Raleigh Portage (not that Portage)

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/3921445294.html
Vintage Raleigh Portage MTB/Cruiser - Very Clean - 20" - $165 (Abington)

 For sale is a very interesting and rare vintage early 80's Raleigh mountain bike. While I doubt this lugged steel rig has ever climbed any mountains, it certainly can serve well as a cruiser on road or packed trail, and I have it set up that way having replaced the original tires (in the picture) with some new Conti Town & Country 1.95's.

It's a 12 speed (2x6) friction shift with a full Suntour group.

This Portage is not to be confused with the 650 Portage touring bike as this bike was made and sold in Canada by Raleigh Canada and sold at Duke's Sports. The store still exists and right on the seat tube is the sticker with the same phone number 30 years later (I googled it....right on their website). It can be compared most closely to the U.S. build Mountain Peak line of early mountain bikes from the same time period like the Crested Butte and Seneca.

I bought this from someone who found it at an estate sale and it was a true barn find. Mechanically it works just fine, shifting through all of the gears well. The cantilever breaks are good and overall the drive train is super clean. Cosmetically I spent several hours detailing it and it really looks great with all of the chrome shining up nicely as you can see in the pictures. The bike is 100% original except for the tires, and if you are into it, I kept the originals just to preserve the vintage aspect of it. They are also in good original shape and very usable.

Overall a very cool and fully functional bike. You gotta love the bull moose bars!

I do love those bull moose bars, it's one of the things that infatuates me with the mid 80s Raleigh mountain bike line he brings up.  And good play to him for just pointing out right away that this is not the top of the line touring Portage, but rather a cheap Raleigh of Canada mountain bike.  He does take some poetic license bringing up the Crested Butte or the Seneca, which were the top two mountain models.  If this was in that pack it would fall even below their lowest rung Wyoming, and indeed even a little further down the ladder.  It's just a cheap bike made of cheap pipe with cheap parts.  He also incorrectly identifies the brakes as cantis, those center pulls would problematic wet going down a rocky path.

But This isn't a bad bike, just a cheap one.  It's actually accidentally way more in line with a hybrid back before there were hybrids.  It's a few tweaks away, maybe better brakes and 700c wheels.  The double eyelets and thumbies make the bike stand out from others you might not save from the trash heap, this could serve double purpose of a beater you like to work on and a bad weather/errand bike.  $165 is a bit much, around $100 is better.