]

Very nice job! I’ve transitioned from prewar balloon tire bikes to vintage British bikes and have really fallen hard for these classic 3 speed roadsters. So well behaved and dependable on the road and easy to work on. It’s amazing how many are out there if you look for them. I’ve found 11 so far during the pandemic; Raleigh’s, Hercules’, Triumph, Dunelt, Phillips, Gazelle, even a Twenty, and paid bargain basement prices!

Absolutely. I've gotten pretty lucky lately finding bikes to restore. I even found a Batavas, a Dutch 3 Speed in a junkyard in Worcester, Mass that cleaned up well and sold quickly. I bought a Raleigh Malaysia that had been sold there. They are great bikes and I love the history.

 

[FICHT 150]

Thought it might be nice to see one that really doesn’t need to be restored.
I’ve owned this one for about a decade. Original everything, and used very, very little since 1967.
Ted

 

[kevin525]

Thought it might be nice to see one that really doesn’t need to be restored.
I’ve owned this one for about a decade. Original everything, and used very, very little since 1967.
Ted

View attachment 1326245

That is one beautiful bike, and a great reference for those of us fixing them up. Thanks for sharing.

 

[FICHT 150]

Thanks. I bought it when I was on a lay-off from a local 1B printshop, that translates to I knew I was going back to work, I just didn’t know when. I needed something to do. I wandered into a thrift store and bought the bike for $25. We have a local English bicycle club, that has a few events and the guys helped me to figure out what I had and how to use it.
My opinion, and it is free, and worth exactly what you paid for it, the Raleigh bikes of that era were constantly evolving, and always a compromise. You will note the shifters on my bike are a much improved version of what is on yours bike, and the ones are your bike are much improved over the slender plastic levers that are always broken. Same with the pedals, my bike has the older version of rebuildable ball bearing pedals, the version on your bike has no ball bearings. It seems the company spent so much time chasing pennies to save, the dollars got away from them. They only needed one set of shifters, the version on my bike, or one set of pedals, the same version they had always used, and the efforts to save pennies hurt them, long run.
I own two vintage Raleigh Sprites, the pictured bike and a rider that has done 9 Lake Pepin tours, my wife and son both own 5 speed hub bikes, and I have converted quite a few hubs to S5 configuration from either AW or FW configuration. I think I have 20 or so various Raleigh’s about the place, and a soft spot for Sprite internal gear hub 5 speeds and DL1 Roadsters.
If you search the bikesmith website, you will find complete instructions for rebuilding, and modifications to bring the first gen S5 into the modern world.
It is a great hub, when tuned with the spring, geared up, and fitted with a decent shifter.

Good luck.

Ted

 

[kevin525]

Thanks. I bought it when I was on a lay-off from a local 1B printshop, that translates to I knew I was going back to work, I just didn’t know when. I needed something to do. I wandered into a thrift store and bought the bike for $25. We have a local English bicycle club, that has a few events and the guys helped me to figure out what I had and how to use it.
My opinion, and it is free, and worth exactly what you paid for it, the Raleigh bikes of that era were constantly evolving, and always a compromise. You will note the shifters on my bike are a much improved version of what is on yours bike, and the ones are your bike are much improved over the slender plastic levers that are always broken. Same with the pedals, my bike has the older version of rebuildable ball bearing pedals, the version on your bike has no ball bearings. It seems the company spent so much time chasing pennies to save, the dollars got away from them. They only needed one set of shifters, the version on my bike, or one set of pedals, the same version they had always used, and the efforts to save pennies hurt them, long run.
I own two vintage Raleigh Sprites, the pictured bike and a rider that has done 9 Lake Pepin tours, my wife and son both own 5 speed hub bikes, and I have converted quite a few hubs to S5 configuration from either AW or FW configuration. I think I have 20 or so various Raleigh’s about the place, and a soft spot for Sprite internal gear hub 5 speeds and DL1 Roadsters.
If you search the bikesmith website, you will find complete instructions for rebuilding, and modifications to bring the first gen S5 into the modern world.
It is a great hub, when tuned with the spring, geared up, and fitted with a decent shifter.

Good luck.

Ted

Thanks so much Ted. You certainly know your 5 speed hubs. This is my first time serving one and I did get it to work. I was fascinated with the inner workings. I enjoyed the history of the brand and look forward to my next project.

Have a great day. Kevin

 

[FICHT 150]

When you guys use the term “restored”, or “restoration” are you talking repaint, new transfers, or are there various levels that all fall under that one term. When I restore something, be it a car, bike, motorcycle, whatever, it gets pretty much everything. I have been a lone wolf in most of my projects, no club or internet affiliation, so, I’m curious what is what.

I would call anything else a “service”, or, if it involved new parts and assembly, say, short of paint and trim, a “deep service”.
This was a bicycle restoration at my house, also done on lay-off, 1959 Schwinn Tiger.

Ted

 

[kevin525]

Ted,

Point well taken. Many people use the word restore, myself included, when we should use deep service or refurbish. Restoration is exactly what you did on that Schwinn which is absolutely beautiful. I like the old patina and usually just use rubbing compound to bring out the shine. In the car world I think they use the term sympathetic restoration to mean about the same thing.

Great looking bike.