Two years ago I had the opportunity to pick up a Portage in Petaluma, CA. That one had the extra long chainstays that I had heard about and associated with the model. This month I found another in Vallejo, CA. This time, again, I emailed the seller within a couple of hours of posting and, again, the seller made no secret of the fact that, to his bewilderment, there were already many potential buyers. Well, I lucked out again and somehow made it there first. Yay!
This Portage doesn't have the super-long chainstays and wheelbase, which I kind of like. While I had been really psyched to work on the earlier Portage, the ride quality in the finished bike disappointed me somewhat. Maybe it was the Col de la Vie tires, but I think not. The bike had a sort of leaden feeling, nothing sprightly about it. I lay that down to the fact that, with very stout tubing and long wheelbase, the bike could only ride well when loaded down. Unfortunately, my experience was too short to tell for sure, but at any rate, Portage II has renewed my enthusiasm for the model. This one still has all the braze-ons of the full tourer but combines those features with the geometry of an all-rounder kind of bike. As a bonus, Portage II even came with its original racks!
Of course, this particular bike was no garage queen. It came with its fair share of issues: surface rust, terribly scratched crank arms, rotting tires, and an abused rear derailleur were the worst of it. Nothing that a little elbow grease can't remedy!
Here's how she turned out:
I'm happy to report that my optimistic speculation about ride-quality was spot-on: nothing sluggish about this puppy at all. With front and rear racks, she's no lightweight and isn't likely to be confused with a racing model, but she handles and accelerates admirably while retaining the ability to carry a well-distributed load. All in all, a very versatile bike.
by any chance,is it for sale?
ReplyDeleteSorry, Denis. This one sold a few weeks ago.
DeleteIs there room for fenders with these tires? I was hoping to fit these tires and some velo orange fenders to my portage.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not. It's a very tight fit with the tires alone. If you'd like to fit fenders I'd recommend going down to a 35mm tire, like a hypertex Soma B-Line or a Col de Vie.
DeleteHI Andre, I recently aquired a very similar (possibly the same model?) portage in the condition of your pre-restored bike. Mostly original parts, same as above except with bar end shifters. Looks like you did an awesome job with yours. I would really appreciate your advice on cleaning solvents to use that wont damage original paint, etc.
ReplyDelete-Mike
Thanks for the compliment and good luck with your restoration/refurbishing. To answer your question, I mostly use Turtle Wax Rubbing and Polishing Compounds to freshen up old paint jobs. If things are really rough, or there's foreign paint rubbed onto the frame's paint, then I'll resort to superfine steel wool (#0000, nothing rougher) dipped in soapy water (followed by the polishing compound). If there's exposed steel anywhere, I remove the rust with naval jelly, clean, and then seal with Everbrite Protecta Clear. I'm not really into touch-up paint anymore, although I used to use Testor's model paints for that. Hope that helps.
DeleteWhat a beautiful build! Glad those big tires fit. Do you think 43mm Rock and Roads would fit? or how much space was in the chain stays with the Hetres on.
ReplyDeleteSome years later, but juuuust in case you were still wondering, I recently tried fitting those exact tires on my frame to no success. May depend on your rim but who knows. I do fit 43mm gravel kings on just barely and it rides great!
Deletei once owned a Raleigh Portage bought in 1984 in San Frisco at Stanyan Cyclery for about $650 - I rode it from Yosemite to Mexico all round So. California and lived on it until 1991 when it was stolen from a bike rack across from the Greek Theater in Griffith Park in Los Angeles - somebody cut the rack in order to nab it - it WAS the IDEAL bike for riding living traveling camping all that and more BUT the weird thing about the Portage was that it was made in Japan FOR Raleigh and when the tires wore out I could not find replacements because the size of the rims was some weird rare size that no one could find tires for even in Japan where the bike was made...but a bike shop in L.A. just happened to have tires from a Portage that had been demolished in a commercial that had been made in Hollywood about traffic safety or some such thing and I just happened into that bike shop when the wrecked bike was there so I got replacement tires but the bike was stolen before I would have had to replace THOSE rare-sized tires
ReplyDeletenow I don't ride at all because a flat tire just ruins my day and walking I don't have a flat tire or even a flat feet problem
if God had wanted man to ride he would have made us with wheels instead of feet and the bus is rest for weary feet amen?
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