£12 Carlton Corsa Strada - worth it?

[cycletothesea]

Saw this Carlton Corsa Strada on eBay and just stuck £12 on as I thought the wheels might be worth having for another Corsa I have, but didn't expect to win it, which I did. So . . . what have I got. On first impression I have a little more than I bargained for. There's a spearpoint stem which should polish up, a Svelto derailleur which is in good nick, the weinmann centre pulls also look decent, and the chrome on the wheels looks excellent. All in all, I think it's a bargain.

However, I originally thought I could strip it and use all the parts on other stuff as its main problem is a dink in the top tube and I was going to abandon that. But now I'm thinking maybe it's worth saving and restoring. I don't know how much I can do with the frame though, it's a bit rough. Anybody know anything at all about Corsa Strada's, i.e. what era I'm looking at and whether they were top, middle or low-end - haven't got around to finding a serial number yet.

 

[Ian Raleigh]

Twelve Quid? :shock: Bargin of the month

No idea what its worth but I do like it.

 

[Spokesmann]

Well bloody worth it!

I had a chance of one like this last year, totally original with a few minor quibbles. Deal fell through, but we were talking about the £125 mark before the seller decided to give it to his son...

 

[Midlife]

Not to be confused with the later Raleigh/Carlton corsa, this is a much earlier beast and iirc pure Carlton . Is there a frame number on it? It's before my time so possibly mid 1960's ?

Class act

shaun

 

[grumpycommuter]

Re:

£12 for a functioning bicycle is a good deal but for a lovely Carlton is stonking. Clean it and ride it...

 

[Nob]

Re: Re:

£12 for a functioning bicycle is a good deal but for a lovely Carlton is stonking. Clean it and ride it...

I agree then sell it on later

 

[jon w]

Re:

If you don't I would! £12 is a bargain!

 

[pigman]

Re: Re:

£12 for a functioning bicycle is a good deal

well, we don't know that. Even if nothing is bent or broken, you have to consider tyres, tubes, cables, chain, freewheel.

 

[cycletothesea]

It does have some faults, but mostly cosmetic. There is a medium-sized dink in the top tube, which may be why nobody on eBay wanted it, and paintwork on top tube very scratched. The tyres need new tubes, and also needs new brake blocks. Otherwise everything else is good as far as I can see, just needs taking apart and some scrubbing/polishing/re-assembly required.

The pic below (from the listing) makes the bike look really bad when the tube is viewed in isolation like this. But when viewed in the whole you really get the impression that it's in good order. I think this one bad camera angle stopped a lot of people getting a bargain.

 

[47p2]

Re:

We all used to ride around with tubes dented worse than your Carlton back in the 60s and we were never killed due to breakage or failure. A service with some fresh grease, some new cables and brake blocks and a wipe over the frame with an oily rag then ride and enjoy