my 'new' Twenty

[Tom Keats]

I just 'inherited' a (Nottingham) Raleigh Twenty 3-spd folder,
in babied-all-its-life condition. C/w chain guard, rack,
chrome fenders, bell, 2-legged kickstand and a springy plushy
wide-ass tractor seat that's gotta go. Chromed steel 20"
rims, cottered (ugh) cranks.

My immediate instinct is to do something about the
bottom bracket & crankset (I had a peek at Sheldon Brown's
Raleigh Twenty page) and the rims. But I think I'll keep
it stock for the moment -- maybe tewl around on it a little
when the weather is fair. I'm gonna keep my eyes open for
an orig Raleigh pleather saddle, though.

It's very pretty. I can't really determine the colour
in the basement's artificial lighting here -- it appears
to be something between plum-brown and copper spackle.

This ride has 'fun' written all over it. I think I'm
gonna enjoy this.


cheers,
Tom


--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article >,
(Tom Keats) wrote:

> I just 'inherited' a (Nottingham) Raleigh Twenty 3-spd folder,
> in babied-all-its-life condition. C/w chain guard, rack,
> chrome fenders, bell, 2-legged kickstand and a springy plushy
> wide-ass tractor seat that's gotta go. Chromed steel 20"
> rims, cottered (ugh) cranks.

Sweet! I am utterly in favour of the idea of eventually upgrading this
bike within an inch of its life.

As you surely know, the cheapest, most effective upgrade to this bike is
to put an aluminum rim on the front, and for that, just get a BMX wheel
from somewhere.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

[Neil Brooks]

(Tom Keats) wrote:

>I just 'inherited' a (Nottingham) Raleigh Twenty 3-spd folder,
>in babied-all-its-life condition. C/w chain guard, rack,
>chrome fenders, bell, 2-legged kickstand and a springy plushy
>wide-ass tractor seat that's gotta go. Chromed steel 20"
>rims, cottered (ugh) cranks.
>
>My immediate instinct is to do something about the
>bottom bracket & crankset (I had a peek at Sheldon Brown's
>Raleigh Twenty page) and the rims. But I think I'll keep
>it stock for the moment -- maybe tewl around on it a little
>when the weather is fair. I'm gonna keep my eyes open for
>an orig Raleigh pleather saddle, though.
>
>It's very pretty. I can't really determine the colour
>in the basement's artificial lighting here -- it appears
>to be something between plum-brown and copper spackle.
>
>This ride has 'fun' written all over it. I think I'm
>gonna enjoy this.

Uh, Tom ... umm ... pictures??
--
Live simply so that others may simply live

[Tom Keats]

In article >,
Neil Brooks > writes:

>>This ride has 'fun' written all over it. I think I'm
>>gonna enjoy this.
>
> Uh, Tom ... umm ... pictures??

How I long for a camera! In the meantime,

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/raleigh-twenty.html

shows something like it. Except mine has the orig
chain guard. But it lacks the frame pump that goes behind
the seatpost (has the pegs for it, though.)

The thing is pretty heavy, though. I wouldn't classify
it as a commuting folder. It's more like something to
stow on your boat or in your camping trailer.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[Tom Keats]

In article >,
Ryan Cousineau > writes:
> In article >,
> (Tom Keats) wrote:
>
>> I just 'inherited' a (Nottingham) Raleigh Twenty 3-spd folder,
>> in babied-all-its-life condition. C/w chain guard, rack,
>> chrome fenders, bell, 2-legged kickstand and a springy plushy
>> wide-ass tractor seat that's gotta go. Chromed steel 20"
>> rims, cottered (ugh) cranks.
>
> Sweet! I am utterly in favour of the idea of eventually upgrading this
> bike within an inch of its life.

I'd like to, but maybe in a reversable way so it can be
restored to stock. I think I'll keep the handlebar & stem.
Remember those ol' Raleigh handgrips with the holes in the
ends that you could plug streamers into? Don't worry --
I'm not gonna do that.

> As you surely know, the cheapest, most effective upgrade to this bike is
> to put an aluminum rim on the front, and for that, just get a BMX wheel
> from somewhere.

Come to think of it, I believe I've got a couple of 20" BMX
wheels out in the garage. I just hope they aren't steel too.

Aw, great! Yet another spoke length to deal with. :-)


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[Neil Brooks]

(Tom Keats) wrote:

>In article >,
> Neil Brooks > writes:
>
>>>This ride has 'fun' written all over it. I think I'm
>>>gonna enjoy this.
>>
>> Uh, Tom ... umm ... pictures??
>
>How I long for a camera! In the meantime,
>
> http://www.sheldonbrown.com/raleigh-twenty.html
>
>shows something like it. Except mine has the orig
>chain guard. But it lacks the frame pump that goes behind
>the seatpost (has the pegs for it, though.)
>
>The thing is pretty heavy, though. I wouldn't classify
>it as a commuting folder. It's more like something to
>stow on your boat or in your camping trailer.

What an truly excellent acquisition!

Is there a story to this 'inheritance' that's worth telling?

I've been all over the notion of my first project bike of late. Think
it's going to be an early-to-mid 80's Japanese frame that becomes a
singlespeed. So I have a vicarious buzz from your new ride.

Many happy miles on 'er!
--
Live simply so that others may simply live

[Tom Keats]

In article >,
Neil Brooks > writes:

> What an truly excellent acquisition!
>
> Is there a story to this 'inheritance' that's worth telling?

Yeah, but it's a sad one. The bike belonged to my next-door
neighbour's neighbour. He's got a fatal illness (liver cancer
I think) and doesn't have much longer to go. The fellow, Clem,
is a Scot and he brought the bike over from Scotland. He's a
real nice guy. Interestingly, he used to hand-build bicycle
wheels for a living. That's his story, anyway. He's been
divesting himself of his worldly possessions and he specifically
wanted me to have the bike. If I didn't take it, someone else
who'd quickly flip it for $20 for lottery tickets would have.
So I want to fix 'er up real nice in Clem's honour.

> I've been all over the notion of my first project bike of late. Think
> it's going to be an early-to-mid 80's Japanese frame that becomes a
> singlespeed. So I have a vicarious buzz from your new ride.
>
> Many happy miles on 'er!

I don't intend to encumber it with lugubriosity; I intend to
derive much pleasure from it. And I will. That's how Clem
wants it.

I guess I'm really more the bike's guardian than its owner.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[Zoot Katz]

On Mon, 2 Jan 2006 22:30:46 -0800, (Tom Keats)
wrote, in part:

>>
>> Many happy miles on 'er!
>
>I don't intend to encumber it with lugubriosity; I intend to
>derive much pleasure from it. And I will. That's how Clem
>wants it.
>
Clem? Is that a diminutive form of Clementine?

>I guess I'm really more the bike's guardian than its owner.

If we aren't their guardians, then shortly, sure as spit, somebody
else is going to be owning them.
--
zk

[Tom Keats]

In article >,
Zoot Katz > writes:
> On Mon, 2 Jan 2006 22:30:46 -0800, (Tom Keats)
> wrote, in part:
>
>>>
>>> Many happy miles on 'er!
>>
>>I don't intend to encumber it with lugubriosity; I intend to
>>derive much pleasure from it. And I will. That's how Clem
>>wants it.
>>
> Clem? Is that a diminutive form of Clementine?

The masculine version: Clement. I suppose it's one of those
"head whipper" names of which Claire speaks. One doesn't
hear it very much these days. Maybe he was named after
Prime Minister Attlee. Or a Pope. Or the Red Skelton character.

>>I guess I'm really more the bike's guardian than its owner.
>
> If we aren't their guardians, then shortly, sure as spit, somebody
> else is going to be owning them.

Well, as long as they're used and appreciated, I ain't complainin'.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[[email protected]]

Tom,

I added alloy wheels to my Twenty, and it does help with the braking,
though the long brake arms are also the cuplprit (they are needed to
clear both the fender and the typical fat n' tall 20" tires). I just
put a BMX wheel on the front, and for the rear took the lazy way out by
simply transferring the hub, spokes, and nipples over to an alloy rim.


And due to my long legs, I also had to construct my own setpost set-up,
as the longest alloy one I could find (400) did not leave enough post
in the tube for safety. Otherwise the rest of it is just old (and
heavy) Twenty. I keep thinking of hotrodding it, but as it is right
now it's a fine bike for visitors, since it can acoomodate just about
anyone.

http://drumbent.com/folders.html

Cheers,
Mark

[Neil Brooks]

wrote:

>Tom,
>
>I added alloy wheels to my Twenty, and it does help with the braking,
>though the long brake arms are also the cuplprit (they are needed to
>clear both the fender and the typical fat n' tall 20" tires). I just
>put a BMX wheel on the front, and for the rear took the lazy way out by
>simply transferring the hub, spokes, and nipples over to an alloy rim.
>
>
>And due to my long legs, I also had to construct my own setpost set-up,
>as the longest alloy one I could find (400) did not leave enough post
>in the tube for safety. Otherwise the rest of it is just old (and
>heavy) Twenty. I keep thinking of hotrodding it, but as it is right
>now it's a fine bike for visitors, since it can acoomodate just about
>anyone.
>
>http://drumbent.com/folders.html

She's a beauty.

Never having ridden one of its ilk (I just like that word), I have to
ask: is it squirrelly in handling?
--
Live simply so that others may simply live

[Will]

Tom Keats wrote:
> I just 'inherited' a (Nottingham) Raleigh Twenty 3-spd folder,
> in babied-all-its-life condition.

Check out this job...

http://212.67.202.78/~littlepixel/twenty/index.htm

Will

[Dane Buson]

Tom Keats > wrote:
> I just 'inherited' a (Nottingham) Raleigh Twenty 3-spd folder,
> in babied-all-its-life condition. C/w chain guard, rack,
> chrome fenders, bell, 2-legged kickstand and a springy plushy
> wide-ass tractor seat that's gotta go. Chromed steel 20"
> rims, cottered (ugh) cranks.

Nice. I have a Twenty that's sitting at the end of my project
queue. I've rebuilt the rear wheel with a Spectra S7 drum brake
hub, but I haven't had time to spread the frame or fiddle with
it in a while. I need to build a grocery bike up first, now
that my old one has passed on (cracked frame).

> This ride has 'fun' written all over it. I think I'm
> gonna enjoy this.

The few times I've ridden it, I did find it to be a surprisingly
good ride. The brakes are utter crap though...

--
Dane Buson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"It could probably be shown be facts and figures that there
is no distinctively native American criminal class except
Congress." -Mark Twain

[Claire Petersky]

"Tom Keats" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Zoot Katz > writes:
>> On Mon, 2 Jan 2006 22:30:46 -0800, (Tom Keats)
>> wrote, in part:

>>>I don't intend to encumber it with lugubriosity; I intend to
>>>derive much pleasure from it. And I will. That's how Clem
>>>wants it.
>>>
>> Clem? Is that a diminutive form of Clementine?
>
> The masculine version: Clement. I suppose it's one of those
> "head whipper" names of which Claire speaks. One doesn't
> hear it very much these days.

So it isn't a head-whipper, in that it hasn't been revived from days of
yore. An example of a head-whipper is if you were born in 1970 with the name
Emma, which is now a top ten baby name for girls. Back in 1970 it was #448.
Or Isabella -- it wasn't even on the charts from 1950 - 1980, and now it
ranks #7. You spend a portion of your life never hearing your name for
anyone but yourself, and then, bam, it gets popular with a generation
younger than you.

Clement hasn't been in the top 1000 of US boys' names since 1960. Yeah, your
head would whip around if you heard it being called on the playground, but
no one's calling that time these days.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article . com>,
wrote:

> Tom,
>
> I added alloy wheels to my Twenty, and it does help with the braking,
> though the long brake arms are also the cuplprit (they are needed to
> clear both the fender and the typical fat n' tall 20" tires). I just
> put a BMX wheel on the front, and for the rear took the lazy way out by
> simply transferring the hub, spokes, and nipples over to an alloy rim.
>
>
> And due to my long legs, I also had to construct my own setpost set-up,
> as the longest alloy one I could find (400) did not leave enough post
> in the tube for safety. Otherwise the rest of it is just old (and
> heavy) Twenty. I keep thinking of hotrodding it, but as it is right
> now it's a fine bike for visitors, since it can acoomodate just about
> anyone.
>
> http://drumbent.com/folders.html
>
> Cheers,
> Mark

Hey Mark: I like your Auto-Mini, too!

I have one of 'em, a blue one:

http://wiredcola.blogspot.com/2005/08/auto-mini-and-sachs-torpedo-duomati
c.html

Does yours have a Sachs Torpedo Duomatic hub too?

-RjC.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

[Tom Keats]

In article . com>,
"Will" > writes:
>
> Tom Keats wrote:
>> I just 'inherited' a (Nottingham) Raleigh Twenty 3-spd folder,
>> in babied-all-its-life condition.
>
> Check out this job...
>
> http://212.67.202.78/~littlepixel/twenty/index.htm

Oooh, that's so nicely done-up. I've been looking at a bunch
of sites dedictated to Twenties and I noticed several folks going
with the suspension idea. Also getting rid of the stock nylon
upper headset bushing and replacing it with a proper ball bearing.
That's something I'm considering.


Luv the V-brakes -- those'll make the bike stop. I'm still
thinking of what to do about the stock, flexy brakes on my
own Twenty. But I want to keep the chrome fenders. Actually
I'm tempted to seek out a streamlined, art deco-ish, chrome
headlight housing and mount it on the front fender (more for
looks than for function.) Somewhere along the line I read
some accounts of installing drum brakes. hmmm ...


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[Tom Keats]

In article . com>,
writes:
> Tom,
>
> I added alloy wheels to my Twenty, and it does help with the braking,
> though the long brake arms are also the cuplprit (they are needed to
> clear both the fender and the typical fat n' tall 20" tires). I just
> put a BMX wheel on the front, and for the rear took the lazy way out by
> simply transferring the hub, spokes, and nipples over to an alloy rim.

Yeah, that's pretty much my plan for the moment too.

> And due to my long legs, I also had to construct my own setpost set-up,
> as the longest alloy one I could find (400) did not leave enough post
> in the tube for safety. Otherwise the rest of it is just old (and
> heavy) Twenty. I keep thinking of hotrodding it, but as it is right
> now it's a fine bike for visitors, since it can acoomodate just about
> anyone.
>
> http://drumbent.com/folders.html

Oh yes, I came across your site while following the link from Sheldon
Brown's page to John Allens to ... all over the place, so much that
I can't keep track. I never realized Twenty riders were such a Society.

Thank you for sharing the info about your own Twenty via the Web.
Now I have yet another incentive to obtain a camera, and do the same.

I like that you kept the AW 3-speed (same as I've got.) It's too
easy to go nuts and go for broke, and I caught myself wondering if
I could fit a Rohloff in there. Even if I could, I couldn't afford
it right now. Maybe in the future.

As for accomodating people, one feature I immediatedly appreciated
was the bike's step-through-ness.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[Tom Keats]

In article >,
"Claire Petersky" > writes:

> So it isn't a head-whipper, in that it hasn't been revived from days of
> yore. An example of a head-whipper is if you were born in 1970 with the name
> Emma, which is now a top ten baby name for girls. Back in 1970 it was #448.
> Or Isabella -- it wasn't even on the charts from 1950 - 1980, and now it
> ranks #7. You spend a portion of your life never hearing your name for
> anyone but yourself, and then, bam, it gets popular with a generation
> younger than you.

I think I get it now -- you go for years answering to your name without
even looking to see who's calling you because your the only one.
Then all of a sudden you hear your name called, someone else answers,
and you whip your head around to see who's your "impersonator"?

> Clement hasn't been in the top 1000 of US boys' names since 1960. Yeah, your
> head would whip around if you heard it being called on the playground, but
> no one's calling that time these days.

Now that it's been publicized on Usenet maybe people will start
picking up on it.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[Tom Keats]

In article >,
Dane Buson > writes:

> Nice. I have a Twenty that's sitting at the end of my project
> queue. I've rebuilt the rear wheel with a Spectra S7 drum brake
> hub, but I haven't had time to spread the frame or fiddle with
> it in a while. I need to build a grocery bike up first, now
> that my old one has passed on (cracked frame).

I've been considering using mine for a grocery bike. I like
that the load would be so low. OTOH the bike looks kind of
dismantleable for leaving parked outside. OTOOH, it looks
like one could almost tie the frame around a sign pole.
It'll be good for scootin' around to the neighbourhood
coffee or confection places, though.

>> This ride has 'fun' written all over it. I think I'm
>> gonna enjoy this.
>
> The few times I've ridden it, I did find it to be a surprisingly
> good ride. The brakes are utter crap though...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You can say that again. I tried locking the front brake and
rocking the bike back & forth. The brake wiggled like a
loose tooth. I haven't seen so much flex since Belinda
Stronach crossed the floor to join the Federal Liberal Party.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

[[email protected]]

Hey, your 'Mini has a much cooler paint job! Alas, mine did not have
the Duomatic, only a single-speed coaster. I sold it to a friend, and
then about a year a later I converted it to a 3-speed for her (since
I'm part of a bike repair collective the parts were on hand, esp. for
the rear brake that had to be added). I've since seen only one other
one, and it was a stock 3-speed.

I must link to your page, because it's hard to find anything on the
'Mini, and every now and then someone emails me because my webpage
comes up first when you Google "auto-mini".

Cheers,
Mark