Raleigh SBDU Aero Bike

My brother has a prototype titanium frame from Raleigh, so they are out there. He lived in Nottingham and got it from the factory, 20-25 years ago.

I think the film is a great piece of social history and a real surprise when Alan got into his Granada (Ghia V6 probably) for the drive to Ilkeston...then ..Wow..I was blown away seeing what is possibly the first aero frame. It's interesting to see the evolution from fully oval tubes to the next incarnation with oval to round seat tube using new dyes to re-profile the frame tubes. Maybe the frame wasn't stiff enough in testing or was it just to make it more user-friendly with a readily available round seat post. This picture shows Gerrie Knetemann checking out what is probably the frame in the 81 & 82 catalogue with a oval to round seat tube but without the Dura Ace front mech. Not sure if the young chap is another team rider, does anyone recognise him ?
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/wat ... 980-online
Approximately 16 minutes into the film Alan Oakley visits RALEIGH SBDU at Ilkeston.

The other rider is his collegue Ad Wijnands. The bike with oval tubing is probably not for one of them. Due to the bosses for cantilevers....

Excellent...Ad Wijnands thanks for that dutchie. Both frames in the catalogue have a caliper brake spindle fitted though this isn't very clear in the picture with Gerrie & Ad. Perhaps this was to help with wheel alignment or for hanging/storage of the frames.

Hi, the prototype Titanium frame sounds really interesting, did your brother know someone at the factory?... have you any pictures of the frame or bike.. would love to see it. Raleigh/Carlton was experimenting with both Titanium and Carbon Fiber way back in the early 70's before the birth of the SBDU. I find it amazing that these prototype or pre-production models actually exist as often they were destroyed and destined to the scrap bin... this makes them highly prized and desirable. I wonder what happened to the track frame in the film about Alan Oakley, did it ever get used in anger or just hung on an office wall?. Maybe my aero frame is a prototype for the Raleigh team to use in the 83 race season?. Something I find fascinating is how ideas and concepts developed by the SBDU get filtered down into Raleigh's production bikes, perhaps without the pioneering work with aero tubing we wouldn't have the Raleigh Aero Burner BMX which proved to be a massive sales hit for Raleigh.
https://youtu.be/ugCR53fksjI

I don't have any pictures of my brother's titanium Raleigh, but he still has it as a winter trainer.

I will ask him to send some pics of it's current build - I remember that it has a very deep section 'aero' down tube, and I think cable guides, rather than lever bosses on the down tube (brifters only). It has a 1" headtube, and is a rough-finished raw titanium - no decals or headtube badge - if I didn't know it was a Raleigh, I would never guess.

Looking forward to seeing more of this very interesting Titanium frame in its raw form with no paint or decals, makes me wonder how many more of these rare Raleigh frames and bikes are out there lurking in sheds and garages gathering dust.

There are a few Raleigh SBDU aero frames known to exist all of which are fillet brazed along with the frames featured in the film and photo with Gerrie Knetemann.
One of the frames I find particularly interesting is a black frame which I saw for sale on eBay in America a while ago. What is different about this frame is the top tube goes from oval to round as it meets the head tube, all the other frames I have seen have a fully oval top tube. Another feature is the metal headbadge and i remember it had a very interesting frame number stamped on the steerer tube...GKE 1.
There were two Ti Raleigh Team riders that share the same initials...
Gerben Karstens and Gerrie Knetemann.
It makes sense to me another letter would be added to ovoid any confusion...so could GKE 1 have been built for Gerrie Knetemann ?

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=386809

Here's a great shot of Gerrie looking cool riding an individual time trial pushing a big 57 single ring. Looks like the band-on Campagnolo front mech is being used as a chain catcher. Front wheel is radial spoked and so is the rear non drive side running a HiLo Campagnolo hub....nice setup.

Remember seeing this in Cycling back then, and been only a young teen a definite 'wtf' moment seeing the wheels and the front mech!