The Raleigh Twenty

Hallo, dear reader, and welcome to this little corner of mine.
I have no other obvious place to start so I shall simply introduce you to my favourite bicycle, my Raleigh Twenty. As I suspect is the case with many Twenty owners, I rediscovered this classic with the help of the much lamented Sheldon Brown. I had no reason to fall for the Twenty other than an affinity for slightly odd things. Without further ado, here she is (for these things are, by convention, feminine)...

Purchased for a bargain price on ebay, step back in time for a moment and this is how she looked when I bought her, or rather, about ten minutes after I started dismantling her and thought to take a picture...

Delightful, I'm sure you'll agree. I don't think she'd been ridden much of late, but all I really know is that she was built the same year I was born.
In the end, every single part except for frame and fork was replaced, the full list reads

• Brick Lane Bikes Bullhorn Bars & Shim
• Sturmey Archer XRF-8 W 8 speed internal geared hub with 25T sprocket
• Jtek bar end shifter
• Shmiano R400 brake levers
• Nitto Technomic quill stem
• Prorace Cableset
• Tektro R556 long reach calipers
• Charge Spoon saddle
• System EX 400mm seatpost
• Sturmey Archer FC S72 Chainring, 44T
• Sun Ringle Assault SL-1 28H 451 Rims
• Union 90mm front hub
• Schwalbe Durano tyres
• Shimano M520 pedals
• Headset and BB provided by LBS

I think the single most notable thing on the list is the Sturmey Archer XRF-8 internal geared hub, I fantastic contraption and reasonably well suited to the bike.
Paintwork provided by C&G Finishes of Smithdown Road, Liverpool, they did a very nice job and I have them to thank for the many compliments I receive for the bike.