Hi, I've just joined this forum. Don't really use my bikes much these days but cannot really bear to part with them either considering what I've done with them etc.
My MTB can be see towards the thread about classic Saracens but this is my road bike.
It is a product of the Raleigh Special Products Division and is made from Reynolds 853. The groupset is entirely Shimano 105 with associated ordinary ancillary parts. The genesis of the bike is a little unusual so I'll explain.
I had a Dynatech that was the original home of all the components bar the headset and BB. I cannot remember what it was exactly but it was a circa 94/95 bike. It wasn't a full titanium frame, just the top and down tubes which were painted white with speckles on it IIRC. The head tube, seat and chainstays were purple. Lovely bike, it met an unfortunate end.
Hammering along one day out of the saddle I suddenly found myself in a huge skid. After coming to a halt I investigated. The wheel was at an odd angle jamming it against the chainstay. This had caused the skid. A closer look and the hub was out of the right hand drop out but the left hand side was still in. Uh oh.
The seat stay design on the bike was a 'wishbone' affair. The two stays rose up from the dropouts and joined a cast steel 'bridge' to wich the brake was mounted. A single jube then joined thi to the seat tube. This cast piece had sheared cleanly on the right hand side and the force had bent the left hand stay.
It went back to raleigh who by now could no repair it having stopped building the bonded frames. They offered me an equivalent which they deemed was a 531 frame. I offered to pay a bit towards and hence the 853 arrived. The colour was chosen from a kids bike in the contemporary raleigh range. Once I got it I built it up with the bits from the old bike and apart from odd bits like tyres and bar tape changing over the years, here it is.
My MTB can be see towards the thread about classic Saracens but this is my road bike.
It is a product of the Raleigh Special Products Division and is made from Reynolds 853. The groupset is entirely Shimano 105 with associated ordinary ancillary parts. The genesis of the bike is a little unusual so I'll explain.
I had a Dynatech that was the original home of all the components bar the headset and BB. I cannot remember what it was exactly but it was a circa 94/95 bike. It wasn't a full titanium frame, just the top and down tubes which were painted white with speckles on it IIRC. The head tube, seat and chainstays were purple. Lovely bike, it met an unfortunate end.
Hammering along one day out of the saddle I suddenly found myself in a huge skid. After coming to a halt I investigated. The wheel was at an odd angle jamming it against the chainstay. This had caused the skid. A closer look and the hub was out of the right hand drop out but the left hand side was still in. Uh oh.
The seat stay design on the bike was a 'wishbone' affair. The two stays rose up from the dropouts and joined a cast steel 'bridge' to wich the brake was mounted. A single jube then joined thi to the seat tube. This cast piece had sheared cleanly on the right hand side and the force had bent the left hand stay.
It went back to raleigh who by now could no repair it having stopped building the bonded frames. They offered me an equivalent which they deemed was a 531 frame. I offered to pay a bit towards and hence the 853 arrived. The colour was chosen from a kids bike in the contemporary raleigh range. Once I got it I built it up with the bits from the old bike and apart from odd bits like tyres and bar tape changing over the years, here it is.
