Raleigh Twenty

[hartleymartin]

If anyone is interested I have started a website with the aim of being the ultimate web resource on the Raleigh Twenty.

http://raleightwenty.webs.com

[sixx]

If anyone is interested I have started a website with the aim of being the ultimate web resource on the Raleigh Twenty.

http://raleightwenty.webs.com

Look wots I finded

[hartleymartin]

gee... clean up, 28.6mm seat-post and saddle and you're off!

[sixx]

zoom zoom

[hartleymartin]

Every time I look on ebay - there is a Twenty and it is almost ALWAYS in Melbourne!

[vanbree]

Picked this up last week, has sturmy archer 3 speed dated 78 plus cyclops head badge has TI logos same as raleigh.

[hartleymartin]

My website now appears in Yahoo! and Google searchs. Item no. 4 in a Yahoo! search for "Raleigh Twenty" and item no. 47 in Google.

http://raleightwenty.webs.com

[sixx]

My website now appears in Yahoo! and Google searchs. Item no. 4 in a Yahoo! search for "Raleigh Twenty" and item no. 47 in Google.

http://raleightwenty.webs.com

Dude that ain't nothin' ... http://images.google.com.au/images?hl=e ... q=null&oq=

[ghettro]

I was just in london recently, seriously I think I saw about 2 of these every time I went out. I just wish I had my own one

[hartleymartin]

Now that I finally took a photo of my Twenty in road-worthy condition, I thought that I had better post a picture.

[hartleymartin]

A couple of pictures of one happy me riding the Twenty at SOP 13/12/2009 (pictures courtesy of Sydney Pedaller)


Riding along the river. I had ridden along this section to meet up at the Cafe, but I got stuck behind a truck!


Riding up a spiral hill. ANZ Stadium in the background.

[hartleymartin]

And what she looks like when folded up for stowing away:

[pine]

Drive past my street and you can pick up lots of those bikes ready to be collected by council pick up (sorry )

[Johnj]

Drive past my street and you can pick up lots of those bikes ready to be collected by council pick up. The next time I see one I'll pick it up for you Martin.

Fixed.

[pine]

Drive past my street and you can pick up lots of those bikes ready to be collected by council pick up. The next time I see one I'll pick it up for you Martin.

Fixed.

Very good Johnj

[hartleymartin]

Here's one which was a photo-submission for my website (it's not up yet, but I thought it was so good that I wanted to share it here):


RaleighTwenty.webs.com

[pine]

Question, where do you store all these bikes?

[hartleymartin]

It's not mine, I have a website all about the Raleigh Twenty, and I've got a standing invitation to anyone who owns a Twenty (whether it be a Raleigh or under any Raleigh's captive brands) to send in pictures and stories.

I do own two R20's though, a folding one (1975) and a non-folder (1977)

http://raleightwenty.webs.com

[kingfish254]

Picked this up from an old Englishman today here in the Southern USA. Actually in pretty decent shape. Just needs a good cleaning and some attention to the brightwork. I love that it has the original (and working) hand pump. Just need to find a chain guard. I think I did well for $75 (US).

I am confused by the serial number though. It is P233861 and teh SA hub has a date of 1973 on it. From my research the first letter should indicate the production facility (typically N for Nottingham). I cannot find any reference that indicates what site would be the "P" site. Any thoughts???

I am guessing the first number "2" either indicates 1972 (although it has a 73 SA hub) or it indicates the month or fortnight it was produced and maybe the second number "3" indicates 1973. Any thoughts?

Here is the before photo of my 20.

[hartleymartin]

My website: http://raleightwenty.webs.com is a pretty good collection of information, but it is still incomplete.

Take a close look at the head-badge. At the bottom it will either read "Nottingham" or there will be a series of slashes. If it has the series of slashes, It may in fact be a Canadian-built version, which would have a different serial number pattern, starting with the latter "R"

From 1974 the first letter designated the workshop where it was built. I've just found on Wikipedia someone has posted information on it (will be investigated and then later added to my site)

* Canada - R
* Enid (USA) - E
* Gazelle (Holland) - G
* Handsworth - H
* Ilkeston - SB
* Ireland - D
* Malaysia - M
* Nottingham - N
* Worksop(Carlton, Sun, BSA, Triumph) - W

Yours is interesting, because it appears to have been built with 36-spoke wheels. 28-spokes were more common.

[kingfish254]

My website: http://raleightwenty.webs.com is a pretty good collection of information, but it is still incomplete.

Take a close look at the head-badge. At the bottom it will either read "Nottingham" or there will be a series of slashes. If it has the series of slashes, It may in fact be a Canadian-built version, which would have a different serial number pattern, starting with the latter "R"

From 1974 the first letter designated the workshop where it was built. I've just found on Wikipedia someone has posted information on it (will be investigated and then later added to my site)

Yours is interesting, because it appears to have been built with 36-spoke wheels. 28-spokes were more common.

You have a great website by the way. I was using your website as a guide to my serial number detective work. I also saw the info on Wiki.

I just checked the headbadge and it reads Nottingham England with no slashes.

You are correct that the rims are 36 spoke rims.

Another thing that is a little different with my Twenty is the fact that it doesn't say Twenty on the down tube. It only reads Raleigh. Possibly it read Twenty on the missing chain guard.

Any assistance with my serial number is appreciated.

[kingfish254]

Does anyone have one of the tartan plaid rear rack trunk bags? It would be great if you could post some of the measurements so that others of us could try to replicate them. That is unless someone knows where to find one of these great looking accesories.

[hartleymartin]

If the carry rack on yours is original then it is most likely that it was never supplied with the bag. The bags were standard equipment on the "Shopper" versions of the Raleigh Twenty. A substitute bag might be the Lone Peak RP-700 Rack Pack The great thing about having small wheels is that you can use trunk bags which are significantly larger than what you would use on a regular-sized bicycle.


It also allows you to use huge saddle-bags like the Carradice camper long-flap without problems



The saddle should be set more forward (clamp/saddle compatibility issues) so that the saddle bag sits a little more upright, but the Camper long-flap is rated at a 24-litre capacity, and is capable of being "over-stuffed". (See Carradice's Website for more details)

When I re-build this (one day) with an 8-speed hub, I could probably go light touring with it. I'd strap my tent to the rear rack, use this saddle-bag and a front rack with small panniers and maybe handle-bar bag. I'd like to fit some sort of porteur-style rack to the frame rather than the forks, but I'll just have to wait and see how things pan out.

[hartleymartin]

I just did some number crunching to do with the frame geometry of the Raleigh Twenty. Most specifically to do with crank length and bottom bracket height. A Raleigh Twenty with 165mm cranks (and 20" x 1.75" wheels) has a similar pedal-ground clearance as a Fuji Touring bicycle with 175mm cranks (and 700c x 32mm tyres). Ergo, with these similarities it can be argued that the Raleigh Twenty would make a good touring-style bicycle. And why not? Several people have turned them into poor-man's version of the Bike Friday World Tourist.

[kingfish254]

If the carry rack on yours is original then it is most likely that it was never supplied with the bag. The bags were standard equipment on the "Shopper" versions of the Raleigh Twenty.

I am not looking for a modern trunk bag. I just love the look of those tartan plaid bag on teh back of these classic folders. My wife would love to make a Burberry plaid one for a project we have with her Dahon Classic III bike.