Help identifying Raleigh frame and forks - Updated

This has just arrived after I bought it on eBay..









It's newer than I normally buy, and ordinarily I buy complete bikes, but I fancied a challenge and this came up at pennies....

Can anyone identify it?

Frame number is DB1140029, with the 'D' designating an Irish frame... however, production in Ireland ceased in 1980, and this definitely isn't that old!

The previous owner has told me it was a replacement for a broken Dyna Tech frame in 1992 ish

It's very light, and appears to be aluminium.

Other than the Raleigh decals on the downtube, and the older style Heron badge on the head tube there are no other identifying marks..

Help?!

Bump - still trying to find out anything on this...!

Having chanced over a picture on eBay of a bike that looked like it had the same frame as this, I'm pretty confident this is a Raleigh Titanium frame..

Anyone know anything about Titanium Raleigh's?

MrW":culd4o2s said:

Having chanced over a picture on eBay of a bike that looked like it had the same frame as this, I'm pretty confident this is a Raleigh Titanium frame..

Anyone know anything about Titanium Raleigh's?

Click to expand...

Looks like one of the models that were being sold off relatively cheaply - in titanium terms - as framesets only through ads in CW about 12-13 years ago (Allens of Wombwell, Sheffield Cycles in Burton and maybe others often advertised them); they were made of unbranded Ti tubing, whereas the round tubed Ti frames made by Raleigh used material supplied by IMI or Timet.

The DB prefix to the frame number is interesting....I'm wondering if it's to do with the period when Raleigh's parent company was hell-bent on doing away with the RSP brand in favour of Diamondback (I worked for a Raleigh dealer in 2000 and Special Products models - especially the MTB range - were being sold off for peanuts at the time)?

David

Thanks David

The 'story' with this one is that the previous owner had it supplied by Nottingham when his Dyna Tech frame snapped. He's based in Ireland, and this had been hanging in his garage for years until I purchased it via eBay, for £12.50! (it was advertised as Aluminium, but I'm pretty sure it's Titanium based on its weight!)

Having googled Raleigh Titanium, it appears these were RSP frames, is that correct? (Brick Lane bikes still have some for sale at £399!)

I also thought the DB frame number was a nod towards Diamondback. (I did contact Raleigh Ireland and they told me this was a steel framed MTB from the frame number...!!)

MrW":k5q247v9 said:

Thanks David

The 'story' with this one is that the previous owner had it supplied by Nottingham when his Dyna Tech frame snapped. He's based in Ireland, and this had been hanging in his garage for years until I purchased it via eBay, for £12.50! (it was advertised as Aluminium, but I'm pretty sure it's Titanium based on its weight!)

Having googled Raleigh Titanium, it appears these were RSP frames, is that correct? (Brick Lane bikes still have some for sale at £399!)

I also thought the DB frame number was a nod towards Diamondback. (I did contact Raleigh Ireland and they told me this was a steel framed MTB from the frame number...!!)

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I'm pretty sure it's titanium - although there were aluminium RSP mountain bikes, during the era when framebuilding was still done in Nottingham, I don't think RSP ever made a welded alloy road frame (some of the bonded Dyna-Techs may have used aluminium though); everything was either titanium or Reynolds steel from memory.

Oh, and £12.50 is a real bargain - and there was me thinking I'd done OK paying £46 for a team issue RSP 853 frame!!

David

£46 sounds good to me for an 853 frame, especially a Team Issue one!

If only...

Interesting....just been on the Brick Lane website, the frame in question seems to have a Timet sticker just below the seat cluster, which scuppers my theory.

Nice frame, though - I never used to be keen on that huge down tube when those frames were first advertised (unpainted) in the press, but in painted rather than raw Ti guise it looks a far more professional build.

David

Is that not the Raleigh Special Products sticker on the seat tube?

MrW":8n1yfcw8 said:

Is that not the Raleigh Special Products sticker on the seat tube?

Click to expand...

Hadn't thought of that. Time for another on my part, I think.....

David