Help ID my Raleigh Restoration Project

davester1965 · Jan 9, 2013

Hi Guys,

Newb and first post....so be gentle

Been out today and bought my first restoration project, a Raleigh Randonneur 531 ST frame.

First job is to correctly ID the year, so i can source the right components for her age, she's in the Dark Gunmetal with White Headtube livery, tange MTB 225 headset, shimano forged ends and shimano BB.

The serial no is unclear, it starts with WL, next no is either 9 or 7 (can't tell) then 0010xx. I've been told that the unclear no (be that 9 or 7, denotes the year of manufacture), so i'm thinking it's either an 87 or 89 model.

Am i on the right track....if not can somebody point me in the right direction.

Thanks guys

David B · Jan 9, 2013

davester1965":2jhxaq0v said:
Hi Guys,

Newb and first post....so be gentle

Been out today and bought my first restoration project, a Raleigh Randonneur 531 ST frame.

First job is to correctly ID the year, so i can source the right components for her age, she's in the Dark Gunmetal with White Headtube livery, tange MTB 225 headset, shimano forged ends and shimano BB.

The serial no is unclear, it starts with WL, next no is either 9 or 7 (can't tell) then 0010xx. I've been told that the unclear no (be that 9 or 7, denotes the year of manufacture), so i'm thinking it's either an 87 or 89 model.

Am i on the right track....if not can somebody point me in the right direction.

Thanks guys

87-90 sounds plausible based on that paint job; what do the Reynolds decals look like? If they're green & yellow on a black background with "Super Tourist" spelt out in full in red capital letters then 89-90 sounds likely. Earlier models used a black/green/gold decal with the tube type labelled as 531ST.
This link may be helpful:

http://www.kurtkaminer.com/1987raleighcat_uk_13_lg.jpg

Edit: this 1986 model doesn't seem to differ much from the 87 one....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwright/50 ... 3785668147

....although interestingly it has vertical dropouts, not the horizontal ends of the later ones!

David

davester1965 · Jan 9, 2013

Thanks for that, the Reynolds stickers on mine are Green & Gold, showing 531ST, mine also has the vertical dropouts as per the flikr pic, so are we thinking 86/87/88? I'll find out for definite later in the year when she goes for respray, the sand blasting will uncover the hidden frame number digit.

davester1965 · Jan 9, 2013

Just found this link on another thread on here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh_Bicycle_Company

so if wiki is to be beleived my bike was built in Nottingham in August of the mystery year.

davester1965 · Jan 11, 2013

Have sanded down the paintwork to reveal it's definitely a 1987 model.

So now the hunt is on to find authentic parts to rebuild with

in the meantime i'm starting the clean & polish routine.......here's what i did today

Help ID my Raleigh Restoration Project

davester1965

Dirt Disciple

David B

Old School Grand Master

davester1965

Dirt Disciple

davester1965

Dirt Disciple

davester1965

Dirt Disciple

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