The piece-de-résistance of my Raleigh Twenty stable, however, is my fixed-gear Twenty. This features Normandy high flange hubs, Araya 7x 1.5" rims, lightning-fast Continental Grand-Prix 25 mm tires, and a Sugino track crank set. It is set up with a 48/12 gear, which provides a 5.6 gain ratio (73 inches/ 5.82 meters.) If I flip the flip-flop hub to use the 13-tooth sprocket, I get a 5.16 gain ratio (67 inches/ 5.37 meters.)
The stock forks are not the best, partly because they are designed to use a special headset that doesn't have ball bearings in the upper section. They're also a bit low for a person of my height. I modified an old Haro BMX fork by brazing an extra-long steerer onto it. This made a considerable improvement in the handling...but I'm currently searching for an affordable suspension fork to fit, 'cause those 120 psi Contis give a fairly harsh ride! This is a surprisingly light and fast machine, despite its weird looks." |
Sheldon Brown's Raleigh 20: Fixed-Gear Folding Hot Rod |
Here's what Sheldon has to say about Raleigh 20s:
"The Raleigh Twenty was introduced in the early '70s, and is superficially very similar to many other basic 406 mm (20 inch)- wheel European folding bikes of the era. Unlike most of these, however, it is a stiff, pleasant-riding frame with ride characteristics similar to classic English 3-speed machines.
I've long had a love affair with these bikes, which can often be picked up quite inexpensively. I bought my first one in '73, give or take, and lost no time in customizing it with a Sturmey-Archer 5-speed hub, Weinmann aluminum rims, and Cycle Pro BMX tires. The resulting bike was not only a nice around-town bike, but could also be ridden (gasp!) on dirt roads and even hiking trails! Before the mountain bike era, it was a real mindblower for people to encounter a bicycle on a woods trail, but I used to use it all over the woodlands of exurban Boston and the sand trails of Cape Cod. This was a bike that could go anywhere, on or off road.
Eventually, this bike wound up with Cinelli handlebars and Campagnolo cranks, and, in a weak moment, I sold it.
My second Twenty was an electric blue non-folding model. The non-folding models mostly came with 451 mm (20 x 1 3/8) wheels, |
but I'm not a fan of this size, so I converted it to 406 mm, with alloy rims. This one was an attempt to make a faster Raleigh Twenty. It has a Sturmey-Archer 5-speed hub, bright blue Tioga Comp Pool slicks, and eye-dazzling dayglo spiral UniDisc wheel covers. It is pretty quick on the flats, but a bit heavy. The front disk is a bit challenging at high speeds downhill |
The piece-de-résistance of my Raleigh Twenty stable, however, is my fixed-gear Twenty. This features Normandy high flange hubs, Araya 7x 1.5" rims, lightning-fast Continental Grand-Prix 25 mm tires, and a Sugino track crank set. It is set up with a 48/12 gear, which provides a 5.6 gain ratio (73 inches/ 5.82 meters.) If I flip the flip-flop hub to use the 13-tooth sprocket, I get a 5.16 gain ratio (67 inches/ 5.37 meters.)
The stock forks are not the best, partly because they are designed to use a special headset that doesn't have ball bearings in the upper section. They're also a bit low for a person of my height. I modified an old Haro BMX fork by brazing an extra-long steerer onto it. This made a considerable improvement in the handling...but I'm currently searching for an affordable suspension fork to fit, 'cause those 120 psi Contis give a fairly harsh ride! This is a surprisingly light and fast machine, despite its weird looks." |
Right: When I built this bike, cyclecomputers to fit large diameter fork blades were not available. I made a special clamp for my pickup using parts from two old Sun Tour front derailleurs.
Photos, text, Copyright 1998, Sheldon Brown |
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