One small quirk of this bike is that it is definitely a 1985 model, as it has both chrome forks and the Reynolds '1935-1985 Winning on 531' decal. It's also the nice 'Ambassador Blue' colour of that year. However, the frame number starts 'WL4......' so it's definitely a 1984 built frame. I imagine it would be common for frames made near the end of the year to be for the next years models, but from what the internet tells me, 'L' means August, so I'm a bit surprised in this case – if that information is correct. I know there are many Raleigh experts on here who may know better.
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My frame also has Campagnolo dropouts rather than the Giepiemme ones from the catalogue spec, but again, I imagine with such high-volume frame building this sort of thing was pretty commonplace.
I will be going for the white bar tape (the catalogue spec say 'beige' but I can't find any beige tape that looks right), and hopefully gum hoods for the levers. I'm not sure about the white (or beige) saddle, simply because I have loads of black ones already, but I might succumb to the need to get this nearer to original spec if I do keep it.
