Raleigh Team Pro - SB1988 - final instalment now added

This may turn out to be a slow build but I thought I should post an introduction before I get started - so here goes.
I bought this bike a few months on the dreaded eBay. The seller originally advertised it as a Ron Cooper - not surprisingly given that is what is painted up as. Someone went to view the bike and recognised it as a Raleigh Team Pro and more ads ensued before I eventually bought the bike. Apart from the wrong paint the bike wears a full Shimano RX100 groupset which seems to have had little use and is matched with Mavic Ma2 rims on Shimano hubs.
My guess is that a previous owner had the original cycle parts built onto a new frame by Ron Cooper and either p'xd the old frame or wasn't interested in keeping it. Then around 1990 Coopers painted it up as one of theirs and built it up with new parts and flat bars to sell on as a fixie mutant. I doubt it has been ridden much since then as nothing shows any sign of wear- including the frame and forks.
Since buying it I've been riding the bike for my Sunday rides while I make plans about next steps. The frame number dates it to 1977 ish so it is an early 753 frame.
The current plan is not to produce a period correct, perfect concors rebuild, rather to include parts that I like and build the bike as it could have been in the late 1970s. I will also exploit that the frame is already red as the basis for the original red, black and yellow colour scheme without needing to do a full repaint.
Watch this space.

That's a great find in that condition.

The red doesn't look quite right for Ti colours. If you are going for period correct then you will regret not getting the paint right at the start (my opinion obviously!!).

Looking forward to seeing the build progress.

It deserves to be returned back to its original Ti colours especially being a 753 frame!!

I agree about getting it the right shade of red and I can see that it has come out a bit on the orange side in my photos. It is much more red than that but it would still be good to check so if anyone has the Pantone number for the Raleigh shade of red then if would be much appreciated. Failing that, I'll take it to Halfords to see what car shade it is closest to!

BITD we could order in the Raleigh livery, red, blue, silver and gold........the gold is quite nice if you want something different without trying to ape the Raleigh Team colours

Shaun

I liked a TT Special I saw in silver.

Here is a Legend on a Raleigh TT

OK, I said it might be slow and here is an update. But first, who is the legend, Nob?

Today, with the rate of buying parts having slowed to a trickle and being anxious not to be upgrading before the parts even get assembled, it was time to start.

I've stripped the frame. Everything just came apart with no bother which underscores that the bike has barely been ridden, as I thought. And there is no corrosion inside the frame tubes, whatsoever.

The Shimano group set will be transferred to my normal Sunday bike (531C frame) and the Campagnolo 8 speed stuff moved on, unless a suitable frame appears. I want something to ride every week that I don't fret about on wet and gritty days and Shimano parts just feel more expendable.

Once everything was apart I got the scales out. The bike came to me with a Reynolds 753 sticker but it was a bit dogeared and combined with the non original paint I couldn't tell whether it is 753 or 531. Totally stripped it weighs 1.794 Kg which is very light for a 58.5cm frame so definitely 753 which makes me happy (and explains the zingy ride). The forks weigh in at 670g.

No pics today. I took some which are too big and I can't resize them on the iPad. They aren't very exciting so you aren't missing much.

(Edited for grammar.)

It'll be a nice bike when returned to its former glory.

Download the Minima App for your iFad.

Legend looks like Martin Pyne .

Shaun