Raleigh Record Sprint info

I've been after a Reynolds Raleigh Frame for a while and came across this one, a Raleigh Record Sprint. It's 501 and seems to be mostly original weinman brakes, suntour mechs etc, I've been searching online for info but can only seem to find info on the model with gold parts.

Anyone know what year? Any good?

The gold ones were the earlier ones - what's the frame number, yours can be aged from that.

I bought my RRS back in 1990 for £220 from the lbs in Letchworth, pretty much identical to that pictured as far I can see. Sports tourer weighing in at around 22lb I seem to remember.

Jet black with the black weinmann(?) rims, can't remember the hubs but they were both QR. Michelin Select tyres, 6 speed 13-24 block, Suntour accushift DT shifters, Black chainset (could have been a Sakae) with steel 52/42 rings, black aero Weinmann levers and black tape. Can't remember what the derailleurs were tbh.
Also had very nice Olimpic XXII ally quill pedals and some christophe copy cat toe-clips by a now defunct Spanish Motorbike company (I forget the name)
Honestly it was most comfortable bike I've ever owned & my first proper outing on it was the first leg of my tour of Northern France doing approx 700 miles in 10 days in 90+F every day (bagged a TdF final day down the Champs Elysee too )
I probably did 20-25,000 miles on it changing only the tyres, tubes and the saddle (for a LOOK la vie claire job) then sold it on after not using it for a few years. :cry:
So from my personal experience I'd say buy one

Thanks for the replies.

I've not collected it yet so haven't had a chance to check the serial numbers, first job on the list when I do though!

Sounds like some fond memories there Tonyf, your spec sounds identical so it's all original. The mechs are Suntour, rear is VX accushift, not sure about the front. The rims are Alessa, not sure what hubs but they are QR as you say.

Looking forward to cleaning it up and giving it a try.

Cheers, Stu

tonyf39":aifh8fsu said:

I bought my RRS back in 1990 for £220 from the lbs in Letchworth, pretty much identical to that pictured as far I can see. Sports tourer weighing in at around 22lb I seem to remember.

Click to expand...

1990 or possibly 1991 sounds about right to me; Record Sprints built before then had larger red & gold decals, silver or possibly gold Sakae crank arms and Shimano Light Action indexed derailleurs. The model after the one in the pic was almost similar but I think it used Sachs 3000 Classic indexed gear mechs.

David

stu76":hmkiq37h said:

Thanks for the replies.

I've not collected it yet so haven't had a chance to check the serial numbers, first job on the list when I do though!

Sounds like some fond memories there Tonyf, your spec sounds identical so it's all original. The mechs are Suntour, rear is VX accushift, not sure about the front. The rims are Alessa, not sure what hubs but they are QR as you say.

Looking forward to cleaning it up and giving it a try.

Cheers, Stu

Click to expand...

Yes, I remember now, Alesa rims and VX derailleurs. In terms of VFM you can't go wrong with these and they take a rack and possibly mudguards (though I never did fit guards in the 10 yrs I had it)

tonyf39":e3ae3qhm said:

Yes, I remember now, Alesa rims and VX derailleurs. In terms of VFM you can't go wrong with these and they take a rack and possibly mudguards (though I never did fit guards in the 10 yrs I had it)

Click to expand...

I had the one with the larger decals and Shimano gears mentioned earlier as a winter/commuter bike once - the frame took guards with 23mm training tyres no problem. Seconded on the VFM front; if you get one 2nd-hand, these Raleigh 501s (there's a "family" of quite a few models, including the Kellogg's Pro Tour, Criterium [1], Eclipse, Pro Race and Elan) build up into good training bikes.

David

[1] The Criterium was slightly posher frame-wise, as it was kitted out to take 2 water bottle cages.