For Sale: 1983 Raleigh Stratos, 60cm / 23½” + Kryptonite Keeper Chain 85cm

• #1

BigglesZX

My first bike sale on LFGSS – I hope I'm doing it right.

TLDR: Seeking £80 for the bike, £15 for like-new Kryptonite Keeper Chain 85cm (like this) with one (1) key. Or £90 for both. Located in N7.

Bought on a whim on fleabay three years ago as I wanted the diversion of rebuilding an old bike. Having done that and very much enjoyed it, however, I haven’t really ridden it much, so I think it’s time to find it a new home. It has clearly “seen action” as I will explain below, but I think it would make a lovely pub bike, town bike or even just a source of parts.

Vital statistics:
1983 men’s Raleigh Stratos in “Electric Blue”
60cm (23½”) center-to-top measurement
10-speed (Suntour Volante 5-speed rear derailleur × Compe V double up front)
Modern 700c wheels of unknown brand; modern cassette (see below)
Like-new Gatorskin 25mm tyres
Charge Spoon saddle

I was able to find the pages from the ‘83 Raleigh catalogue; you can see the original spread here and here. What a time that was! I wonder what happened to the “alloy inflator”. In terms of sizing, it sounds enormous but I'm 5’ 11” and have been quite comfortable on it.

Original Weinmann caliper brakes and levers with Dia-Compe extension levers. Original handlebars, stem, down-tube shifters and seatpost (which is not seized; just checked). Modern generic platform pedals. During the rebuild I replaced the chain with a KMC X9-93 and replaced the brake blocks with Clarks CP100s. It also got new brake and gear cables and outers, new headset and bottom-bracket bearings, and new bar tape. It cleaned up reasonably well – you can see there are still plenty of dings and little bits of surface rust and perma-grime, but on the whole considering its age I think it’s still looking pretty good.

Now, the quirks. When I rode it home after buying, I noticed a degree of “crabbing” – it turned out the rear triangle was slightly bent. Quite how that happened I cannot say – there’s no visible crash damage on the frame, for example – but in any case I was able to cold-set it straight and have ridden ~130 incident-free miles on it since. There are a few other idiosyncrasies resulting from the mixture of original and modern parts. Modern hubs are wider than they were back in ‘83, so the front wheel is quite tight in the fork which is a bit of a faff when removing/replacing. Ditto in the rear - I think the dropouts have been spread at some point to try to accommodate a modern wheel. The rear wheel has a modern 9-speed cassette – but the original Suntour derailleur is a 5-speed, so it sits in the middle of the cassette and leaves the highest/lowest sprockets untouched. This probably sounds awful but actually works fine. The chain skips occasionally which is probably just due to chainring wear. And obviously the brakes aren’t as good as modern equivalents – the Weinmanns having a tendency to flex a bit – but they work fine.

You now know as much as I do about the bike. I hope it piques someone’s interest and I can find a good home for it. It’s currently secured with a Kryptonite Chain Keeper 85cm, which I also wish to part with. I’m after £80 for the bike, £15 if you just want the lock, or £90 for both. I’m in N7, near the stadium, happy to meet reasonably locally just about any time. Or if you’re further afield, really want it and don’t mind paying for shipping, I’m happy to look into that.

I think I’ve managed to attach five reasonable photos – but there are hi-res versions and loads more here showing the various details; do have a look. Questions, comments – fire away.

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