Last July Darrell Y. brought top (OTSOTM) honors for his 1973 Raleigh Competition, and he stands to do that same thing this month with this, his 1971 Raleigh Sprite. If you’re drooling just looking at this beauty and you live anywhere remotely close to Chicago, then you will be interested to know that Darrell is also the host, mastermind, organizer-extraordinaire of the Manor & Meadow Tour in Oak Brook, Illinois. Everyone knows that half the fun of any organized ride is eyeballing what everyone else is ridin, and the M&M should offer the typical bike geek enough eye candy to leave them feeling nauseous. The ride is Sunday, June 10, 2012 in Oak Brook, Illinois and you’ll find more information on the M&M website and the M&M Facebook Page.
Darrell’s 1971 Raleigh Sprite (Cyril)
Cyril started life as a five speed bike. He was a humble Craigslist find that I intended to just ‘spiff up’ a bit, but it wasn’t long until I disassembled the bike down to the frame and sent it off to the sandblaster. The bike has two of my first homebuilt wheels. The original Huret Allvit derailleurs are decent for the kind of riding I do on this deluxe townie. This is a great riding bike and one of my favorites. The 27 inch derailleur Raleighs are sadly overlooked gems from the seventies. I’d love to see more of these show up at Tweed Rides across the country.
Darrell – Arlington Heights, Illinois
- Frame — 1971 Raleigh Sprite — 21 1½ inch (~55cm)
- Fenders – Honjo 43mm Smooth Fluted
- Wheels — Homebuilt (Stock Sturmey Archer Rear Hub, Shimano Dyno Front Hub, Sun CR-18 Rims)
- Tires — Panaracer Pasela Tourguards 27 x 1¼
- Handlebars — Stock Raleigh Northroad
- Brake Handles — Stock Raleigh Self Adjusting
- Brakes — Tektro 800A Side Pull
- Grips — Honey Brown Brooks
- Stem — Stock Raleigh
- Crank — Stock Raleigh-Cottered
- Bottom Bracket — Stock Raleigh
- Pedals — Stock Raleigh
- Derailleurs — Huret Allvit – Stock
- Chain — Stock
- Saddle — Brooks Honey Brown B66
- Saddle Bag — Acorn Medium Large Saddle Bag
- Seatpost — Stock
- Rear Bags – Gilles Berthoud Special Small Panniers
- Rack — Velo-Orange Constructeur
- Rear Light — Busch & Muller
- Headlamp — Vintage Union
- Reproduction Decals — Cyclomondo & H. Lloyd