Raleigh Road Ace 1984

Here's my Raleigh Road Ace 1984 model.

Groupset is all Shimano 600AX, with Dura Ace AX bars. Mavic GP4 rims, Iscaselle saddle.

Most of the groupset is NOS, there are a few tiny 'upgrades' which are:

- Dura Ace AX centre pulls on the calipers
- Dura Ace AX stem cap (its metal instead of blue plastic)

And one spec error:

- Tyres are Clement Futura's (one of the last Thai made with the old style logo), these would be a good alternative to the super rare Ritmos the 1983 model should have - but as this is '84 it should be wearing Vittorias....

Anyway there you go - it took buying Road Aces in double figures to be able to piece one together this good in my size (22.5")

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51229181@N ... 745362463/

bikejunk":3li7e8na said:

Anyway there you go - it took buying Road Aces in double figures to be able to piece one together this good in my size (22.5")

Click to expand...

And hooking more of us on the way

The classic exemplar, is the brake cable tie original? should it have caps over the bar tape?and if you could source the decals, i'd be eternally grateful.

I think on here Italian is more thought off, but these in that colour with that groupset ( with those sexy brakes) are a delight.

Thanks again for all your help with other stuff.

Yes brake cable tie is original and is part of the 600AX groupset, its quite hard to find.

The bar end caps are also correct, they are very rare Dura Ace AX models that are shaped to fit the angled cut on the bars (which I believe are rebranded Nitto's).

I don't know anyone who has found a full replacement sticker set, but Nick at LLoyds has similar seat tube decals that could be re-produced in blue and black, the down tube and top tube are all from the generic series of the time (competition / gran course etc).

Its the paint that is the biggest problem when trying to restore these as its 'Polar blue', which looks like white with a light pearly blue tinge to it - sadly they go more white or oddly greenish over time (rusty too!)

This may end up being parted with as I have been bitten by the Italian bug.

Real Beauty, but please loose the Elite bottle cage. It's way too modern

Love it to bits.

bikemeister2000":3sxgkrtm said:

Real Beauty, but please loose the Elite bottle cage. It's way too modern

Love it to bits.

Click to expand...

The bottle cages aren't the real problem with AX aero, it's the bottles, go for about £30 !

Just on AX, did you see the price of a brochure for it? £86 !

yep, bottle cage is the obvious spec change, to be fair I totally forgot about it. There are a few very good reasons for this spec change but one of them is the price the AX bottles fetch - coupled to the fact it would never actually get used...

It did not occur to me that the elite cage was that modern, but I'm guessing early 90's?

On the brochure, was that an Ebay sale? reminds me I need to list the marketing poster I have for the Dura Ace AX group.

This is my favourite bike of all time, followed closely by the 83' team replica, and Holdsworth professional in pearl white with super record.

These are all the bikes I dreamed of owning when I was a teenager. I still have an original raleigh racers catalogue from 83' well thumbed but loved.

Fantastic build, keep her safe and love and cherish her (and loose the cage )

Mark

Thanks for all the positive feedback. Cage is now removed... Am I right in thinking this model Elite is early 90's?.

Tubs are soon to replaced with Vittoria's which will be closer to original spec. I have a Malcolm Elliot signed Iscaselle Tornado in blue, which was supposed to make it onto this bike - but its a very slightly newer design which I think came in around '85/85, so its been shelved for now.

Cheers

Does anyone know where I could get hold of a right-hand Dura Ace AX bar end cap? It's all that is missing (well, apart from the bar tape) from my Raleigh Road Ace:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cycleseven ... 172173999/

Thanks if you can help.

Hi,
Junkbike, tell me the frame has oval tubes?
Cause that stem looks oval? Or not?

I am confused?

Regards,