Thank you swinging by my post fine folks of r/Vintage_bicycles I’d love to hear some input on what it could be worth / where i should look to sell/renovate it or if it’s of bigger interest to a museum/collector. My knowledge of bicycles is limited so any advice or insights are greatly appreciated. The bike gifted to me by a relative who purchased a house and it was stashed under a small roof outside for who knows how long
Darnocpdx on
Love the bike, it’s not often seen much anymore. Even as a vintage Raleigh enthusiast, I’m sad sad to say kid bikes are almost always charity work, especially how much work this one needs.
Personally, I’d keep it as a hobby project and rat-rod it out.
Added : rusty but I bet it all still works. A few drops of straight 30 weight non synthetic motor oil in the hub and down the front seat tube will lube the hub and BB, then adjust the shift cable.
mikefitzvw on
That’s badass. I would restore the whole thing, but leave the frame as-is, and it would look pretty sick. You can probably polish the crankset, rims, hubs, and maybe some other miscellaneous chrome bits, but you will probably want to replace some of the more rusted ones. Raleigh had famously great chrome plating though, so you might be surprised what comes back when you put these up to a wire wheel on a bench grinder (and you will need to; many of these parts are too difficult to do by hand). For the bottom bracket, bikesmithdesign.com sells cotter pins and a cotter press tool, and you absolutely should use them. A hammer tends to ruin everything.
Rebuilt hubs, bb, headset, new chain, tires, cables and housing and you’ll have a sweet old Chopper.
tiregroove on
Give up on any thoughts of a ‘museum piece.’ This is not it. What museum are you even thinking of? There are already pristine examples everywhere as it is.
Someone obviously took the most valuable part already, the shifter. Even one in absolutely crappy rusty shape will set you back £100 at least.
The whole bike needs a major cleaning and it would help if you already have bike-cleanup skills. Those cottered cranks will be a pain to reinstall without the proper press and new cotter pins. I personally hate them, they make maintenance a huge pain and I’d replace them with a square-taper bottom bracket and crankset but if you’re overly-sensitive to a bunch of purist strangers who are gonna constantly harass you about it…
Do you have what it takes to disassemble the entire bike piece by piece and clean it meticulously?
Sea-Ingenuity5595 on
Ah, the mystery of the vintage Chopper! Let’s hope it’s worth more than a bag of marbles and some bubblegum. Good luck!
6 Comments
Thank you swinging by my post fine folks of r/Vintage_bicycles I’d love to hear some input on what it could be worth / where i should look to sell/renovate it or if it’s of bigger interest to a museum/collector. My knowledge of bicycles is limited so any advice or insights are greatly appreciated. The bike gifted to me by a relative who purchased a house and it was stashed under a small roof outside for who knows how long
Love the bike, it’s not often seen much anymore. Even as a vintage Raleigh enthusiast, I’m sad sad to say kid bikes are almost always charity work, especially how much work this one needs.
Personally, I’d keep it as a hobby project and rat-rod it out.
Added : rusty but I bet it all still works. A few drops of straight 30 weight non synthetic motor oil in the hub and down the front seat tube will lube the hub and BB, then adjust the shift cable.
That’s badass. I would restore the whole thing, but leave the frame as-is, and it would look pretty sick. You can probably polish the crankset, rims, hubs, and maybe some other miscellaneous chrome bits, but you will probably want to replace some of the more rusted ones. Raleigh had famously great chrome plating though, so you might be surprised what comes back when you put these up to a wire wheel on a bench grinder (and you will need to; many of these parts are too difficult to do by hand). For the bottom bracket, bikesmithdesign.com sells cotter pins and a cotter press tool, and you absolutely should use them. A hammer tends to ruin everything.
Rebuilt hubs, bb, headset, new chain, tires, cables and housing and you’ll have a sweet old Chopper.
Give up on any thoughts of a ‘museum piece.’ This is not it. What museum are you even thinking of? There are already pristine examples everywhere as it is.
Someone obviously took the most valuable part already, the shifter. Even one in absolutely crappy rusty shape will set you back £100 at least.
The whole bike needs a major cleaning and it would help if you already have bike-cleanup skills. Those cottered cranks will be a pain to reinstall without the proper press and new cotter pins. I personally hate them, they make maintenance a huge pain and I’d replace them with a square-taper bottom bracket and crankset but if you’re overly-sensitive to a bunch of purist strangers who are gonna constantly harass you about it…
Do you have what it takes to disassemble the entire bike piece by piece and clean it meticulously?
Ah, the mystery of the vintage Chopper! Let’s hope it’s worth more than a bag of marbles and some bubblegum. Good luck!
“Get to the chopper”