NEW TI RALEIGH 753 40TH TDF ANNIVERSARY MODEL

Sorry Woz, but I'm going to have to take issue with that too. I've no idea whether the relationship still stands- you probably pay a sort of 'retro-premium' for a new steel frame these days- but back when steel was still state of the art, the price of a new top end steel frame actually tracked the average weekly wage remarkably closely over the years, in the UK anyway. About twenty quid in the mid 60s up to about a hundred in 1980. The average weekly wage is now about five hundred, and this frame sells for three times that.

Wish I earned £500 a week!

A 753 Team would be over £200 in 1980... sometimes you could pick them up cheap out the back of the 'Comic' for less.

This is from my October 79 copy.

I stand corrected (up to a point ) I guess that was the '753 premium', or the '753 as ridden by continental pro team premium', which might've been worth it if you were getting 200 odd grams of uphill competitive advantage for your money.

If it had weighed anything like this anniversary model seems to, you might just as well have bought the Carlton Pro instead.

Hear you. I'll agree to a point about a 'retro premium' for a new steel frame.

I do however think that would apply to something custom handbuilt from a small renowned frame builder using todays high grade steel with a superb individualised finish. Yes, effectively you would need to pay.

Alternatively, there are very decent new retro looking double butted Cro-Mo frames and forks (complete bikes) out there, all off the peg, and not necessarily banged out of the factory in there millions. The way the market is though, these will be targeted for urban, commuting, general leisure or say light off-road riding - Kona springs to mind for example.

I'm still a young spring chicken ( ), but from blurred memory BITD getting a decent hand built frame in the UK was kind of the easy part and very reasonably priced. Getting say a Campag Super Record groupset together and all the racing exotica pre-EEA was the hard and expensive part.

I still stand by that not many people were riding TdF grade bikes in the 80s for leisure due to expense; you probably had to be a promising or keen competitive amateur to justify the expense. In the late 80s, the only SBDU bike I remember in the club was a Raleigh Road Ace with the AX gruppo.

For the record...a Raleigh Road Ace is not a sbdu product.

Well there you go you see...my point exactly

I'm like you Woz, still scratching my head where the extra 200g has come from. Let's say an original size 57 frame is approximately 1750g and we add on shall we say 50g for the long dropouts we're still 200g adrift on the Ti40 size 56.
I have an sbdu 753 size 57 frame weighing in at under 1700g.
Also i have a Raleigh Professional 531 size 55 frame weighing in at 1990g.. and the forks just 610g.
It very difficult to try and guess if you haven't got the new frame in your hands so any input would be great.

I'm beginning to wonder if maybe it wasn't the marketing of 753 beyond the pro peloton that did break the long-standing parity between the average weekly wage and the cost of a new frame? 531 had been the standard for donkeys' years. Someone had to pay for all that R&D, silver solder and certification.

Tbh I probably became a 'retrobiker' the moment 753 became available, or around the time Eddy retired. I've never got close to earning the average weekly wage in my life..

Nostalgia at a price and a 200 gram weight gain !!!......if only........ since the 1980's . I would be more than happy .


Best before date?

Ti Raleigh by rebalrid, on Flickr