Dating a Raleigh......

Hi All,
I rescued a Raleigh from my parents back shed today and was wondering if there was a website I could take a look at to date the bike or perhaps a Raleigh guru on here that could help out.

I've had a look at Sheldon Brown and noticed there are some date codes. I'll check out the date codes in the daylight tomorrow, is there anything else I can use to date it or a chronological picture archive featuring salient changes on a year to year basis.

The only things noticed on the flap-flap-flap walk home with trashed tyres was the tubular fork and crown which and rear dynohub. The shifter is 3 speed although I haven't checked the grimed up hub. Does this point to a sports / superbe. It also has a gear cable hanger as part of the lug at the of the top tube joining onto the seat tube.

How much of the bike is original I can't say, it belonged to my eldest brother and 4 brothers later and me trying some sort of "Grifter" Mod to the setup might have resorted in a tabby cat bike far from the original.

Any pointers gratefully received,

Regards
Al

If its a 3 speed raleigh, a good way is to check the date stamp on the sturmey archer rear hub.

Try this forum, someone there may have the info you need -

http://www.raleighbikes.com/

Have you got a photo?

Hi Chris,
Hopefully there will be photo's attached of the frame, the fork crown and the seat lug.

Had a look at Sheldon Brown's website and the Raleigh site as recommended by Old Ned but drawn a bit of a blank. There are numbers stamped on the frame which appear to be 670233 I'm assuming this is a serial no, although Sheldon Brown suggest the serial number should be below the seat lug for a genuine Raleigh.

Any thoughts?

Thanks Al.

There are loads of anomalies when it comes to identifying Raleighs, so theres a good chance that you will never get a proper identification.

I absolutely love those bars. Back about thirty years ago almost everybody round our way had bars like those. It was quite funny seeing such bars with the brake levers from drop bars half way down the bars because the cables weren't long enough. Do you want to sell them?

My educated guess is that's a Lenton, from about 1957-59. They're nice, but don't think you'll be able to retire by selling it. Condition is everything with these old machines, and original parts are expensive.
It is a nice frame though, it's made from 531. Specification here.

Try the special interests forum on bikeradar.com there's a couple of guys who know their Raleighs hanging about there.

Hi GarethPJ,
We all had those bars.
I had forgotten about the brake levers - that brings back memories
Not sure where I am going with this yet, will do a bit more research and decide what I want to do with it. Can I let you know about the bar?

Hi Chris667,
Thanks for the info, the Lenton information looks really useful. Funny I'd been on Sheldon Brown and looked at the retroraleigh links but didn't make it to this page.
Al

If you do decide to sell the bar, just let me know.