Although it was available in the USA, these are a lot easier to find in their home country, the UK, and its other former colonies like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.
I miss the Super Cycle Twenty so when the opportunity came to rescue
a Raleigh Twenty that had been exposed to harsh elements, it became the perfect candidate for my
minimalist, Mini-Velo-inspired R20.
While taking the bike apart, I had to use a hacksaw to remove the
rust frozen chain, chain guard, amongst other things that were once attached with a nut or bolt ;(
The steel rims were also suffering the ravages of oxidation. Two weeks of soaking the Sturmey-Archer AW 3-speed hub in WD-40 and it still wouldn't budge. I finally decided it was best to build a new set of wheels and revisit the AW hub at a later date.
My next challenge was dismantling the headset/fork. Somehow the top nylon bushing fused with the stem, fork and headset assembly. While I was playing at the
Shippensburg Music Festival, I discovered a local bicycle shop, the owner of which succeeded in taking them apart, as well as a stubborn cotter pin in the crank set. Thanks Terry!
Eventually, I got the frame stripped and prepared for repainting.
Parts for a new wheel set: Sun CR-18 406 36H rims, SRAM Automatix 2-speed coaster brake rear hub, Sovos alloy front hub with a 5/16" axle, DT Swiss 185mm double-butted spokes + brass nipples
After heeding advice from the nice folks at
The Raleigh Twenty forum, I used the
Pro Wheel Builder to calculate for spoke length and settled on one spoke length for both front and rear wheels. The front wheel ended up laced in a 2-cross pattern while the rear is a standard 3-cross.
The frame and fork were painted using 2 cans of Rustoleum black hammerite and left to dry for a week. After cleaning the bottom bracket assembly (cups and axle), it turned out to be in excellent condition. I just repacked the bottom bracket with Phil Wood grease using brand new 1/4" ball bearings. Using a wire brush attachment to an electric drill, the 44T chainwheel and cranks polished up nicely, then I fitted a pair of lighter folding pedals.
A Ritchey Logic headset replaced the original nylon bushing.
The Origin 8 Classique Sport leather saddle + alloy seat post is significantly lighter than the original Brooks touring saddle with coil springs and its matching steel post. Kenda 20 x 1.75 road tires with new inner tubes were fitted to the rims.
Cork Grips + H
2O bottle
Commissioned on Aug. 30, 2016 using the stock 44T chainring + 19T cog supplied by SRAM yielding a low 43.3 and high 58.9
gear inches. As reported in this
blog, the SRAM Automatix tends to up shift too early. I haven't done the recommended hack to address this issue but
bookmarked it for future reference. Meanwhile, I've learned that modulating pedal pressure prevents shifting too soon, while a slight backpedal or merely coasting can re-engage low gear. I was more concerned with the rather low gear ratios so after almost 50 kilometers of riding, I replaced the 19T with a 16T cog for a longer effective stride of 51.4 and 70
gear inches, respectively.
Looking forward to fun-filled cycling moments on this bike ;)