Raleigh Maverick 531

[baldyonabike]

Hi folks, despite my determination to avoid clogging up every spare centimetre of space in my small flat, I saw this and er...well, look, it followed me home.

I am not knowlegable on early Raleighs, and I get that this needs some retconning to be in character ( the saddle and rear mech need to go ) but...it's got a 531 frame and fork and it's surprisingly not massive. ( size or weight ) I'll get some better pics done soon, but I'm really keen on it.

Can anyone point me to year and/or catalogue page?

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Excellent find

 

[baldyonabike]

Thanks I've been having a rummage and it's a Maverick pro 18. I'm about to dive into this thread...https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/87-raliegh-maverick-pro-531-ilkeston-sbdu-gvod.293496/

 

[baldyonabike]

Having been hit quite hard by Covid 19 ( Not long after someone I was helping with music therapy shrieked "There's no such thing as COVID!" at me before marching off, so I think I know where it came from...) it's taken me a while to get this up to my top floor flat to have a proper look at, but I am very pleased with it.
All the bearings - wheels,. BB, Headset and pedals need attention, but nothing is graunching which is nice. The brakes are very free moving, surprisingly and the stem and seatpost are completely unseized. It also has the widest bar of any bike I have ever ridden. The rims are alloy and there is a genuine Blackburn rack on the back. It's still got the SBD sticker on the LHS chainstay, and there is hardly any rust, the paint being sound, if not pretty.
And look at that fork. And personally I think the brake levers are completely gorgeous.

Bad points:
That Alivio rear mech: I mean, it works, but look at it.
The saddle, for the same reasons.
No rear shifter. A mech, but no shifter. (The slotted cable stops for the gear cables are brazed on the head lug, BTW. Nice.
Frankly, despite it being a TAD oversized for me, ( for offroad stuff ) I love it.

 

[legrandefromage]

An old thread bump but did you know that this frame is an SBDU / Specialist Bicycle Development Unit bike and quite rare

 

[baldyonabike]

I didn't, I Karma'd it a while back. ( I knew it was an SBDU bike but didnt realise it was a rarity )

 

[oldschoolfool]

I had bought for me Xmas 1985 the 15 speed maverick version, which was a step down from this one. I always remember my maverick costing £195 , so the 18 speed sbdu version must have been at least £100+ .
I wrecked mine , but I did find a near mint one a couple of years back
Have you still got it?