Revamp 14 year old bike or buy a new one ? If new one, which new one ?

[shortcircuit]

Have taken my old & hardly used bike to the bike shop to have it serviced, but it appears to need £130+ amount of work on it. I've hardly used it, it's aged from, well, old age.

The bike shop said they will scrap it, but it's a bit of a shame. Apparently it in it's day, it was quite a good one (Raleigh)

I need it to be secure, because DD2 goes on the back of it. DH isn't very handy either..

..I don't know - how would I find out & does it make a difference ?

Buy a new one, technology has moved on. So many parts have worn out, and you will be amazed at the new things (like better brake systems) you can get on a newer bike.
14 years is a long time in cycle development; DH and I both treated ourselves to new bikes 2 years ago when we realised our main bicycles were just about 15 yrs old.
If your DD2 goes on the back you can't get a very lightweight frame, anyway.
You can probably freecycle the old one.

found out it's steel : - ) or is that a : - (

the new one I'm looking at is a Barossa Havana It comes with a bike seat too & is slightly lighter than mine.

Trouble is I loathe waste...

Freecycle, then it won't got waste. You'll get inundated with takers if it's still in working order (speaking from experience).

Or you could keep it for your own DC to use when they're older, as a bum-around-town bike or project to make it into a BMX or something they can take to High School (where bikes often get vandalised).

Sorry, I think aluminium frame bike (in link) won't be strong enough for a frame-mounted bike seat, if that's what you need. You need alloy or a different sort of seat (possibly).

Actualy the aluminium fram can be very strong- light doesn't mean not strong- many mountain bikes are v light and take an absolute hammering.
imho- go for a good road bike brand (trek, specialised or ridgeback.... raleigh are not what they used to be). Shop around for an entry level model (you should be able to get a discount on last years models and maybe be get a slightly better spec bike for same money). The get a seperate seat for dd. I and my friends all have different kid seats- major difference is do they mount onto frome or onto a bike rack. Those that go onto bike rack are far more stable and dd will bounce around a ot less (also easy to transfer to another bike). Co-pilot seats are the best of the best and can usualy be found on ebay for a lot less than the 90 quid they cost new (usualy by people who think they are goign to cylcle about with lo and then end up not really using it).
Hope this helps

thanks - that does help - so how do I work out what will be suitable ? I'll google those you've mentioned & then see if I can find a local bike shop with them in. I want to be able to touch the ground when I sit on the seat too - especially with DD2 on the back. I have a frame mounted bike seat, so will check the others you have mentioned.

The bike is fine, as in no rust, needs a big overhaul with chain, brakes/tyres. Perhaps I need to send DH to the library for a bike maintenance book...

Talk to a good bike shop, shortcircuit. They should be able to advise about which seats work with which kinds of frames suit, or how much effort/cost would be involved in upgrading your current bike.