You are reading a single comment by @Wingedangel and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@Wingedangel
actually...yes ...this one is nice...it has a fairly tight geometry (you can see this by the gap between the back wheel and the seat tube, which means it will handle better than some others), it is 531 so is a little lighter than others, and the components are quiet good too, you will be able to clean the bike up adns not have to splurge a load of money on parts, (ie the cranks are of resonable quality, as are the wheels, and the brakes too. having looked they are shimano exage which is not bad. the cranks have a good popular 'bcd' which means the size of the chain rings is quite easy to find and not obsolete)
If you are buying any of those you have yet listed, then forget those... this is the one. as far as raliegh frames go it has nice details (see the seat clamp pinch bolt - it's tidy) and hopefully it will be reasonably cheap.
it will make an easy conversion as it is old enoughto have a 'screw on' cassette, ie you can take the 'stack' of gears of the back and put on a single speed, if you want.
will fairly little work you can convert it, if you win it we are all here to offer advice,.
However...as you know hardly anything about bikes, be warned, there is a huge amount of information here and on the webz...have a good scan first then feel free to ask silly questions.
Ed and Harry have a point however if you are looking and the bike happens to be 531 all the better, though bikes listed as 531 are going for a premium due to everyone looking for those tyypes of frame, it is a type of steel tubing that has a great deal of heritage (70 years) and is stiff and light. it makes for good frames and has become a fairly good indicator of a reasonable quality frame, as the frames get beter the numbers go up ( though other frames that are good can be made from different tubing, it is a ver indepth subject) though you don't need all this to build a nice bike.
though if you can get the raliegh for less than maybe 50-70 pounds you have paid a reasonable price, any more and it will start to be a little toppy, though it is a good place to start.