Norris' post reminded me of a couple of the "extra" steps that were sometines applied to Raleighs on assembly. One of the tasks in assembling the bike was to inspect the lug edges (only necessary on the lower-end, non-531 bikes). Any bad gaps were then gently tapped down with a piece of wood smacked with a hammer. Sometimes, a little touchup paint was added to hide the remaining line. Then there were the "rattlers," bikes that had brass that would rattle down the tube when the bike was turned over. Since we were a Schwinn shop, bikes would often be upside down in the rack and it was when flipping the bike that one would hear the noise of the brass moving in the forkblade, top tube or seatstay. A little glue in the air hole of the offending tube would typically halt the noise.
I recall one bike that had a piece of brass that must have still been attached by a long sliver of metal, because it struck against the tube like the clapper of a bell when the person went over a bump. You could smack the bike and it would ring back. I honestly can't recall how we resolved this one, but I remember that we knicknamed it "The Ice Cream Bike," as it reminded us of the ice cream truck.
Steve Barner, gotta get back to fixing the snowblower in Bolton, Vermont
> Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 19:56:14 -0000
\r?\n> From: "Norris Lockley" <Norris.Lockley@btopenworld.com>
\r?\n> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
\r?\n> Subject: [CR]Phillips w/True Temper
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I shouldn;'t get over excited about this Phillips! it is "typical" =
\r?\n> Raleigh/Nottingham knocked out frame usually seen in thousands, sporting =
\r?\n> an all-steel "group" ie standard Ralparts brakes, three-piece hubs, =
\r?\n> SA-3sp at the rear, steel chainset and straight all-rounder model bars =
\r?\n> to which were clipped Ralpart steel brake levers
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The lugwork might appear to have a hint of the italian about it but in =
\r?\n> reality they were gashly stamped out, with acres of socket, ans =
\r?\n> generally badly brazed up ie nail-tip voids at the edges. The one =
\r?\n> redeeming feature was the flam orange paintwork applied, I think over a =
\r?\n> silver undercoat. The True Temper steel was a "quality" standard mild =
\r?\n> steel made by Tube Investments, although I'm uncertain how mild steel =
\r?\n> can be tempered!
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Rest easy and don't bid on this one unless you wanta gentleman's light =
\r?\n> roadster. Oh.. I think the bike had ribbed steel mudguards sprayed to =
\r?\n> match the frame, and came complete with a built-in rattling noise at no =
\r?\n> extra cost.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Norris Lockley