The faded Caramel beast......'82 Raleigh Gran Sport

A few years back I landed an '82 Raleigh Competition 12 - I renovated it and it was an absolute joy to ride........but slightly too small. Like it needed a fractionally longer seatpost to make it comfortable. It was close but not close enough.

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So I sold it.....hoping to one day find a similar bike in 25" frame size.

Spotted an advert for a "Raleigh Cinelli" over the weekend, with one bad pic and no detail - but it looked like a similar era bike and it also looked large, and some of the bits looked a bit Campagnolo!

Initally passed it up - already have far too many bikes and too many started projects. Slept on it and decided that if it was still available the next day I'd make enquiries.

Next day - still available so I went to have a look.

Its a 1982 Raleigh Gran Sport - in a bit of a state. It's got that level of "patina" that aligns with general neglect. Rusty hardware, faded paint and decals. Rotten bar tape, rotten tyres, sticky headset, sticky freewheel etc etc.

It's not without its issues - seized seatpost is the most awkward one to sort (as I'd really like to pull the post out without killing it as its the original Campag one). I have a theory which I'm going to attempt later.

And the chrome on the fork......or distinct lack of it. Proper rough......not much left and its all gone rusty. Heyho - not insurmountable.

As always, going to concentrate on getting this riding again before spending any big beans on getting it looking cosmetically a1 again. Looks to be mostly original kit according to the '82 catalogue.

Some pics:

They were a nice bike, one of Raleigh's best 'general issue' ones I reckon. I was only looking at a double page advert in an old 'Cycling' mag for this very bike yesterday!

I like that, always wanted one and they are always too big for me.

Old Ned":1wv5lgfl said:

They were a nice bike, one of Raleigh's best 'general issue' ones I reckon. I was only looking at a double page advert in an old 'Cycling' mag for this very bike yesterday!

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Looking forward to riding it thats for sure, if it's anything like the Competition 12 I should get on with it very well.

Be interested in seeing the advert you mention if you still have access to it?

allenh":1wv5lgfl said:

I like that, always wanted one and they are always too big for me.

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All the bikes that I have that fitted me well are the 25" Raleighs (I can ride smaller but the 25s seem really comfortable). Weird that whenever you see a lower end Raleigh for sale it always seems to be a 25er.....

I certainly do still have the advert! It's in a copy of a magazine called 'Cyclist' from September 1983. I don't think it lasted all that long sadly but the one I have with me has the Raleigh advert and it is also the Tour de France special issue - which is quite topical!

It was a double page spread advert so quite large overall -





Hope you like it!

mmmmm lovely.........

me got one of those.

The History Man":1vjpbycs said:

mmmmm lovely.........

me got one of those.

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Did you have any of that matched paint left? As it looks like Mart could do with some!

The History Man":27ue1nmw said:

mmmmm lovely.........

me got one of those.

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Yes - I've had a read through your build thread, love the direction you went with it - ended up looking grand. Hopefully I'll be able to rescue this one.......got to love a stuck seatpost to deal with!

Peachy!":27ue1nmw said:

The History Man":27ue1nmw said:

mmmmm lovely.........

me got one of those.

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Did you have any of that matched paint left? As it looks like Mart could do with some!

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That paint matching looked like an interesting experience......I have a few scuffs here and there but on the whole the painted stuff is reasonable......if a little faded maybe. Looks lighter than some of the others I've seen on here (and the catalogue shots). It's been stood outside I would imagine as the decals have faded badly.

The chrome on the forks is in short supply too!

Old Ned":1gpoy8ue said:

I certainly do still have the advert! It's in a copy of a magazine called 'Cyclist' from September 1983. I don't think it lasted all that long sadly but the one I have with me has the Raleigh advert and it is also the Tour de France special issue - which is quite topical!

It was a double page spread advert so quite large overall -

Hope you like it!

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Spot on! Thanks for that - love seeing adverts from the time......mines a year previous to that so slightly different graphics (scroll-like text for "Raleigh" and the older style 531 sticker)......I guess they didn't do the Caramel/Chrome colourway for many years. Just 1982/83?

Started stripping the Gran Sport down last night in order to sort out some of the issues. Crankset off and bottom bracket out - frame upside down and chucked a load of Plusgas down the seattube and let it sit over night.

Then today I broke out the big guns......



I've tried cutting posts out and I've frozen posts out using plumbers freeze spray......not tried Caustic soda yet......but I want to reuse this post if possible as it's the original campagnolo one.

I'd seen a post on here about using a slide hammer to bash a post out so I thought I'd give it a try. Manage to fit the slide hammer to the post using one of the original fixing positions and one of the adaptors out of the hammer kit.



After a few heavy hits with the slide it was obvious that the post was moving! Couldn't believe it!!



Bit more PlusGas applied now the corrosion bond had been broken to help things along and with a few more lumps of the hammer the post popped out....



Pretty corroded......but should clean up a treat.......and will be reusable which was the main aim.



Did create a new problem last night though......managed to shear off the fixing holding the gearshifter. Hopefully this wont cause too many issues to rectify.....