Raleigh Randonneur Special Products Division?

retro-rich":33juuljz said:
ksvb5368":33juuljz said:
ha, that's a very good point. One of the bolts with the eyes on it has worked its way loose and I lost it, therefore it wouldn't fit without rattling. It will make it on eventually though.

I think the tape looks okay but it's difficult to get a colour to go with a red bike that's not black, and black is a little boring in my opinion . . . .
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I see your point, but black tape would look good against the black saddle I think, would look more classy IMO. Still great though :)
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ha, truth be told I thought black would look great too, but with the escalating costs of the build, I already had a pack of Specialized Rubaix tape, so thought I would stick it on. Of course, the opposite end of the spectrum is that anything other than black gets really dirty looking pretty quickly . . .


As for that "Randonneur", the only other ones I have seen are the grey one ( mine pictured below with "upgrades"), an orange one, a lighter blue one and of course a red one, so I amn't 100% sure what to make of it. Didn't stop me making a bid for it the other day though!

I have seen a tendency to see alot of bikes tagged as a randonneur, but of course this one comes with the decals to match. Has anyone sent the seller a message for more info?



CIMG1116 by ksvb5368, on Flickr
 
ksvb5368":14mkh8u4 said:
As for that "Randonneur" [...] Has anyone sent the seller a message for more info?
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I've just sent him a message asking about its age and provenance.

edit:

I asked: "Is it possible you're mistaken about the age of this frame? Tubing aside, it has more features in common with the Reynolds 708 Randonneurs of the late nineties than the 531ST bikes of the eighties. The stainless heron head badge is only seen on very late (circa 1999-2000) bikes, for example. Can you tell us anything about its provenance? Thanks."

And he says: "hi all i know is that it has been in my garage for over 20 years as i used to work in a bike shop in 91 and these were being thrown out so i grabbed them but i have had a lot of bikes over the years and you may be right"

I have to say it doesn't make much sense to me that a bike shop would be throwing out an unused and nearly-new frame worth at least a couple of hundred quid at the time, let alone that it had a head badge that wasn't in use for another eight or so years. Assuming serial letter codes are sequential, an L number also means a late bike.

Still, nice frame, and an intriguing puzzle.
 
I was cleaning up an old hard drive and came across this picture of a "Raleigh Travelogue". It looks like a final-series Randonneur frame with some very nice components and a "butterfly" trekking bar. To judge by the photo style, it was probably for sale on eBay from SJS in Bridgwater.

I thought it might interest a few contributors to this thread, so here it is:


I also found paper copies of a couple of Randonneur booklets from the late nineties. I'll scan them in and upload them when I have time.
 

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I'd be interested in scans of those booklets.

As I understand it there were three Randonneurs which were badged as such. Other bikes pop up on ebay posing as Randonneurs, but I have only ever seen three types of proper Randonneur...

1st generation - 531ST tubeset in deep green with white head tube, Maillard hubs, Mavic rims, Deore group, bar end shifters, shimano cantis and Brooks
2nd generation - 708 tubeset in metallic blue, Deore LX group (later ones had Sugino chainset), bar end shiters, Dia-Compe brakes
3rd generation - 708 tubeset in metallic red, Magura brakes.

I have a 531ST one and my dad has a 708 one, but both have been modified quite a bit from standard. His has a dynohub, Campag chainset and a giant saddle. Mine has an external BB and a Bontrager chainset, CX levers and a Megarange block.
 
djoptix":21txkj6d said:
I'd be interested in scans of those booklets.

As I understand it there were three Randonneurs which were badged as such. Other bikes pop up on ebay posing as Randonneurs, but I have only ever seen three types of proper Randonneur...

1st generation - 531ST tubeset in deep green with white head tube, Maillard hubs, Mavic rims, Deore group, bar end shifters, shimano cantis and Brooks
2nd generation - 708 tubeset in metallic blue, Deore LX group (later ones had Sugino chainset), bar end shiters, Dia-Compe brakes
3rd generation - 708 tubeset in metallic red, Magura brakes.

I have a 531ST one and my dad has a 708 one, but both have been modified quite a bit from standard. His has a dynohub, Campag chainset and a giant saddle. Mine has an external BB and a Bontrager chainset, CX levers and a Megarange block.
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Were the first ones not grey as in the picture at the top of the page? I wouldn't mind a 708 framed one, but I think my two tourers are enough for now (if there is such a thing as enough :) )
 
I've got one of the late Randonneurs, I wanted a Dawes Galaxy but nobody could get one in my size at the time :? so I ended up ordering this instead. :cool:

I needed it for a lazy drunken tour of Ireland that was meant to last 5 weeks but I ended up staying there for 7 months :LOL:

Still one of my favourite bikes :cool:

rand.jpg
 
retro-rich":1l6plm8y said:
Were the first ones not grey as in the picture at the top of the page? I wouldn't mind a 708 framed one, but I think my two tourers are enough for now (if there is such a thing as enough :) )
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You're probably right - it is more grey, though I think there's some green in it :)

I have a 708 one on the way so my 531ST one will soon be for sale...
 
djoptix":rwc6h91c said:
I'd be interested in scans of those booklets.

As I understand it there were three Randonneurs which were badged as such. Other bikes pop up on ebay posing as Randonneurs, but I have only ever seen three types of proper Randonneur...

1st generation - 531ST tubeset in deep green with white head tube, Maillard hubs, Mavic rims, Deore group, bar end shifters, shimano cantis and Brooks
2nd generation - 708 tubeset in metallic blue, Deore LX group (later ones had Sugino chainset), bar end shiters, Dia-Compe brakes
3rd generation - 708 tubeset in metallic red, Magura brakes.

I have a 531ST one and my dad has a 708 one, but both have been modified quite a bit from standard. His has a dynohub, Campag chainset and a giant saddle. Mine has an external BB and a Bontrager chainset, CX levers and a Megarange block.
Click to expand...

The 531ST Randonneur had a slightly lower-specced cousin called the Royal (with down tube gear levers etc.); similar paint job - dark base, black this time however, with contrasting silver head tube inlay - though, which might explain some of the confusion/"imposters".

David
 
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