Raleigh M-Trax Ti 9000r

Pointer

Retro Guru
Ok it's FINALLY finished and ridden! This is my first road bike and it feels so quick! It started life as a purple and grey (painted Ti tubes) M Trax frame bought from a fellow Retrobiker back in March. I stripped the front triangle back to bare metal and spent weeks polishing the head tube and alloy lugs, the head tube is steel. The two titanium tubes I have left in their natural state, I prefer this matte finish to the original gloss grey colour. The head tube has been clear coated, it seems like quite a tough finish so far.
The rear triangle I left and just sanded back, the Raleigh paint being a good solid undercoat for the gloss black, same as the forks.
The frame is fairly light, about 2000g with the cups of the headset, it rides so well!
Wheels are from here, older shimano ones, a bit of flex but seem true and roll nicely. Groupset is mainly 105 from Kingcutter. I have re-covered an old flight (ebay) with some leather I had, I also had the bar tape made from the same skin, with some handiwork by a local shoe manufacturer (I live in Northampton). Other finishing parts are mainly new, seatpost from CRC and a new set of bars which I decided to trim down. I tried traditional drops but I don't think my back will stand up to using them regularly.
The only issues I have had are sourcing the spacers for the downtube shifters - I managed to get them from the U.S. And someone at somepoint has overtightened the seatpost bolt, a bit of fettling was required with a file, all's great now though!
Thanks to everyone who has sold bits and bobs and helped out.
I haven't weighed the complete bike yet, but it does feel quite light, my Explosif seems heavy now!

Pics to follow as it was and now:
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Thanks!
I am very happy with the final result, I think these 90's Raleigh's make great (and fairly cheap) builds.
James
 
Like it.

Are you putting some decals back on? I think the down tube decal looked nice, very no frills.
 
Pickle":2vsm2ggc said:
Like it.

Are you putting some decals back on? I think the down tube decal looked nice, very no frills.

Yes I think I will, I might change them slightly from the original design though, I did peel them off to scan into Illustrator if needed. It only has a small Retrobike sticker at the minute.
 
Looks nice

That looks really nice, quite distinctive with the back end black.
Well done.
Nice wheels ;)

Jamie
 
Re the Decals, yep I thought they looked wrong when I bought it, they are/were top quality though (I have a bit of exp with vinyl cutting!) and were applied well. I wonder if the frame is from USA, it does have US design written on it.
The IMI and Raleigh sticker (the one at the base of the seat tube with the serial number on) looked original. The purple is the original colour, but I have yet to see another. If anyone has any further info - I'd love to know more.

For the Time being I'm sticking with the Retrobike sticker (no pun intended)

Jamie - wheels are great! Thanks.
 

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