Raleigh Olympus

[derailled]

I was picking up a Mitxe framed green Healing ladies bike in Christchurch in the weekend and I was offered this old lightweight Green Raleigh Olympus..FREE..well i could hardly turn it down...( :

looks like a challenge but it should look good...



Lots of rust ....surface and other degrees ( :

It was pitch dark and all you could see was the whites of our eyes....couldn't see a thing so I took this flash pic.

I think it looks like a 4 -5 speed maybe; only has one gear ring and one shifter? I couldnt see a thing there and I have to go back to get it.

[derailled]

Heading for Christchurch the bike city; to get my Raleigh Arenas....a few pics and pick ups on the way



I didn't stop for the hitch hiker, but I did stop for this shot of dawn at Blueskin Bay, Waitati.



Some new hoardings at Oamaru almost made me run off the road. The Southern Man ethos is evident here, fording a braided river system with a box of Speights Beer made in Dunedin.

The bus caught up with me.

GOOD ON YER MATE!



I had an appointment in Timaru with a fixed gear Healing / Raleigh hybrid and a Brooks leather seat. Stopped for a few pics at the Ealing Railway Station further up the highway . Healing ... Ealing get it?



Another pic, because I like the seat. Doesn't the Raleigh swan motif crank look great. The valve from the front tyre went west on the carrier.

[derailled]

Pictures of the old Raleigh Olympus are here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41272313@N04/3803182126/

Can anyone date this cycle, I must get the frame number for you.

It has old Dunlop 26" tyres and cotter pin cranks.





head stock arrangement. Most aprt sseem original. It as the 'R' nuts on it.



Mouse trap pedals and tri webbed crank.I have since deruted the crank and it has been restored somewhat to its chromium splendor.



Dawn on this trip to get the raleigh Olympus, was quite spectacular at the same place - Blue Skin Bay, north of Dunedin.

[SteveWalsall]

Hi Derailled

Someone else has one - in worse condition! Mine is similar but the front forks are the ones with the pressed-dimple side inserts (presumably there's a proper term for this type).

Attached are pictures of parts of my Raleigh Olympus rescued from the bottom of my neighbours garden after having lain there for about 25 years. Prior to that, its owner did not possess an oilcan, needless to say getting it to peices has been arduous, and I am now looking forward to the rebuilding process. I want to get it into near-original condition if financially feasible, but am not looking for a museum quality rebuild. Frame nr is NP6028841

Although the frame transfers suggest an early 70's model, I am told it was supplied in the early 1980's by a relative of the original owner who worked at Raleigh in Nottingham. Generally it is a passible sports bike, (having chrome dropped handlebars, Brooks B17 saddle), and most parts seem to be original.

Both wheels are, unsurprisingly in bad condition, chrome rims (26 x 1¼") and spokes are unusable, but both hubs are good, and therein lies a query.

I am told that the bike was rebuilt following an accident, which looks as if it damaged the rear wheel and the rear speed change mechanism. The bike has an original single speed change lever clamped to the front downtube, which implies it was a 5 speed, and the rear hub it currently has is a 5 speed, but was * with a chain in a fixed single speed (3rd) position, with the actual rear speed change mechanism removed ( it is difficult to see where the mechanism may have *, there are no lugs on the frame or clamp marks).

The front wheel hub is a Sturmey Archer, chrome, with "R"spindle nuts, "Made in England", and looks as if it could be at home on any Raleigh bike, but a bit ordinary for a sports model.
The rear hub is a Maillot, alloy, "Made in France" with * on 5-cog freewheel gearset also made in France, and definitely a sports/ racer looking hub. Because of the accident mentioned above I suspect it is this wheel that is not original.
The spoke pattern on both wheels, at least to my eye, is the same, as are the rims, but I doubt that the bike was * with odd hubs originally? Cant see the rear hub detail on your bike.

So the question is, which is closer to original condition, a pair of chrome hubs, or alloy ones?
I have to decide whether to go for 2 completely new wheels or have 1 new wheel and match it to a rebuild of whichever wheel is actually the original.

Incidentally, does anyone know if it is possible to get chrome rims in the UK anymore?

[derailled]

HI STEVE

WOW ITS GOOD FOR 25 YRS IN THE GARDEN.

The spokes look good to me from the pics.

The rims on the arenas were convex profile
raleigh rims you may get a new similar profile but not raleigh new.
Easier to collect up old wheels or complete bikes and get wheel or rim?

I have few R.Arenas now just picked up the third green one.