Raleigh Alyeska

The drive side dropout broke. I really love this bike. It was my daily driver for about 6 years.

Currently it is just a frame (and fork) hanging on the wall in my garage.

Now is time for me to learn more frame repair work as I ponder the developing situation with the Rain Bike project.

I plan to replace the dropout soon, see https://framebuilderssupplies.com/ Perhaps it's time to put canti posts on the back to match the fork? This old frame does not want disc brakes. Maybe I will add a trailer hitch too. Time to re-evaluate.

I got this bicycle at a garage sale for $15.

It's a touring bike. I think the former owner swapped out a Tange fork for the original.

I love touring bikes, and this one has Raleigh 555 triple-butted tubing.

Touring bikes are all about adventure, even when they are just sleeping in the garage. Even when they are just a stripped down frame hanging on the wall. They wait patiently for you, they know more adventures are coming.

The fork is set up for a 700c wheel and cantilever brakes. The frame was set up for 27" wheels and cantilever brakes. When I got it, it had a a 700 wheel on the front and a 27" wheel on the back. When I swapped a 700c wheel onto the back, the brakes would no longer hit the rim! What a drag.

Since I did not want to be stuck with mismatched rims, I cut the cantilever posts off the frame. At this point I could braze new posts on, but at the moment I have no tanks for my acetylene welder. It's not important enough to me to pay someone else to do the work. So I am simply going to run a centerpull brake on the back.

I've never actually toured with it so a centerpull on the back has been just fine.

I had it powder coated at Oregon Powder Coat in Tangent. The work cost <$100 to have the Alyeska and a pair of Blackburn racks done. They are GREEN. It's beautiful.

External links

http://sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/catalogs/1985/pages/07raleigh-alyeska.html