Raleigh Randonneur 708 (RSP) - fat tyre trad touring Welsh countryside botherer

@josē thanks for the kind words, and the heads up - will certainly have a look into the options

Talking of options, think I may have solved the hub conundrum: turns out Bitex now makes what looks like a sick touring-specific hub with a steel freehub body and a steel axle too… so basically an overbuilt version of the Hope RS4. £125 too so a little cheaper - happy to deal with a noisy freehub for something intended to take a bit of a hammering.

And also have decided to go SON on the front too, because I want to do this as nicely as I can first time.

1 Attachment

That Bitex hub is really good.
My flatmate has one on her daily commuter and it really is bombproof.
I wish I had known about them when I was having a rear wheel built last year for my commuter.

These look good - https://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collections/hubs/products/borg-wheels-1-1-lacing-hubset-rim-brake

Sweet, that's good to know! The folks at DCR Wheels have been lovely to deal with and I've now got one of these BX103R hubs on order from them, along with a spare axle and pawl set to tuck away for a rainy day. SON 28 dynamo will be ordered shortly too once I've pulled together the funds, and then I'll get these built up. Can anyone recommend a wheelbuilder in Cardiff?

The Bitex hub is here and it's well nice - machining is plenty decent and the freehub noise is somewhere between a Shimano whisper and a trendy swarm of bees. Very very happy

1 Attachment

excited to see this built, lovely build spec and frame

Great build and good find on that Bitex hub. It deserved something better than those Sputniks, but nobody can deny their bombproofness.
I too have been looking for a Raleigh Randonneur/Royal 708 to build up, but keep getting sidetracked by other projects. Someday...

Think I’ve got the funds together to get the SON hub and matching Edelux light ordered tomorrow, but today was an exercise in exploring some of the lanes that I intend to be bothering on the Raleigh

Does this Bombtrack Arise I’ve thrown together do 95% of what the Raleigh is gonna? Are the disc brakes better suited to the roads around here that also serve as drainage from the valley sides? I’ll let you answer that but also please don’t because I might cry a little bit

3 Attachments

doesn't have any of that joo-knee-say-kwah of the raleigh tho does it

joo-knee-say-kwah

we need that on a sticker

What you're actually doing is putting yourself in an opportune position to compare two functionally similar bikes of different lineage. Imagine the smug satisfaction you'll feel when you enter a thread on disc/rim brakes with that 'of the two of my bikes that are for all intents and purposes equivalent, I prefer the...', commanding authority and experience the rest of us withot enough shed space to double up on bikes with the same function...

I enjoy this reading of the situation - this also means that the Bombtrack can continue to be my designated 'bad ideas' bike

Re: the previous suggestion of helitape... this is the lufguss-approved stuff, right?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194067216391

You can't put a price on vibes

Keep both lovely steel frames for spring/summer/autumn and purchase a
carbon/aluminium monstrosity for the mire of winter. I do this and puzzle
many club riders.

purchase

done quite enough of that lately for a lifetime. Here's a case in point that's just arrived - they are awfully shiny though

1 Attachment

Excited to see how this turns out! Planning a randonneur build myself at the mo

Any updates on this luxurious lane botherer?