Wow, thanks everyone. I really get juiced on all the feedback, build notes, geometric ideas and other bicycles.
Patrick: Thanks for having a look. I certainly prefer bikes without the toe overlap but I'll chalk it up to compromises I can handle. Mac: Beautiful Competition! Wow! I wish you good luck on finding a Hillborne in the EU. Check with La Chouette in Paris or The Woods Cyclery in Lyndhurst, New Forest. Bryan: Oh, buddy. That's Lyle's Rivendell Rambouillet, one of my favorite bikes of all time. Converted to 650B, frame stripped raw. Hubs and fenders and frame all weathered and patinated. Crazy downtube one-by drivetrain, bad-to-the-bone drillium Shimano arabesque rear mech. He's on instagram @shredportals and has a gallery pinned in his profile. Ian: Yes, 120 spacing for the frame and 130 for the wheel. Not ideal, I know. I wanted to get it to a fame builder during the process but they're scarce in my area. I plan to have the spacing adjusted for sure! Jason: I'd love to see what you'd do with a sporty frame. Thanks for making it through the video, it ended up longer than I'd expected, likely driven by the errors and missteps. I sometimes cut those out of my other videos. GAJett: Wow, that Competition sounds so nice. Glad to hear you've kept it on the road for all this time. Agree on the model year investigation, I thought 70 or 71 based on the Sheldon page and seeing coffee was available for only those years. The Raleigh anniversary badge also offers a clue. I got the bike as a bare frame so I didn't have any Weinmann brakes to "switch" from. I much prefer the appearance of the MAFACs so I wanted to give them a shot. A lot of my build choices are born of how parts look. I'm lucky those parts usually work pretty well! Only drilled the rear bridge and as you might notice in the video the drill goes through with very little resistance. I didn't remove very much material. On Monday, November 17, 2025 at 1:52:21 AM UTC-5 GAJett wrote: > Hi Eric, > What an interesting mix of old and new parts. And your video showed some > interesting problems and even more interesting solutions. > > I have a '74 Raleigh Competition that I purchased in about '76 and quickly > converted to a touring triple, though not nearly to the extent you've > done. Major changes were to add: > > - A 13-26 SunTour Ultra6 freewheel on a 125.5mm Phil bottom bracket; > - A TA Specialites Pro 5 Vis crankset with 49-46-26 chainrings; > - SunTour Cyclone II front and rear derailleurs (but currently running > the original Jubilee front mech and an Eco-DuoPar rear);* Converted > the tubular wheelset to 27-inch clinchers on Phil Hubs; and > - Added front and rear racks. > > After having this for nearly 50 years, I'm now updating the gearing and > wheels so it will be more suitable for my 50-years older legs. > > - I will have Phil rebuild the hubs and they will go into either 650b > or 700c wheels. From you video I can see 38 - 700c tires should fit, but > it's close at the chainstays. Dropping to 650b allows more clearance for > some 38 - 650b tires and also drops the bottom bracket height down to > within 0.1" of that on my Hilson. Downside for the 650b wheels is that I > will probably need to build "droppers" for the brakes both front and rear. > > (Note that Phil says the BB cannot be rebuilt. This is one of the > earliest > of his BB and the bearings are silver soldered into be BB shell, so it > cannot be taken apart.); > - I haven't found any old Ultra6's with larger rear cogs, so I'll > change to a 5-speed IRD freewheel with a 14-17-12-26-32 block. This maps > out wonderfully for a half-step setup; > - Crankset will get new 50-45-26 TA Pro 5 Vis chainwheels and bolts to > go on the old cranks. > > I concur with your dating of your frame to '70 or '71, based on the > information on St. Sheldon's Retro Raleigh's pages > <https://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/index.html#catalogues> and > the catalog page you presented (I assume from '71). The coffee color only > existed in those two years. > > I do have a couple of issues regarding your choice of brakes: > > 1. According to the listings on the above Retro Raleigh pages, all the > Internationals came with Weinmann AG Vainqueur 999 brakesets. So I'm > curious as to why you changed to the Mafac "Racer" brakes. > 2. I see you needed to drill out the bridges for the Mafac > centerpulls. Do you have any concern with weakening this part, or is it > so > over-built that you don't anticipate any problems? > > Thanks for your very informative post! It has been quite a helpful guide > as I begin a rebuild my old friend. > GAJett > On Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 9:43:15 AM UTC-8 [email protected] wrote: > >> [image: intl small.jpg] >> >> Hello friends — I wanted to share my new build, it's a Raleigh >> International from the early 1970s. I fitted it with 38mm tires and it's a >> plush road dream come true. There's a full build video over on YouTube >> <https://youtu.be/8Zb-zCDfHkk>. Let me know if you've got a vintage road >> rat rod, I'd love to see it. >> >> Extra special thanks goes out to forum member Max F. who found this frame >> on Craigslist of Connecticut! Thank you Max! And to Jason Fuller for >> perspective and feedback as I was getting it all together. >> >> This build far exceeded my expectations, the ride is very nice indeed and >> this frame *p l a n e s. *A sensation that's all together new to me. It >> bounces up hills and yields nicely when I put the hammer down. It was fun >> to combine vintage and modern components and get everything working and >> clicking without much issue. I didn't hold back and was able to use the >> exact components I wanted in every instance, without compromise. >> >> I melded Campagnolo Chorus shifters with a Shimano XTR rear derailer for >> a nicely-indexing Scampy drivetrain. I think it all came together for a >> classic, understated build. >> >> The Ergopower shifters and Maes Parallel bars are new to me and I'm a >> huge fan of both, they feel great. I love the long ramps and shallow drops >> on the bars. The frame is bigger than I'm accustomed to at 62cm. I have a >> lot of reach with the longer top tube, longer stem and longer ramps >> compared to my mainstay drop-bar bike, the 57cm Sam Hillborne. But nothing >> feels weird or uncomfortable. If the right 23-1/2" frame falls out of the >> sky I might consider swapping all the components over. There's some pretty >> significant toe overlap but I'm learning to get used to it. >> >> I put some more build and inspo pictures up here >> <https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SCNFkFqnB68sovJeygMBfWeJz9gRMiyW> >> if >> you'd care to have a look. >> >> Cheers! >> >> Build list: >> >> >> - 1970 or 1971 Raleigh International, 24.5” (62cm) >> - Mavic Open Pro / Dura Ace 7700 wheels (700C, 32/32h) >> - Simplex skewers >> - Rene Herse Barlow Pass 700x38mm extralight tires >> - Rene Herse TPU tubes >> - SRAM PG970 12-28 9-speed cassette >> - Nitto Technomic stem, 9cm >> - Rene Herse Maes Parallel bars, 46cm >> - Blue Lug acrylic bar tape >> - Velox bar-end plugs >> - Campagnolo Ergopower Chorus 10-speed shifters >> - Campagnolo Super Record front derailer >> - Shimano XTR M952 rear derailer >> - Campagnolo Record titanium seatpost >> - Gilles Berthoud Aravis saddle, titanium rails >> - MAFAC Racer brakes with Kool Stop pads >> - TA Specialites Pro 5 Vis cranks, 170mm >> - TA Specialites Pro 5 Vis chainrings, 46/30 >> - MKS All-Ways pedals >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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