New bike reveal! Triumph Traffic Master. A Raleigh 20 in disguise. What will I do with it?

[@GreenJimll]

Ah ha - I have a Triumph Traffic Master here too. It was a rusty skip rescue, and had to be striped down to bare metal but its now a runner again. I had offered it back to its original owner but she wanted her rod braked Triumph so I did that up (from the same skip!) and swapped it over for her, so I got the 20 clone.

[@andywalker7582]

Your regular reminder that Rowan needs our help if this channel is to continue. Please become a Velocipedian to thank him and allow him to continue sharing his knowledge and passion with us.

[@ronaldwimmer7074]

Dear Rowen, Beautiful bicycle, I have an early 70's Batavus Batafold folding bicycle with 20" wheels and get great joy from it.

[@Mick_Holland]

I love the justification for the nylon bearings cum steering damper, those test riders would have had nightmares trying to ride my Brompton which I still find a bit twitchy whenever I jump on it after time spent riding more 'standard' bicycles.😂 I really like the aesthetic of those yellow cable sleeves, I'd be out looking for a matching saddle and grips but I can be a bit odd that way. BTW, sterling work again by your co-presenter. Cheers 👍🏼

[@kennethmclaren8064]

Lovely condition for anybody to use daily how nice of the guy to travel the distance to deliver it to you.

[@farouqomaro598]

What a delightful looking bike. My wife would love this

[@keefwales]

I have the BSA 20 1974 in green,very care worn but used weekly for shopping in the village,these little bikes benefit greatly from bigger back sprockets

[@doronron7323]

What tooth count do you find comfortable? I have 18 and 19 available. My proper 'Shopper' coupled to my new shopping trailer will probably require the 19. After all, doing the weekly shop isn't about performance in the modern cycling definition.

[@keefwales]

@doronron7323 Hi,I'm running the 18 tooth at the moment but if I had one in my spares I'd fit the 19,the standard sprocket is good for nothing, of all my bikes I use the BSA 20 the most and it's doing a job,all the best 👌

[@redditchscroller7049]

Nice bike, you don't often see those in that sort of condition these days. In my school days I had a BSA Twenty, and as I remember, it had a Sturmey Archer 3 speed trigger shifter, not a grip shifter, I think that came on the later models, 80's onwards. I even tried it with drop bars on!!

[@Blodwyn-RobA]

The yellow cable outers seem delightfully weird to me, but I can understand why you would want to change them 😂

[@ianallen2]

Nice bike. Raleigh also made the Sun 20, Hercules Hunter and BSA 20 bikes. I didnt realise the Hercules came without a kick stand though and was very basic compared to the others.

[@unbalancedcrank]

Wasn’t there an Elswick Hopper too, or did that not arrive until the horrible hairpin frame folders?

[@ianallen2]

@@unbalancedcrank Not sure unless it was one of the ugly ones with a U frame. The seat post and down tube was one piece. Looks like a childs bike. lol Rsleigh made some with the U tube frame. Looks like someone screwed up on a pipe bender and made a bike from it.

[@doronron7323]

The Hercules, Triumph and BSA were the 'base' models. The higher spec 20's had a welded permanent boss on the bottom bracket to mount the stand. A bolt on stand was an optional extra for the others.

[@doronron7323]

@@unbalancedcrank The Elswick Hopper was made in Barton upon Humber. At first glance it's similar to the Raleigh but has many different structural details.

[@doronron7323]

The list of variant models is extensive. Manufacture was sub contracted in the USA/Canada (Supercycle is one example). New Zealand built their own too. Other '20' names were New Hudson 'Gnat', 'Nova', Philips 20, 'Denim', 'Sigma', 'Varsity'.....and on and on! 18 and 22 inch wheel versions too. All together, the various 20's were Raleigh's biggest and most profitable seller for a number of years......so the buying public clearly thought this was a machine they needed and were prepared to purchase.

[@1ohr]

Very nice

[@doronron7323]

Well thank you Rowan, I feel personally indulged with this feature machine, having recently acquired 5X20's! Very rare to see a red Triumph. Originally did the base model Herculese Hunter in 'Neptune Blue', the Triumph (normally a pale metalic 'Space Blue'). the BSA TWENTY with dark 'Electric Blue', the Sun 20 in white and green, the Raleigh TWENTY in either 'Flamenco Red' or 'Bronze Green'. The SHOPPER in the same twenty colours but fitted with all the extras, which were options for the other models. Other models exist, such as the 'Solitaire'. Yellow cables.....see if they glow in the dark. A popular 'safety feature' in the 70's. I;m pretty certain the bag is from the pre-cursor, the RSW-16 and very rare. That's where the nylon steering bush originated, The Swiss rack was an 'up market' option, the prop-stand is probably Swiss too. I'll email you photo's of my little collection, including my recent DIY mono-wheel shopping trailer.

[@unbalancedcrank]

Sounds like you should be adding this to your collection!

[@doronron7323]

@@unbalancedcrank Would love it! Unfortunately no space left, already have 3 in my living room! I collected 4 of mine from Burnley. The rarest version iss the Rudge 20.

[@seanbillingham4887]

Hi i bought a really nice Triumph traffic master stowaway tonight. 1978 i think. I bought it for something to tinker on and to ride around my local streets as i used to have something similar in the 1970s to go to work on. I was inspired by your video and i find that i have already become more attached to it than any of my previous new bikes over the years. Hearing you talk about racks got me interested as it would mean i could use the bike more. I have looked on eBay and there are some called: 'VINTAGE PLETSCHER ALUMINIUM REAR BICYCLE RACK , RALEIGH STOWAWAY, KINGPIN ' Would you be able to tell me if this would fit my triumph without drilling holes? Many thanks for your inspiring video and any advice you may be able to offer,

[@unbalancedcrank]

That will be a rack with short legs for a shopper type bike. You need one suitable for 28” or 700c wheels. Racks for 26” wheels don’t suit Raleigh frames like yours because of the unusual placement of the mounting lug on the rear dropouts

[@seanbillingham4887]

@@unbalancedcrank Thanks for the warning. Surely they must have made a specific rack for the bike. If so how do i identify it?

[@Teapot-Dave]

I've got a green Stowaway with chrome mudguards if you want to swap...

[@unbalancedcrank]

Darn right I do! Email me at [e-mail]

[@doronron7323]

@@unbalancedcrank Well done, Rowan!

[@forthandbargy]

What do you think about the new Raleigh Hoppa - it reminds me of the Raleigh 20 ?

[@unbalancedcrank]

I have zero interest in Far Eastern sweatshop bikes with Raleigh stickers courtesy of Accell. There are no new Raleighs

[@2ndbaritone]

Nice bike. If I could find one...

[@doronron7323]

I found 5 within a month, so it's just a matter of looking......sadly in skips!

[@unbalancedcrank]

You could buy this one!

[@wembleyjane]

Hello! is this bike still available? I'd love to buy this!

[@unbalancedcrank]

It’s in London now as daily transport.

[@LifeofBrad1]

I say go with a black saddle, but cream grips, cream wall tires and cream cable housings.

[@unbalancedcrank]

Oh I couldn’t do that. It would bother me every time I look at it. All cream or all black. Black for myself and cream to sell on. Grey tyres with black stuff, whitewalls with cream stuff

[@LifeofBrad1]

@@unbalancedcrank Ah, fair enough. I have a black saddle and cream grips on my Raleigh B0mber (have to censor that word or else KZbin deletes my comment). I think it looks decent, but it would definitely look better if the saddle at least had a cream accent to tie it in with the grips better.

[@nedkelly5866]

Hi Rowan... I've got a 70s Raleigh Superbe 3 speed for sale... Lovely condition, new Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres, just needs a new front light unit... In Bristol if you know anyone in the area interested in acquiring one.

[@unbalancedcrank]

If you are on Facebook, join the Raleigh Superbe Owners Club group, and post it on there.

[@nedkelly5866]

​@@unbalancedcrank I don't use social media. KZbin is as close to social media as I get.

[@doronron7323]

@@nedkelly5866 Same here, no social media for me either.

[@simonjdevlin]

What’s the difference between a stowaway and a twenty? I have a twenty in Australia and they look the same?

[@unbalancedcrank]

The Stowaway folds in half with a hinge in the middle of the frame

[@simonjdevlin]

My twenty folds in half too 🤔

[@doronron7323]

Most folders went abroad, much less common in the UK. The exported bikes were fitted with dimensionally smaller 'metric' 20'' wheels.

[@unbalancedcrank]

They have different model names in different markets though.

[@doronron7323]

@@unbalancedcrank That's true. whatever the 20 is called, at least it ain't the 'Chopper'. Excuse me but I now have to go wash my mouth out. Say that name 3 times and you get a hairy tongue for life.