Raleigh DL 1

Hi, I'm Kyle "Luddite" Killough and my new bike is not actually a vintage 1913 Raleigh DL 1 but an exact replica made in Ludhiana, India in the northern most part of the old British Empire. Production of these bikes moved from England to India in the early 1980's and another copy is made in Beijing, China called the "Flying Pigeon". DL 1 means "Deluxe Model One" and it is definitely one smooth ride but its original purpose was for the British Army and then it became basic transportation for the average Brit and for the last 50 years it has served the underdeveloped parts of the world. With such a role to fill this bike is built to be very rugged, last forever and never win a bike race! I submit that with all due respect to Gary Fisher that the DL 1 is the worlds first mountain bike not his modified 1930's Schwinns. I rode the bike for the first time with the bbc last Saturday and I got a genuine workout, to the point that something has to change or this thing will be nothing more than garage wall art. I have talked to the bike shop where I bought it ( Yellow Jersey, Madison,WI ) and I am sending the rear sprocket in for exchange on a larger one to gear the bike down making it easier to pedal. Why it is geared so high I can't imagine unless back in the day the Puritanical thought prevailed that pedaling was supposed to be painful ! I'll show some views of the assembly ordeal and point out some the finer points of old world bike technology in my next post.