Deeply curious - Help needed to identify a frame.

dadstardeluxe · Feb 28, 2017

Hi, I have just got this home after taking a punt on ebay. I am really not sure how to identify it, there are no serial numbers obvious in the normal places, and the paint is ok quality, and a bit thin in places, but the colour stripes and Raleigh text is all painted too, not a decal in sight.

It is obviously a track bike, with rear dropouts, no shifter bosses or cable guides, and the rear bridge is not drilled. And obviously the Portsmouth School of Cycle Racing label (which is a decal). There is a 531c decal, a Campagnolo decal and a Raleigh lightweight decal as well as the product of TI Raleigh...

The lugs are quite nice, as pictured, and what really drew me to it in the first place was the wrapover seat stays, I've always liked them - BUT, is it a Raleigh? it is painted as such, and has those decals, but I have never seen one with the wrapover seat stay or arched bridge, so it's a bit confusing.

Can any of you wise people help identify this frame?
Thanks
Steve

marshalllucky · Feb 28, 2017

Re:

Brian Rourke frame ? They certainly have wrapover seatstays like that , Never seen a Raleigh frame like that though.

LongLegsRetro · Feb 28, 2017

Dave Marsh did wrapovers similar to that.

Retro JB · Feb 28, 2017

I'm afraid to admit it, but I remember this bike. I had a Raleigh Equipe, and this was the version up from it. Raleigh did a BMX called a Team Burner with similar paint. Year was circa '86/'77.

Just did a Google search, think it's call a 'Raleigh Team'.

dadstardeluxe · Feb 28, 2017

Thanks for the comments, I agree that it looks like it could have been built by someone else. So my thinking was that it might not be a Raleigh frame originally, but if not, then why would someone paint it in Raleigh team colours, and source original factory decals (Raleigh lightweight, TI, etc) to put over the top of the new paint. It was that detail that made me unsure about the other builders. As confused as before!

nonowt · Mar 1, 2017

Re:

I saw this on eBay too and kept going back to it because i just couldn't work it out. My best guess was that it was maybe a built for a local bike shop by someone like Holdsworth in the early 70s? And got a Raleigh respray in the mid-80s to look cool. Do the forks seem original?

dadstardeluxe · Mar 1, 2017

I am not sure about the forks. They are sloping crown, so feel right in terms of quality, but they feel a bit newer, maybe 80's

Piperdave · Mar 1, 2017

Could be Raleigh, see the text on this page. Seat stays could be a special request.

http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/R ... l84_15.jpg

Midlife · Mar 1, 2017

Raleigh were pretty strict on frame numbering as they were run by accountants. Is there a number stamped on it somewhere?

Compare that with AENDE frames which were never numbered to evade the taxman

Shaun

dadstardeluxe · Mar 1, 2017

I've stripped it down for a full clean and rebuild. No numbers stamped anywhere. Blue paint in particular is thinly applied, not a professional finish. And the clincher is that there are a couple of holes in the head tube for a badge. I assumed it was for the Raleigh heron, but I offered an old riveted badge up to it tonight, and the holes are too far apart for it to be a Raleigh badge. I just wish I knew what it was! I'm going to touch up the paint a bit, and am considering respraying the blue. I like the fact it's a bit of an oddball, and would like to keep the Team Raleigh colours - it's part of its history.

Deeply curious - Help needed to identify a frame.

dadstardeluxe

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