1986 raleigh competition

this is my belt drive, fixed gear, 650b, 1986 raleigh competition.

I bought the frame in 2022 for $55. for a lugged, top model reynolds 531 frame, I think this was a pretty good deal. this one was far from pristine, but perfectly fine to ride.

for less than $300, I had a super nice riding fixed gear bicycle! the 531 tubing feels amazing; it just planes over everything. I ran it brakeless because why not.

fast forward to 2026, and I realized that I was pushing my luck running brakeless, especially given the fact that I did not have a lock ring on my hub. I decided it was time to upgrade to a proper track wheelset with a lock ring.

there were 2 options for this: either just buy a track wheelset, or build my own wheels. obviously I had to choose the more expensive route.

for years I had daydreamed of running 650b wheels to get wider tire clearance, so I finally decided to build my dream, custom 650b track wheelset.

I found a phil wood to 700c velocity atlas wheelset for a good deal on fb marketplace, so I jumped on these to harvest the hubs.

having a lock ring felt like a luxury after not running one for nearly 4 years.

after unlacing the wheels, I cleaned and polished up the hubs with a dremel and by hand.

after stalking ebay for around 7 weeks, these nos polished velocity a23s came up. non machined sidewall for even more bling since these rims won't ever be touching brakes anyway.

I built up the wheels with sapim race spokes and 12mm dt swiss standard nipples.

so shiny!

I really wanted to run these 650bx42 gravelking slicks.

they were just narrow enough to clear the fork, but unfortunately there wasn't enough clearance in the chainstays to fit the rear tire.

to change that, I made a simple dimpling tool by making a bit out a steel bar, grinding a slot into a cheap c clamp, and sanding down a block of wood to capture the opposite side of the chainstay.

then all I had to do was stick the thing on the frame and crank down on the clamp with an unholy amount of force.

this is how the stays turned out. overall, there was a little paint loss and the left and right came out ever so slightly asymmetrical, but I think I did a pretty good job for my first time.

for reference, this is how my stays used to look with a 700x25 tire installed.

now the tire just *barely* clears. woohoo!

at the same time, I was also interested in converting the bike to belt drive. why? you may ask.

• they're quieter than chains

• they don't require lubrication and will never rust (no more grease stains)

• they're really cool

some downsides include that:

• they're expensive

• changing gear ratios requires buying a new belt

• they're incompatible with any non-internal gearing

for me, none of the downsides outweighed the really cool factor; I knew I wasn't going to be changing my gear ratios, and I'm running fixed anyway. so I decided to go ahead with the conversion.

I spent some time collecting pieces for the drivetrain. because the chainrings and cogs are limited by whatever gates decided to produce, I used their center distance calculator to determine two possible setups that can work with my raleigh's 406mm-419mm chainstay length:

• 55/19 with a 113t belt

• 63/22 with a 118t belt

there were a few possible other setups, but they would result in an undesirable gear ratio, or low number of skid patches. these two were the only two that gave me a prime number of skid patches and a gear ratio within the 2.8-2.9 range, which I am comfortable with.

I managed to buy the chainring second hand, but I ended up needing to buy the cog and 118t belt brand new.

in order to install a belt, which is a continuous loop that cannot be broken like a chain the frame must have a "break," that allows the belt to pass through the triangle. in order to accomplish this, I cut my frame to install a coupler that lets you make a temporary break.

after brazing the coupler to the frame with a berzomatic torch with map pro gas and a bronze rod, I sanded the joint down smooth.

then, it was just a matter of priming and painting it. I'm cheap so I didn't bother with getting perfectly matching paint mixed, so I just chose a somewhat matching can of rustoleum instead. I painted it so that the new paint fades into the old paint, so the difference isn't too noticeable. I think I did a pretty good job.

one last thing before the whole build can come together: the cranks. my previous cranks were 110 bcd, but the gates chainrings only come in 130 bcd. I picked up a beat up, 165mm shimano 600 set on ebay...

... then spend another couple hours polishing them up. now the bike can finally come together.

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