Carlton Carrera 531c - what seat stays should this bike have

Reading other forums and other parts of the internet Ive read that even when the production of carlton bikes ceased at Worksop and moved to Nottingham that they continued to have the W prefix.
One interesting point of this Carlton is that the carlton badge shows the cycling man on the head badge as cycling to the right hand side instead of the more traditional left hand side, has made me question the bikes authenticity

[/quote]I believe Raleigh's made in Worksop had a W as part of its frame number.[/quote]

I was under the impression that Raleighs with a W frame number were made in Derby (not Nottingham or Worksop) as part of Raleighs Lightweight Unit, along side the SBDU bikes.

Misinformation.

Lot of misinformation here guys.

Firstly the Carlton factory in Worksop was closed (by Raleigh who owned Carlton) in 1981.

Raleigh used the Worksop"W"frame number prefix for their better quality bikes made in Nottingham - don't confuse with the SBDU.

The SBDU was in Ilkeston and operated separately under the guidance/management of Gerald O'Donovan (who's family originally owned Carlton before the Raleigh takeover). The top Carlton builders/painters went and worked with Gerald at the SBDU.

This Carrera, was an attempt by Raleigh in the mid/late 1980s to basically inject some interest in their range by reintroducing the Carlton name.

They are good bikes, I don't ever recall them being sold as a frame only - I don't recall them having fastback stays though (it could of course be a"ringer").

Hope this helps.

Roadking.

Dont think anybody was trying to mislead anyone here, but Gerald O'Donovan was the designer of top end Carlton bikes, based at Worksop until its close.
Gerald O'Donovan then moved to Ilkeston with the SBDU.
This bike is definitely not a ringer, someone went to a hell of a lot of effort if it is, including the frame number been accurate to the year, colour been right, front forks been right, parts been right, graphics and decals been right
The carrera is the same frame as the Raleigh team professionals, and this one matches the frame for a team professional of the same year as the frame indicates
Id be interested in knowing what your expertise in this is

Heres a team professional from the same year 1984, please compare the seat stays, and dropouts etc, theyre identical

Believe that fast back stays were just introduced for the one year in 1984, looking on the internet, youll find team pros, team usa, team panasonic, and these carlton carreras made in 1984 with the fastback stays

Just adding for accuracy that the Carlton Carrera was produced 1984 and 1985, early to mid 80s not mid to late 80s

Me, Socrates?

bianchiboyd":20gl6htd said:

Dont think anybody was trying to mislead anyone here, but Gerald O'Donovan was the designer of top end Carlton bikes, based at Worksop until its close.
Gerald O'Donovan then moved to Ilkeston with the SBDU.
This bike is definitely not a ringer, someone went to a hell of a lot of effort if it is, including the frame number been accurate to the year, colour been right, front forks been right, parts been right, graphics and decals been right
The carrera is the same frame as the Raleigh team professionals, and this one matches the frame for a team professional of the same year as the frame indicates
Id be interested in knowing what your expertise in this is

Click to expand...

To be clear...I did (a) not imply that anyone was trying to mislead, and (b) did not say it was a"ringer". A simple fact; Gerald O'Donovan did not move to Ilkeston with the SBDU, he set up the SBDU in 1974. I have no expertise at all, but I did meet O'Donovan in 1985 when I ordered my own Raleigh SBDU Pro Super frameset; one of the last made in the 531 Professional tubeset by the SBDU - I met O'Donovan again when I collected the frameset.

I met the Raleigh board at this time as I worked for a certain car company that supplied Raleigh-Weinmann with their team cars. Ex-Carlton and ex-SBDU employees are also known to me.

So, there are two things I can be sure of, (1) I know nothing. And (2), I did not come down with the last shower of rain.

You might benefit from reading this article -

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/bu ... lders.html

Roadking.

Maybe I should of said I worked for Raleigh from 1982 to 1987 and remember these bikes been manufactured, as well as knowing people who used to produce Carlton bikes from around 1970 to 1980, remember Ford Granadas were the support vehicle for Team Weinmann werent they?

bianchiboyd":j5is9c0i said:

Maybe I should of said I worked for Raleigh from 1982 to 1987 and remember these bikes been manufactured, as well as knowing people who used to produce Carlton bikes from around 1970 to 1980, remember Ford Granadas were the support vehicle for Team Weinmann werent they?

Click to expand...

You were the janitor...if you know so much, why so many questions?

As for your question, I've no need to reply further.

Roadking(because I have one).

:shock:

I owned one of these bikes - my first road bike purchased from Colin Lewis himself in Paignton, Devon.
i owned it for a few years and wish i'd never sold it...
I'm still looking for a frame and forks to replace my lost friend :cry:

Hi, just thought i'd throw this in: I'm the original owner of a Carlton Carrera built September 1986 in Nottingham. After Worksop production moved to Nottingham some frames were still made with the 'W' in the frame number. My bike is one such example. As for the seat stays, here's a picture of what mine look like.