Progress!

Hah! I bet you all thought I had given up. Heh, I thought I had given up, so I would understand if you thought so as well, but No. Here's the latest in the long list of changes I'm making to a perfectly serviceable bike, in order to make it more serviceable.

All the braze ons that Raleigh should have installed back in the day, along with a bunch more, are now installed.

Kickstand Plate and Rear Derailleur cable, errr, thingy.

Now, I know a lot of people hate kickstands. I mean flat out hate that borders on the irrational. That's fine, you don't have to have one if you don't want to. I like them, and it's my bike, so that's what I'm using.

Rear Derailleur Hanger.

Originally, it was a bolt on job, and the nut on the back of the hanger rubbed against the locking nut on the rear cassette, so that was brazed into place, and my mechanic also threaded the fender mounts for me, as they weren't originally.

Water Bottle Cage mounts on the seat tube and down tube.

<rant>I'm sorry, but this is a perfect example of how the bean counter profit first attitude of capitalism can ruin a perfectly good product. The Raleigh Super Record was marketed as a road bike! Who goes on a 20 mile, 30 mile, or more, ride without a water bottle? A dumb-ass and a dead man, that's who. This is the stupidest effing thing I've ever seen, and a great example of how businesses don't pay any attention to how their products are actually used. It's all about the money. </rant off>

I originally considered putting a bottle under the down tube as well, but I don't think there is enough clearance. The diamond shaped reinforcing plates are Stainless Steel, and I plan to polish those up so they're nice and shiny.

Shifter bosses for downtube shifters.

I'm not entirely sure yet if I'll use DT shifters, or if I'll use Barcons. I like the look of both, and either are appropriate for a bike of this era, but I think barcons are easier to work with. The bosses are also stainless steel, but I'm not going to worry about polishing them because they won't be seen once I install shifters or cable guides on them.
The plate across the center is a left over bit from the old clamp on cable guides. I thought about just grinding it off, but it won't cause any problems with leaving it there either.

Seat Stay braze ons

I bought a big rack... heh!
The Big Rear Rack, so I can run panniers/pannier baskets and use the bike for grocery runs and that sort of thing.

Front Fork Braze ons

I also bought a Nitto M1 "Mark's Rack" and I plan to run a handlebar bag on that.
Also, I had a set of eyelets added to the droupouts on the fork. I don't know that I "need" them so much as I just want them available in case I decide to run a larger touring style rack up front.

So there it is. About $450.00 worth of work that could have been avoided had it been done when the bike was originally built. It probably would have cost all of $10.00 in parts and labor in 1980 to do it right to begin with.
Hey Raleigh?

That's all for now. I was going to repaint this frame this weekend, but of course, it snowed this morning and it's too cold out right now. Maybe next week.