Before
One of the great and terrible things about the Interwebs is that you get to meet people of like mind who you wouldn't have had a chance to meet otherwise, and then spend a whole lot of time online discussing the finer points of brake levers, chain guards, and fender stays.
After
Flickr user the-macnab has been working on this 1968 Robin Hood (a mid-level brand of Raleigh) for quite a while, and his friend williamhutchinson was also working to restore a Raleigh Sports, all about the same time I was working on the Huffeigh. The three of us exchanged comments, tips, and frustrations as we worked, and engaged in a sort of long-distance race to finish our respective projects. I believe I finished first, but my project was decidedly less ambitious than either of theirs, and I cut a lot of corners (like painting rusted chrome parts silver instead of replacing them). I'll do another post on William's amazing work on his Raleigh, but this long-promised post is all about the J.P.'s Robin Hood, and it is well-deserved.
Check out his full Flickr set on the restoration process.
