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I completely forgot about this thread, I ended up with a seat post rack I could take on and off as I pleased, schwalbe city jets which I might be selling because I work closer to home now, I got mudguards on it and a new stem and grips. In between that I got a lot of riding in and I enjoyed the bike.

What size would the bearing cage be on this bike? 29mm? I saw some in eBay with the cups 34.8mm

My girlfriends dad has an old Raleigh rapide that he wants to get back on the road, he asked me to sort it out for him and get all the bits to get it back up and running. I gave it a look over and discovered that the bottom bracket has play in it and that's the main thing that needs changing. My question is what bottom bracket and tool will I need?


Also the front wheel has been replaced at some point in its life but the rear wheel is still original and the tyre size is 27x1 1/4 would a 700x28c tyre fit or would I have to find another 27" tyre? The front tyre is 700x28c

Also don't ever post just a non driveside photo again.

you have been warned...

Hahaha, I actually looked at the photo after I posted it and thought that I should've turned the bike around.

You will most likely have to modify a rack a little to work around the discs.

I would keep the chainset and ride it till it wears out enough to justify a replacement.

A good place to start for inspiration would be the Functional Bikes thread- loads of racks and mudguards in there.

Thanks for your input, ill check out that thread, I will use the chain set til it wears out I just expect it to wear out sooner than later. If a rack would need modifications I've seen actual disc specific racks but I wasn't too sure about them

Like I said, it will be ongoing and I'm mainly after some advice on where to head with it

I had a Raleigh road bike that I used a handful of times, I decided it wasn't for me, I decided I was going to get a MTB and set it up for road use, so I started looking around various websites and shops to get an idea of what kind of bike I'd want. One bike caught my eye, it had pretty much everything I was planning to do to my project bike, straight bars, rigid forks, smooth (ish) tyres. It was a Carrera Subway from halfords, I made sure they gave it to me in a box so I could be sure it was built up properly by myself. Its probably not to everyone's taste, but you're not the ones who have to ride it. I want to get some info and ideas on what sort of bits and bobs I can do to it, would I need a disc specific rack or would a normal one work? What panniers and mudguards are the best value for money. I have a bike computer already, there's not much else I can think of other than what chain set would be a good upgrade from the suntour one that it has on now. What are the best hybrid road tyres to buy?

My first impressions of the bike were great, it rode a million times better than my SS giant, I rode it to work today at 4:30am and it performed brilliantly, shaved 5 minutes of my usual riding time (based on riding my old bike on Monday) the bike has less drag and is smoother. Sorry for all the questions, this project will mostly be slow and ongoing for a while, I'm hoping to get some good rides in on it, I'm already falling in love with riding again on a whole new level.

It is a bodge job ATM just to see if it works well, then I will go about putting a tidy setup on it

So I've been riding on the 32t front ring for a bit now and I've decided the gearing is too light, my legs are just spinning when I give it some, I decided to throw on a bigger chainring to see how it feels, granted it might be a little too big but its the only one bigger than the 32t I had lying around, I didn't actually count the teeth on it but I guess it's 40+. Gonna see how it rides and decide if I need a smaller one.

Good! The first thing to decide, is what the bike is to be used for. Right bike too: decent enough, but if it's wrecked or stolen, you haven't lost too much.

How far is your commute? What do you need to carry? Will you be wearing cycling clothes and getting changed or cycling in your work clothes? Might you use the bike for evening/weekend jaunts?

Straight/riser bars give you a good view in urban traffic; however, if your commute is any distance, you might miss the drops for the variety of hand positions. Re-using the bars and levers you've already got would save a few quid too.

If you remove the gear shifters on the down tube (dts), you can use the adjuster screws on the derailleurs to select a gear. The rear derailleur also acts as a chain tensioner; the front derailleur as a chain keeper.

Try something around 67-69 gear inches (gi) for commuting; if you do take it out for longer, leisure rides then 71-74gi might be better. Count the teeth on the chainrings and rear sprockets (it might be stamped on them) and stick the numbers in here.

The shallow teeth, ramps and pins on the chainrings and cassette make shifting gears easier, but with a single speed set-up you want the chain to stay where it is and in as straight a line as possible. Use the large chainring with the smaller rear sprockets and the small ring with the larger ones.

When you've got that far and found a gearing you're happy with, you can consider what needs doing to convert it to a "proper" single speed and tidy it up a bit.

Thanks for your input, the ride is only about 4 miles, I'll most likely be riding in normal shorts and a hoody, I'll be carrying my work clothes and my sandwiches :D The weekends I would be most likely using my MTB. I really don't think I'd ever use the drops at all. I don't have any bars or levers lying around so I would have to buy them.

The whole point of the bike is to be used for commuting, its not going to be smothered in expensive parts, it's just a beater to get to work on.

Are you sure it's a cassette hubs? they're usually screw-on freewheel on those kind of bicycle.

I'll have to double check that to be honest

Just because its a cheap bike doesn't mean I can't try and make it look as smooth as I can, the rims are fine, but if I have to buy a new wheelset, its not a big deal

I think I'm going to have to find the magic gear, I don't like the look of chain tensioners on road bikes. They look alright on MTB, I have a gusset tensioner on my giant and it does the job perfectly, I just want this to look smooth.

This will be an easy singlespeed project if the rear wheel takes a cassette (not a freewheel).

Check that first, it is the case, you just need a singlespeed kit for the freehub (about £15) and 5x single chainring bolts to remove one of the front chainrings.

Once this is done, you can look at risers and other bits.

Gearing wise, I find 65 to 75 Gear Inches to be good around town - use this calculator to see what the GI will be before buy your singlespeed kit:
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Yeah, as far as I'm aware its a cassette, thanks for sharing that link I will look into it

Good buy for £50: they're quite rated as entry level road bikes.

I've got a single speed kit with different cogs, for a freehub going spare: give me a shout when you figure out your gearing.

I will keep that in mind, thanks.

It will also need a chain tensioner. Right?

I'm hoping to be able to pull it off without any chain tensioner.

**Ok, so I bought this Raleigh Airlite from a bloke at work for £50, it works fine, I've took it around the block a few times. I'm not using it a lot because I've built up my Giant MTB as a single speed cruiser to get here and there when I don't feel like driving. I've been thinking about giving it a complete overhaul, that's where you guys come in, maybe you lot could point me in the right direction by giving up your information and knowledge you have on bikes. I was thinking I wanted to single speed it and get rid of the drop bars and maybe some small risers or flat bars.
What sort of gearing would I be looking to use for single speed?
What bars offer the best value for money?
What brake levers would be best for the straight bars?
I want to get the bike up and running for the few hours of summer we actually have in England.

**

**So, today I had the day off work so I decided to go for a decent bike ride to see how the finished product actually feels, my only complaint is my fitness, after a few years out of the game I need to regain my stamina. I didn't do too bad, covered 14.5 miles (tracked with an app) I took my DSLR with me in case I came across any nice places. I snapped this when I stopped to look at some ducks, I even stroked a mans dog.

**

Looking good! Where'd you get the new mech hanger?
I got it off eBay, from Hong Kong so it took a while to arrive but it was cheap

**This is how it stands at the moment, the Chain tension is sweet now **

**Right, my new mech hanger arrived in the post and I've just fitted it to the bike, it feels brilliant now the chainline is bang on. Here's the comparison of new and old
I took it around the block to test it out and I'm falling in love with it again, my next step will be to get a bigger chainring on the front as the gearing is too light for me, would you guys reckon a 36t would be a good replacement for the 32t that's on there now? I'm also thinking about painting the bike in the near future to make it look a bit cleaner **

I have a soft spot for XC frames setup as jump bikes. Reminds me of the 90's

I built it up from my old jump bike, I think it has a unique look about it

**To start off the thread I thought I'd let you in on my story.
I'm 24 and I'm from Wolverhampton, when I was younger (15-18) I used to ride all the time, then one day I decided to pass my driving test and the riding stopped. My bike at the time was a Norco kompressor I'd built up over the years from just the frame, ended up just sitting in the garage and every now and again I would ride the bike to work on a nice day. Fast forward a few years and I decided I would ride more and I need a bigger frame. So I went on eBay and came across a Giant XTC SX frame (can't remember how much I paid for it) so I bought it. When it arrived I stripped the Norco and built up the Giant, I used it for a bit and I kept having problems with the gears, so I just put the bike back into the garage and forgot about it.
So recently I decided I wanted to get back into riding, so I set about doing some research on single speed conversions and just bought the parts needed: 24seven single speed conversion kit 17t and a gusset chain tensioner, I kept the 32t chainring I had on the front already, eventually I will get a single speed ring. I also started buying the tools I would need to build the bike as I went along. I rode it about 6 miles and noticed play in the bottom bracket, so I bought a truvativ gigapipe BB and fitted it, now its as solid as a rock. I also noticed the chain line wasn't perfect and it was because the mech hanger was bent, I'm still waiting on the new hanger to come in the post, there are a few things I still would like to do to the bike, hopefully some of you guys and girls could give me some ideas on what to do and what to use.
the chain tension will be sorted once I have the new hanger fitted. **

She's really keen on the idea of me building her a bike up, I have an old norco frame I could use, its just sourcing all of the parts needed.

Hoping to get my Giant like this at some point

Looks good, I'm converting my MTB, when I gain full permission to post threads I shall put my progress up.