THE RALEIGH TWENTY
Your ever-expanding web resource for the Raleigh Twenty
Blog
Know what you don't know
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I was trying to think up a creative and intelligent name for this posting, but came up with nothing. What can you expect at 2:17am? This is bicycle-related so hear me out.
One of the best signs of wisdom is that someone knows what they don't know. They have an awareness of their own ignorance on certain subjects or in certain fields. For example. I know absolutely nothing about sky-diving, except that you exit a perfectly good aircraft in order to do it!
Here I have a website for which I regularly recieve compliments from many people across the world-wide-web. However as a project, I am still generally unhappy with it. Don't get me wrong, it is a run-away success and will probably outstrip my capacity to act as sole administrator and webmaster by the end of the year.
So where am I going with all this? This website is still incomplete. With much assistance and input from members I am currently preparing a new technical article on brakes for the Raleigh Twenty. I am acutely aware that there are stll huge gaps in my knowledge base. I have precious little material on the Raleigh Twenty built by Morrision Industries in New Zealand. In fact, I am aware of 2 frame variations and which to obtain an example of each.
As much as I might recieve compliments, honourable mentions or accoldes, there is still much to do. When I created this website my aim was to be the ultimate collection of information on the Raleigh Twenty on the internet. Perhaps this is the best website on the Raleigh Twenty. However I am aware of what still needs to be done to make this website complete.
The online forums was created so that the ever-growing numbers of site members could discuss and exchange information directly. From this I hope to build an online community and to continue to provide new information all the time.
It seems that I set out to put together some data on the website. The available information out there is mind-boggling. Who knew that this little bicycle would gain such a cult status? I don't think anyone ever knew, or would have imagined how quickly this website and this web-community would grow.
It pays to know about what you don't know.
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7 Comments
The steel brakes on the 451 equipped models are actually decent but the long reach Weinmann's on the 406 models have abysmal stopping power.
On the bright side... they can be improved on a great deal.
The closer you position the brake pads to the pivot point (fulcrum), the higher is the mechanical leverage and better stopping power for same force applied to the brake levers. Negative side is the free play is lesser and wheel truing is important.
Ns
Sixty Fiver says...
The technical article on the brakes should be very easy to write as they are among the worst performing brakes I have ever used.
The steel brakes on the 451 equipped models are actually decent but the long reach Weinmann's on the 406 models have abysmal stopping power.
On the bright side... they can be improved on a great deal.
The weinmann alloy brake units are effective brakes if set up properly as i have several road bikes with weinmann side pulls and never have any problems with brake efficency
what i do with these brakes is a complete strip down and clean what tends to happen is being alloy exposed to all sorts of weather the two surfaces which pivot against each other where the brake bolt fits through seizes up and no amount of resetting the brake cable will correct this ive even found grease applied in this area which had gone rock hard preventing the brake from working properly.
to get weinmann side pulls to work properly proceed as follows
remove brake unit from bike, remove the black plastic cap on the front of the brake bolt this reveals two nuts the outer one being a locknut using two spanners 10mm undo the locknut then slightly slacken the second nut(use a clean margarine tub to keep the parts safe) squeeze the caliper and release the spring from the brake unit, remove the second nut and the plastic washer under the nut, carefully seperate the two armsas there is a second plastic washer between the arns, remoce the spring which fits into a notch on the plastic block on the brake bolt,remove the cable clamp and adjuster(8mm nut) and store in the tub clean and polish using solvol autosol or brasso on a polishing mop on a bench grinder if at all possible and you will be amazed at the dirt and grime removed after 20 minutes work on each arm seperately, clean the threads on the brake bolt on a wire brush on a bench grinder and also the cable adjuster ensuring that the adjuster runs in the threads ok and also the cable clamp and nut.
reassembly is the reverse of dismantling refit to the bike and fit a new inner cable and new brake blocks and set up the brake and you will find that it will work better than before
john b says...
anyone know where to find original color for paint
take off the forks and go to a car paint supplier and they will be able to match the colour the reason ive said the forks is that the overspray on the steering column has never been exposed to daylight and therefore isnt faded etc.
dont know if they will make up the colour in spray cans for you with it being two pack now instead of cellulose but as long as you can find a correct colour match you will be able to buy the paint in halfords in spray cans iirc i think halfords now offer a paint matching service i do know that the blue used for raleigh choppers is a rolls royce colour but cant remember what car make the red for raleigh choppers is
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