Phil (and Mary)'s bike family

Introducing our bikes

Last update 25 October 2009

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Phil Deaves, Swindon, Wiltshire

You can never have too many bikes! These pages are intended as a place where we can let you, the reader, into, and share in, our bike world. You will notice that some terminology used is not the correct jargon: we are always willing to be taught the proper words.

Let us introduce to you our mechanical "family"!

There are many bicycles in our collection, some old, some new. In no particular order they are:

Peugeot tandem.
This is the first tandem I owned: I bought it from my father-in-law when I married his stoker! It has served well, and has run many thousands of miles. Unfortunately, it is becoming worn out, and is costing too much in repairs. We had an incident where the rear deraileur travelled too far, moved into the spokes, and ended up being smashed. The deraileur now mounted is a modern Shimano replacement. The shifters are mounted on the frame, and are not indexed: the way gears should be! Very apparent in the photograph is the child seat. This has now been removed, as the passenger has now outgrown it.

After a thorough overhaul, this tandem is now available for hire! All proceeds are donated to charity. Contact me for details.
Triumph Traffic Master.
This bike was originally bought as a source of spares, but it is too good to break! The Sturmey Archer three speed hub appears to be dated 1980, but some sources suggest that the cycle may be older. The brake blocks have "Raleigh" moulded onto them. All stickers have been removed by the previous owner: it should have a "Triumph Traffic Master" sticker on the seat downtube, a "Traffic Master" sticker on the chain guard, and a "Triumph" one on the forward down tube. The three-part pedals may not be original, models of this era tending to have block pedals. The rear tyre had worn through on the edge, not on the treads, suggesting that it may have been rubbing the frame, or ridden excessively with a flat tyre. The saddle is falling apart, and the shifter is worn and does not work easily, but it's still a nice bike! The same bike was also sold under the "Hercules" brand name (a Raleigh subsiduary) as a "Commuter".
Raleigh "Lenton".
Whilst advertised to me as a Lenton, the fully enclosed-type chain guard (lettered "Raleigh Sports") suggests it may not be. The carrier, cable-operated brakes and small saddle bag do not seem, together, to match any particular model. This is neither a Lenton nor a Sports, but is an Indian reissue roadster from a limited run Raleigh made around 1999. These bikes were made in India, and assembled and finished in Nottingham. This old-looking bicycle was purchased new in 2003. Just about everything on it has the Raleigh badge on it: the bell, the saddle bag press stud, the pump, the carrier, the tyres. The saddle is a leather Brookes model. The Sturmey Archer hub is recent, and does not have a date stamped on it; the shifter is ultra-modern, and is the one single item which spoils the overall appearance of the bike. The grips I have replaced with an older pattern, but are not totally "period pieces" in keeping with the bike. Interestingly, the rims are shaped to accept rod brakes, but calliper brakes are fitted. This bike has a lockable fork.
Late News. This bike was stolen on 25 September 2008 from outside the Wyvern theatre, Swindon, some time between 1930 and 2215. Any assistance in recovering this faithful friend will be greatly appreciated.
Raleigh P1000 (ladies).
This cycle has very thick tubes, so you will see from the photograph that there isn't much room for mounting a water bottle: I put it at the top of the stem. The handle bars have been shortened as much as possible, within the constraints of fitting the twist-grip shifter before the bend in the bars. The carrier as supplied had standard fixings for a rear light, but the standard fixing on the light was different! A suitable bracket was made from aluminium strip to "convert" the fixings. Since this photograph was taken, I have replaced the carrier with a non-sprung type, which better suits the type of panniers used (and accepts the rear light!). Some of the paintwork was rather bubbly, so this was brought to the attention of the bike shop when the bike had its complementary "running in" service. Six months on, the paint started peeling off, showing vast amounts of rust underneath, so the bike shop arranged a replacement under warranty. This has now been delivered, and of course the specification has been changed! The top of the stem has a more complex adjustment feature, so the bottle no longer fits.
Raleigh P3000 (no picture yet).
When the P1000 started wearing out, a P3000 was bought as a replacement. Like its predecessor, this bike has had its handlebars shortened, though they are still long enough to get caught on when putting the bike away! This bike has never been truly satisfactory. From new the handle bars have been creaky, despite several attempts by our local bike shop to silence them. In addition, in the space of a few months, no fewer than three spokes have broken on the rear wheel. The rear wheel has been replaced with a double-walled type.
Towards the end of 2009, the weld just in front of the rear axle on the drive side broke. The bike was replaced under warranty, and has now been replaced by a Raleigh Pioneer Metro LX.
Raleigh Pioneer Metro LX (catalogue picture).
Acquired when the Raleigh P3000 frame broke. The front wheel/handlebars on this bike have a tendency to flop sideways when the bike is parked on its kick stand, but it has so far served well!
Dawes Discovery Twin tandem.
With the Peugeot tandem getting worn out, we bought a replacement. This is essentially a "poor man's" Galaxy Twin. We had dropped handle bars added, with indexed bar end shifters (this was the first bike I rode with indexed deraileur gears). The 26" wheels had chunky, off-road Schwalbe Marathon tyres. As we only cycle on roads and made-up paths, we replaced them when they started wearing out with narrower, slicker tyres. Compared to the Peugeot, we find that, with the combination of wheel and gears supplied, there is more drag, we have low gears we don't need (we never use the "Granny ring", even on the steepest hill), and don't have enough high gears. Our riding style tends to favour a lower cadence. The photograph was taken immediately after delivery. Since then, the front handle bars have been repositioned to a more suitable angle. Also, the carrier was replaced to allow for the Add+Bike (see below). I tried adding a mirror to the front handle bars, but this was only of marginal benefit, as vibration whilst moving caused it to bounce too much. Most mirror types seem designed either to fit in the ends of the handle bars (no good if the shifters are there), or to destroy the bar tape. Thankfully, the stoker can look round without necessarily having to watch the road ahead.
Owing to the increased weight of the Add+Bike passenger, we decided that we needed extra braking power. Please click here to see what work was required.
After 1300 miles/18 months the cassette and both bottom brackets needed replacing. Whilst this seems premature, we are advised that this was pretty good going as the components were cheap. Better replacements have now been fitted.
Hoening Add+Bike.
The passenger who has now out grown the child seat on the Peugeot tandem can now pull his own weight, so we have a trailer bike. As there was insufficient space on the stoker's saddle stem for a more usual design, we had to buy a rack-mounted type. As you would probably expect by now, I cannot leave anything alone, so have now modified this, too! I have added a mudguard at the front, to protect from spray and muck from the tandem's rear wheel, a caliper brake, and a bottle carrier. Interestingly, my local bike shop was unable, at first, to supply a single rear brake, their suppliers only selling pairs. The shop did, though, find a single brake knocking around in a box of bits. It being a front (right) lever didn't bother me: I mounted the lever upside down. During April 2004 I heard from the supplier that Hoening had found a rogue batch of these Add+Bikes, and please could I return it for a safety modification. This was impractical, as the shop is in Oxford, I am in Swindon, we do not have motorised transport, and it is too far to do a round trip in a day. The supplier then posted the parts to me to carry out the modification myself. In simple terms, this consists of a sleeve over the frame at the coupling, giving a chunkier appearance. It was also necessary to drill the frame to add an additional bolt to hold the sleeve.
The Add+Bike is extremely stable, only leaning when the "tractor" bike (in our case, tandem) leans. The mounting position (back of carrier, rather than seat post) means that it doesn't cut in on curves, either. It isn't the cheapest trailer bike, but for stability alone it is worth the extra cost.
After about 2 1/2 years, the stays linking the top of the special carrier with the stoker's seat post snapped: at the same time and in the same place where they bend (we were about 16 miles from home when this happened!). The stays have now been replaced with straight ones from another carrier. Spacers were made from MFI cabinet corner strengtheners!
Raleigh Agent X.
Bought second hand, this cycle had already had the deraileur removed (the previous owner wanted the rider to have a single gear, but unfortunately did not keep the parts). Since taking the photograph, I have replaced the mechanism and shifter. The grips show signs of heavy play, and are still a little "rough".
Felt F24.
Ready for when the Agent X is too small. This junior bike is so nice I want one, too! It has carbon forks as standard. I have changed the saddle so that it sits lower, so that hopefully the rider will be able to use it sooner.
An obscurity.
I know nothing about this bike, as it doesn't appear to have any identifying features. The front fork is chrome plated, the gear shifters are "band on" types, held from slipping by a small brazed-on "pip". The part of the frame running from the rear axle to the saddle unusually wraps around the seat post and back down the other side. It has centre-pull brakes, 27" wheels, and an attractive front gear wheel. You will notice that the saddle is at a peculiar angle. This is because it is only lightly placed in position for storage with the rest of the bike. I started preparing it for a repaint, but this project was put on hold. It has now been disposed of to make storage space for a new Giant Expression N7.
Apollo County (ladies).
A nice ride, but a bit worn out. This bike has a Sturmey Archer 3-speed hub, and I have been able to reach some pretty high speeds on it in town. The chain guard has, unfortunately, worked loose, so this bike rattles a lot. I have been unable to tighten it, as it seems to need the removal of the cranks to reach the nut, and I do not want to remove the cotter pins! For some unknown reason, there is a huge scuff mark on the paint on the front of the main seatpost-holding part of the frame. Most of this bike has now gone to the great velodrome in the sky, replaced by the Townsend Oregon Trail: the wheels and Sturmey Archer equipment were salvaged for future use.
Raleigh Ollie.
This is easily the simplest bicycle in our collection. Even then, it's had simple modifications: adding a compass bell and spoke beads. For some reason, Raleigh placed the bottle carrier immediately over the rear wheel (seen in the photograph with a plastic bag tied to it), supplied a bottle with no spout cover, and did not supply mud guards. This obviously means that children end up putting muck in their mouths even when they don't mean to. Later versions of this bike do have mudguards. Ollie, a cartoon crocodile, is printed on the frame, chain guard and saddle. This bike is very popular with its rider, who unfortunately has just about outgrown the gear ratio, but not the frame. The chain guard prevents putting a larger gear at the front (the one-piece cranks would make this difficult anyway), and the rear gear is the smallest available.
Giant Expression N7 (no picture yet).
This bike was bought as something "a little different", as it has a seven speed hub gear and hub brakes. This means that there is very little clutter visible. It is an ideal commuter bike. The hub gear gives a nice range, and I can reach a surprising speed in traffic.
Townsend Oregon Trail (ladies) (no picture yet).
This ladies bike was donated and replaces the Apollo County. The straight handle bars have been replaced by dropped types. To avoid having to fiddle around with the shifter, this was mounted on the handle bar stem.
Dawes Horizon (alternative picture).
This bike was replaces the Aerospace Contour. Rather than take the standard Dawes produce, I specified handlebars with longer straight sections to suit my style of riding on the drops, with bar end shifters. It also has narrower tyres than Dawes supply.
Raleigh Aerospace Contour.
This bike was originally white with blue headset. I repainted it black and orange with flames like a hotrod, but didn't prepare the surface properly. It was vandalised in a bike shelter many years ago, and so I stripped it back to bare metal and repainted it in a much older style. Since taking this photograph, I added mudguards, put the original 700c wheels back on it, and added a carrier rack. I replaced the original brake levers with similar but less worn, more durable types. The saddle, kick stand and cables (only so long as at the time I didn't have a suitable cutting tool) are all replacements. Not apparent in the photograph is the lining: I have applied silver box lining by hand. The result is not perfect, but is pleasing. The front deraileur is a modern replacement, as the original had seen so much use it had worn through! Unfortunately I crashed this bike and wrote it off (the calliper brakes were not very effective in the pouring rain!), so it has been replaced by a Dawes Horizon.
Dahon Mu SL (catalogue photo).
A change of job in January 2009 meant a daily commute became necessary. This cycle was bought to allow quick travel from home to station, put on the train, and then quick travel from station to work. In this respect it does its job admirably. To help carry my work things, and protect work clothes from the weather, I added a carrier and mud guards respectively. In addition I added a kick stand to help when putting luggage on and off the rack. Seeing the potential for taking the bike on holiday I also added a bottle cage, which also doubles as a handle for putting the folded bike under my desk and removing it later. It is on this bike that I have achieved my fastest ever average speed! It is necessary to be extra careful at speed, as the smallest twitch seems to lead to a much more dramatic wobble than with a larger sized bike.
Dahon Vitesse D5 (catalogue photo).
Seeing the holiday potential with the Mu SL (see above), we also got a Vitesse D5 for "utility" use. Both folding bikes have successfully been used on a rail-and-ride holiday. This bike is unusual in having a pump as an integral part of the seat post. There have been two minor modifications to the bike. First is addition of a bottle cage, and second is applying liberal amounts of electrician's tape to the integral pump. Why?, you may ask. This is to prevent the pump handle dropping down and hitting the road at every little imperfection in the road surface!

With thanks to...

Mike Fahey for additional information about Raleigh (and subsidiary) bikes.