Am I crazy, or could this work?

Keith Boone

I have two unused bikes in my garage that I am thinking about
cannibalizing to make one working commuting bike.

The first is an old English built Raleigh from the "12 speed" era
which I think makes it roughly 20-25 years old. The frame says Reynolds
20-30, and it has the really great retro-look touring geometry that I like
so much.

Also in my garage is another unused bike: a modern looking criterium
frame with aggressive angles, straight forks, and a ride that I find too
harsh and twitchy for my tastes. This second bike has Campy 8 speed
Veloce components.

What are the chances of moving the full set of Campy components over to
the Raleigh frame? I know the purists out there will cringe at the very
idea, but is there any reason why it wouldn't work? I used to own the
exact identical female version of the Raleigh, which I gave away to a
friend. My friend replaced all the parts with Shimano Deora (or possibly
Tiagra???) and built it back up for his wife. This worked well, so now
I'm wondering if the same thing could be done with the Campy parts.

Tim McNamara

Keith Boone <kboone@nospam.rogers.com> writes:

> I have two unused bikes in my garage that I am thinking about
> cannibalizing to make one working commuting bike.
>
> The first is an old English built Raleigh from the "12 speed" era
> which I think makes it roughly 20-25 years old. The frame says Reynolds
> 20-30, and it has the really great retro-look touring geometry that I like
> so much.
>
> Also in my garage is another unused bike: a modern looking criterium
> frame with aggressive angles, straight forks, and a ride that I find too
> harsh and twitchy for my tastes. This second bike has Campy 8 speed
> Veloce components.
>
> What are the chances of moving the full set of Campy components over to
> the Raleigh frame?

No reaosn it couldn't work. You'd have to respace the rear triangle-
your rear dropouts are currently 126 mm apart and they will need to
be 130 mm for the Campy 8 speed. Other than that, it ought to be a
straight swap for parts- the only other complications I could see are
if the Raleigh doesn't have downtube shifter braze-ons to mount the
cable housing stops, and if the Campy brakes won't reach the rims.

Tom Sherman

Keith Boone wrote:

> ... I used to own the
> exact identical female version of the Raleigh, which I gave away to a
> friend. My friend replaced all the parts with Shimano Deora...

Male bike: Shimano Deore
Female bike: Shimano Deora

--
Tom Sherman – Quad Cities (Illinois Side)

Chalo

Keith Boone <kboone@nospam.rogers.com> wrote;

> What are the chances of moving the full set of Campy components over to
> the Raleigh frame?

An English-built Raleigh is more than likely afflicted with all those
abominable 26tpi parts that render so many otherwise desirable old
Raleighs worthless.

If that's the case with yours, you may have to keep the English
headset and (worse) the bottom bracket and maybe even (ugh) the
cranks.

I'd investigate a bit, and consider updating another old bike if yours
is a "real" Raleigh.

Chalo Colina

"With bikes this fubar, who needs the French?"