Classic Raleigh ??? Identification

Hello everyone,

New to the forum so not sure if this is the correct place to say hello and to tell you about my new acquisition.

I'm also new to the classic bike scene, so forgive me if I start speaking nonsense.

I've just bough my first classic road bike from a gentleman in my area for £50. The Raleigh was almost complete when I got it but is now in the process of being stripped down for a bit of TLC. It love the look of it as it reminds me of seeing people riding these when I was a kid, wishing I could afford one too!

It came with two alloy wheels, one with a Raleigh sticker and the other with a scuffed red sticker which says made in France). Rear hub fitted with a 5 speed freewheel cassette. The wheels were fitted with 700x20c Michelin tyres which were all cracked but I've kept them anyway. It had a Shimano Acera X rear Derailleur but the front Derailleur was missing. It has Shimano 600 drilled brake leaver and Shimano clamp on downtube shifters. It has a Stronglight crankset which, after some internet searches I believe to be a model 49D. Sadly the pedal on the non drive side was seized solid. Whilst trying to remove the seized pedal stem the alloy around the threads gave way and cracked. I was a little upset to say the least. Maybe a little gentle heat on the crank would have helped but I was worried about distorting it I'm also stuck trying to get the drive side off the BB as my puller is a smaller diameter than the crank. Measuring the crank and nut cover, it would appear to be around 23mm rather than the 22mm on my puller. Any advice here would be very welcome. The other side came off with a general purpose three leg puller, but this method isn't possible on the drive side.

I'm not sure if any of these items are original to the bike which is one reason I'm here now.

I don't even know if the colour scheme is original. I searched the internet on how to date the frame (WE9) and I came up with Worksop April 1979 but I'm clearly no expert in this department.

I suppose my questions here are:
* Does anyone have any idea how to remove the crank with its odd size threads without damaging it?
* Does anyone have a matching non drive crank of the same variety that they would be willing to sell? Sorry a bit cheeky I know.
* Can anyone give me a year of manufacture or am I correct with the above?
* What would the bike have looked like out of the factory and what gear would have been fitted as standard?
* Should I try to restore to original spec or just to my taste

My apologies if you are still reading all of this, and thank you if you can help at all. I'll try to upload some pics of the frame for you to look at.

Cheers,
Geoff.

Paint scheme suggests a Raleigh Panasonic, but those didn't 'arrive' until 1983...

Cable guides suggest it's true age (1979), but twin bottle mounts are fairly rare on Raleigh's of this vintage...

Curious

Maybe it's had a respray

Maybe it's a 1989?

Lot's of Raleigh experts on here, hopefully someone can shed some light for you

Welcome to the forum BTW

The frame is identical to the Carlton Team Pro of 1979 which came in Silver Lustre, They also badged them as Raleigh's and sold them in the usual liveries..... Frame will be 531.

Cracking frames I have one sitting under my desk at work. Does the rear drop out have two little holes in it?

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=269922

Shaun

Re:

Hello again,

Thanks for the quick replies.

Yes, the rear drive side dropout has two little holes in and both sides have adjusters too. They also say Campagnolo on them.

Thanks,
Geoff.

The little holes are to hold a device called a Portacatena which held the chain when you changed gear. It's a Worksop 79 Raleigh Carlton, they came with an assortment of braze ons depending on what day of the week it was.

They came as bare frames so people put on them what they had, mainly Campag, Shimano, Suntour depending on their wallet. Yours has been resprayed and the 531c sticker added later. Is the head badge riveted onor held on with glue.

Lovely frames to ride, Robert Millar rode one

Here's what it should look like under the paint.....

Shaun

Re:

Wow! That looks amazing.

Mine looks exactly to same as yours (but mine has scruffy paint). The head badge is a stick on job which is lifting in places.

So the frame is not 531c? What will it be made from?

Thanks again,
Geoff.

Nice bike. Is it 531SL (super lightweight)? Ive no idea...but i like it.

Heres a stronglight crank puller (for 23.35x1.0 mm extractor threads):

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... 2b217s72p0

Or some good stuff here:

www.hilarystone.com/tools.html

You're lucky that it sold as frame only, so you can build it any way you like. With period parts naturally.

Unfortunately that is not mine.......just a photo from a well known website, mine has been handpainted blue and looking very sorry for itself

The Frame will be 531, I'll dig out an advert from my 1978 Cycling mag which has an advert for them. If the badge is stuck on and not riveted then it's almost certainly a Carlton Pro dressed up as a later Raleigh. The 600 levers will be period as the 600 kit graced a lot of bikes in the late 1970's as they were good and a lot cheaper then Dura-Ace or Campag.

As mentioned they are really nice frames to ride, nice direct steering without being twitchy

Stronglight did their own removers like TA, put an ad in the wanted section and maybe someone will lend you one.

Shaun

Re:

Thank you all.

I've learnt more in the last hour than I have since buying the bike over a week ago

That crank puller looks like it could be the one, but I'll hold fire and do what you suggested and ask politely if I could borrow one for an hour.

Great forum

Thanks,
Geoff.

Re: Re:

buckfast":18ddv6oy said:

That crank puller looks like it could be the one, but I'll hold fire and do what you suggested and ask politely if I could borrow one for an hour.

Click to expand...

Thats what i thought, ended up buying the proper tool in the end. Makes removal so easy and you have it in your tool box for use at any time (unless you have lent it to someone else)