My newest bike: Raleigh Superbe

So the story goes...There used to be a little LBS here in town run by a father and son team. I got to know them pretty well and was allowed access to the back room where all the treasures accumulated over the decades were stored. I drooled over this bike plenty of times. The shop closed down a year or 2 ago and in the final days this was pulled out and dusted off. I made an agreement with the son to buy the bike the next day and when I came back I found that the dad had sold it out from under me for less then I was going to pay for it.

Anyways...A nice older gent had picked the bike up and just loved it to death. I'd see him around town and he became friendly with my girlfriend as they would cross paths often. A couple days ago my girlfriend came home and excitedly handed me the guys number and told me he wanted to sell his bike 'cause he got a new one. See...Our small town old school shop was gone and the only other shop in town couldn't do anything to the bike other then swap tires and lube the chain. He couldn't get it fixed and caved for a new fangled hybrid bike (which he hates BTW). To think he thought of me is just awesome. He saw me eyeballin' it at the coffee shop and I'd give him advise about the proper lube for the hub and how to adjust the shift cable. He clearly loved the bike as it is nearly spotless. Especially for a bike that got ridden several miles a day.

What's funny is I actually bought the original Brooks saddle and wheels from this bike. The wheels are rough and the saddle is currently seeing duty on my girlfriends bike but they are here none the less. The bike needs some tinkering, a new Brooks and a bar swap but after 10 minutes of diggin' in the Sturmey stash and some adjustments it glides along just fine...I've got other projects in line ahead of this but hopefully I'll get to it before spring. For now I'll happily ride it as is and when it gets a bit nasty out it'll get a good cleaning, a coat of wax and it's own special place indoors for the winter.

Cheers!