Raleigh Amazon - Suggestions for 1990's style MTB

[El Grillo]

Hi all,

I have been given an 25 year old Raliegh Amazon, that is in good condition and riding well.

I am new to cycling and wanted to restore it to some of of its 1990's glory. By this I mean fitting it with 90's era cycle paraphernalia and fittings (bar ends for example).

I really want to catch the spirit of the 1990's and not overly concerned that its "Raliegh". Im looking for either 1990's era style things new or old.

Thanks,

El Grillo

[gaz]

Welcome to the forum.

At a glance it's pretty much original spec. A photo from the other side showing the transmission would clarify this further.

Are you looking to add 90's/90's style embelishments (barends, mudguards, racks, tyres) or to make 90's component upgrades?

[hamster]

Take a look at retrobike.co.uk for a bunch of the like-minded!

[slowster]

I really want to catch the spirit of the 1990's and not overly concerned that its "Raliegh". Im looking for either 1990's era style things new or old.

Give your head a wobble: it's a 1990s bike, not 1890s, so the components are not really much different from what you can buy today. It's one thing to get an old high end racing frame and build it up with period correct high end components, but it's daft to try to do the same with an unremarkable mass market bike fitted with basic level components.

If as you say it's in good condition and rides well, then all you need do is maintain it. To that end I would start by checking the various parts on the bike in turn, making sure that they are in good order and replacing where necessary, e.g. slacken the stem and seatpost binder bolts to check that the stem and seatpost are not seized, and add a bit of grease to them (and the bolts) if they are dry, check the chain, sprockets and chainrings for wear, check the hubs etc.

The one thing that stands out to me as needing replacing are the mudguards: they have a single stay and are doubtless far too floppy. Depending on the tyre width and the fork and seatstay clearance you will probably need to fit something like Bluemels 60mm or 65mm mudguards (https://www.wiggle.co.uk/sks-bluemels-road-mudguard-set/).