This 'aerospace contour' sticker is living on an oldish Raleigh Pulsar, I don't know the story behind it, but wow do I suddenly want a space shuttle graphic on my own bike.
It comes with the usual guarantees of supposedly quality tubing, in this case 18 - 23 controlled carbon.
Regular viewers will notice this has been locked up in exactly the same place as that classic Raleigh town bike I posted the other day. That's one thing I'm noticing that's different between Nottingham and Lund. Whereas in Lund there was a mass of locked bikes that sat indefinitely in the racks around the town, bikes in Nottingham move. After a certain time in the evening, most bikes have disappeared off with their owner (well you hope with their owner). Perhaps it is just a prevalence of bike theft that keeps the locked bike population down?
I had a Raleigh Pulsar from new - brought from George Halls Cycles in Market Harborough, Leicestershire in 1986 to 1988 (cannot remember exact year I bought it). I did a deal with my parents - they lent the cash so that I could use the bike as transport to various holiday and weekend jobs in order to pay them back. The bike did very many miles and took a couple of years to payback - I didn't realise then but I must have been quite fit. Anyway, the aerospace contour sticker was an original detail put on by Raleigh - the bike was 'different' due to the oval shaped down tube, at the time I imagined it helped me to go a bit faster - simply having less hair may have helped the drag more!!! The bike in the picture also has the original saddle. My bike is still alive but has not been kicking for some time - I am feeling inspired so may spend my afternoon stripping it down ready for a new lease of life.
ReplyDeleteI have recently became the owner of one of these beautiful bikes, for free! The sad thing was that the previous owner, from who I got it from, did not take care of it, so it was covered in rust. They were going to take it to the local scrap yard as I passed them. I complimented the look of the bike and they asked if I wanted it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have been restoring the bike to it's former glory, the only things that I have had to change are the tyres, inner tubes, the grip tape, the rim break pads and a break cable cover. I am getting some grey/silver leather to re-upholster the saddle. I have removed and treated the rust. Other than that, everything on the bike is original from when it was first released.
Call me an idiot for wasting my time, but it was this kind of bike that got me into cycling and you can't be too sure that this kind of bike will be available for a long time as it is quickly going out of fashion (which is a shame).
This is the bike I had as a kid. Still in decent shape in my parents garage.
ReplyDeleteMy parents gifted mine, just about the time I asked if it still existed in their garage.
ReplyDeleteThat and my sisters Grifter
Just sold mine, what years were they produced ?
ReplyDeleteI have just got one of these its still brand new its never been ridden pedals in the box wrap still on the bars
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