Hi. This is the bike I put together in my teenage years. Parts begged, stolen and borrowed. The bike was mostly built in 1985 and 1986, and then was used on and off for time trialling and 3rd Cat road racing for about 5 years. Unfortunately I then drifted into running more than cycling, and came back to the bike in the early 2000s to do some climbs in the Alps. I made some bad decisions then, like 'upgrading' the beautiful Mavic GL280s that I'd had on it for some Bontrager rubbish, and replacing a broken Record crank with something that barely dignifies the Campag name. I am now planning to restore it to a more authentic mid 80s spec. One thing bugs me though. I don't know what the frame is. It's 753, and insanely light. I don't know who the framebuilder was though. There was a little bit of a story from the guy I bought it from. It has the GOD decals on the frame, which apparently meant it was resprayed in Ilkestone. However, the frame is definitely not a Raleigh frame. So the story goes, this guy managed to persuade them to respray the frame for him, and they said they'd make an exception as they'd a respect for this particular frame builder. Somebody once told me it could be an Argos frame, but I've always felt it looked Italian. I'd be really grateful if someone out there can work out what it is. I do love this frame - the welding is stand-out when you look at it up close.
By the way, if anyone has those GL280s, I'd love to buy them back!
By the way, if anyone has those GL280s, I'd love to buy them back!