Raleigh Technium Pre - First day Bike Commute... Not cool!

Monday was the first day of the Fall semester at MJC. In order to avoid taking my Miyata 721A, which was originally supposed to be my commuter bike, I purchased a Raleigh Technium "Pre". The bike is in fair to good condition, however it needs brake adjustments, wheel true, and re-greasing of the bearings in both wheels.

The first thing I did after I purchased it Sunday was to give it a deep clean. I spent at least 5 hours detailing all the features of the bike. Without further ado, here is the 1989 Raleigh Technium Pre.

The frame is slightly small, even for me (5'7), the geometry is sort of aggressive but will be a fun commuter. It is an all aluminum frame just like my Miyata 721A and features a Suntour accushift/Dia-compe setup. The wheels are old and need to be replaced, but for the mean time I am way over budget on "bike" stuff.

The frame has cool features like inner cable routing. The paint is good for the most part, with fewer than normal scratches for a 20+ year bike. I am debating whether I should replace the brakes, it is a commuting bike and I will need all the stopping power I can get. However, some part of me wants to keep the bike as original/vintage as possible.

The real negative aspect of this bike, is that it needs work. While it certainly looks excellent, the freewheel needs to be re-greased and the wheels are seriously out of true, these things cost money. If I were to do it myself it would require tools that I do not own and time, which I lack due to school.

So Monday I set out with just 45 minutes to do a 30 minute commute to the local college. 1.5 miles into my commute I suffered a complete tire blowout, the fibers on sidewalls of the tire exploded and curled up. Ouch! Just to give you a visual idea of how it looked, imagine peeling back a straw into an accordion. Just then I realized how totally unprepared I was for bike commuting, I had forgot my bike pump, presta-shrader adapter, patch kit at home. None of that really mattered considering the tire was shot. I sprinted with my bike on my shoulder back home and quickly got the trusty Miyata ready and off I went. It was a time trial commute to the college. Average mph was roughly 19.3mph with traffic!

While waiting for my math class I had some time to burn so I went for a spin to get some much needed cycling miles. As I approached the residential areas surrounding the college I was weary of the many student vehicles parked in every nook and cranny on the streets. As I made the last bend onto the straightaway that led to the campus I reached down and grabbed my bottle for a sip, bam! A car parked parallel to the lane I was riding in pulled half way into the street and slammed on their brakes. The water bottle went flying... I instinctively grabbed both brakes and slammed down and leaned back into my saddle. I skidded to a halt, grabbed my bottle and made it to campus. The sad truth is that my Miyata's tires were worn to the fibers, doh! Two vintage bikes, two tire failures in the same day. Since Mondays I drop off my wife at work in the morning I needed to get home in 35min, but I couldn't risk a tire blowout, so I stopped at the LBS.

After purchasing two tires at the LBS things went from bad to horribly bad. I couldn't remove the old tire off of the rim. It had probably been on the rim for well over 8-10 years. Finally, the nice mechanics at Fun Sport Bikes used two levers and removed the tire, then the tube pinch flatted. Doh! So I purchased a new tube and installed it, by that time I had to have my wife picked up from work... Today's bike commute was a complete failure.

If I am going to make bike commuting successful, I need to plan accordingly. Hopefully Wednesday's commute will be smoother. New tires, patch kit, bike pump, extra heavy lock and if all else fails... bus money.