1985 Raleigh Competition 12

[chickendrumsticks]

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.

Tape: use white cloth and then dye it with some weak tea (no milk or sugar).

 

[sjcprojects]

Tape: use white cloth and then dye it with some weak tea (no milk or sugar).

Ah, that’s a good idea. As it happens I’ve already ordered some tape, and it’s not the cloth kind. But if I had a beige saddle I’d go down that route.

 

[chickendrumsticks]

I probably watch too much Repair Shop! They seem to use it lots.

 

[sjcprojects]

I've dug out a Rolls saddle which was on another bike until recently, and put some leather dye on it to freshen it up a bit. It's got just the right amount of wear to fit quite well with the patina of the bike. Can't really go wrong with a Rolls, in my opinion. I've also polished up the nice aero seatpost, and given the chainset and brakes a proper clean/polish. It's going to share these wheels from another one of my bikes, for now, at least.

I've not cabled it up yet, this is just a mock-up until I sort out the final position of the levers. The white bar tape will make a big difference once it's on, I think. I'm happy with the colour match of the touch-up paint, but I think I'll leave the decals off for now, as if I do keep this I might well get it repainted at some point anyway.

Meanwhile, the Record Ace is also coming along. This one has needed quite a lot of cleaning, mainly. I'm also waiting for a few parts to finish it off.