Since first taking it for a ride some time in 2004, I’ve been hooked on my Dad’s old 1973 Raleigh Grand Prix. It’s an absolute joy to ride. Of course there were some things left to be desired. The front derailleur was broken, the saddle and I never got along that well, the cottered cranks were troublesome, and all the bearings were in pretty rough shape. The way the frame and fork rode made it worth my time to tune this thing up and make it fly once again.
Last spring I took the first real shot at accomplishing this. Having put maybe 500 miles on it in 2005, I’d discovered the main problems. The front derailleur neeeded replacement (or removal in this case), the cottered cranks rattled around, and the bottom bracket was either rough or loose. The hub bearings were pitted, tho not that badly, and the headset was in bad shape also (several balls missing). The brakes didn’t work so well either, as the pads had hardened over the last 30 years.
So, the initial rebuild consisted of putting a Terry Fly Ti saddle on the thing, some fresh Schwalbe Marathon tires (which proved to be ultra durable, going over 3000 miles and only experiencing 3 flats), re-packing the hubs with Lubriplate Mag-1 (instead of the usual Phil grease, just to try something new), new front and rear axles (old ones were bent), and replacing the cottered cranks and bottom bracket with an old Shimano 600 crankset and UN52 bottom bracket in a 108 mm (?) spindle length. I left the headset as is (rough and un-lubed) and simply removed the front derailleur. I shifted to the little ring with my foot and to the big ring by reaching down and lifting the chain manually. I also put my trusty Shimano 747s on (got them new in 1997 and they’re still smooth as silk). Note in the images below that I was still using the original Sedis chain from 1973! As I got stronger through the spring I started breaking links on each ride, so I put a Sram PC-48 on there.
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