I always loved and longed to have one of these light roadsters.
I know it not comparable in quality perhaps, but I'm regularly perusing the Raleigh Lenton group.
'Light Roadster' is probably an obsolete expression. By 'roadster' I mean a bike with rod brakes and Westwood rims. It would probably also have seat stays that are bolted up rather than brazed, and rearward opening fork ends (you can't really use the word 'track' in this context) By 'light' I think the trade just meant no chaincase, although as I said, this bike is fairly light. So Raleigh Lentons would not fit this description - they would probably have been described as 'sports'.
There is often an assumption that the riding position on these bikes is very upright, and most of them have the saddle very low, almost on the top tube, and the handlebar stem very high. You can see from the photos, that I reversed this arrangement. As we know this spreads the rider's weight more evenly and makes it possible to ride into the wind. I believe this wasn't an uncommon practice back in the day.
Anyway, I'm not saying anything against Lentons here, and I can certainly say there is a benefit in not having a super lightweight as one gets older - these bikes are only slightly slower, but give you a good excuse for not riding fast!
'Light Roadster' is probably an obsolete expression. By 'roadster' I mean a bike with rod brakes and Westwood rims. It would probably also have seat stays that are bolted up rather than brazed, and rearward opening fork ends (you can't really use the word 'track' in this context) By 'light' I think the trade just meant no chaincase, although as I said, this bike is fairly light. So Raleigh Lentons would not fit this description - they would probably have been described as 'sports'.
There is often an assumption that the riding position on these bikes is very upright, and most of them have the saddle very low, almost on the top tube, and the handlebar stem very high. You can see from the photos, that I reversed this arrangement. As we know this spreads the rider's weight more evenly and makes it possible to ride into the wind. I believe this wasn't an uncommon practice back in the day.
Anyway, I'm not saying anything against Lentons here, and I can certainly say there is a benefit in not having a super lightweight as one gets older - these bikes are only slightly slower, but give you a good excuse for not riding fast!