Raleigh RSP Timet titanium frame

[trek_y]

Oh no, I did it again :roll:
The late night Ebay pixies struck again said "Go on have another beer and put a bid on that..." and I won a Raleigh RSP frame for what I thought was a very good price for a titanium frame.
It looks to be a fairly late one as it has disc tabs and is in a yellow / blue paintjob - are these team colours ? Ex-works bike perhaps ?
It hasn't arrived yet but as the realisation sinks in of another frame coming have I done a good thing ? There doesn't seem to be an awful lot of info about so anyone have any experience of these. What is Timet titanium ? Are these known for problems or failiure ? Is it welded or tubes stuck together with lugs like the Dynatechs ?
Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated.
I plan to build it up as a lightweight(ish) trail bike and like the idea of the good old British made in a shedness of it so perhaps with as many Brit bits as I can put on it.
However it'll take some explaining (again) when the box turns up ..... :shock:

 

[coomber]

Ah, glad someone on here bought it, I liked the look of it but jibbed. Think you got a good price. £112 for a ti frame seems a bargain. Maybe the scary looking bloke in the pic put people off!

Theres an earlier one on here:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... t=#1225506

And I suggest a PM to the ex Raleigh worker (I think thats right) on here - he is knowledgeable as you would expect: bikemeister2000

Please start a thread when it arrives, really intreged as to what it is like.

 

[Chris]

Lovely frames, I had a bare Ti timet Raleigh team frame.

Good quality, well made and it was a good ride.

I'm sure that the seller is on here, think I've seen his pic as his avatar.

Chris.

 

[trek_y]

There's another one ending soon ! Item number: 140629065820
Looks in better condition too (typical! :roll: )
Hopefully will be getting mine this weekend and will post a build once I get my plans in order.
The one in the linked thread looks very clean, good to know they make decent bikes.

 

[markwashington]

Was this the one with the yellow head tube and mainly blue? here's a link to my bike:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=155654

It's a 1999 RSP 600, I think the 1999 RSP 550 (which was the 600 without disc brakes) was the same colour of yours. When the bikes came out in 1999 they were around £3000 new, the frames were built in Taiwan but came with a lifetime guarantee so Raleigh were obviously convinced as to the quality. In terms of mine, truth be told I've never really ridden it. I bought it from someone who worked for RSP in Sheffield who told me the history about the bikes. The team bikes for 1999 had a blue headtube, I remember seeing Barrie Clarke riding one and lusted after them ever since. If you PM Bikemiester2000 he'll fill you in on any information you want, he's helped me before.

 

[trek_y]

Yes it was that blue/yellow one on Ebay complete with "scary looking bloke" in the background. Seller is a genuine guy and as there's a bit of damage to the chainstay he's offered me a refund if I'm not happy with it - can't say fairer than that !
Yours is in lovely condition Mark and I love the colours too and its the little special products headtube badge which really does it for me !
How does it ride ? Do you notice the "titanium feel" ? This is why we buy them I guess but perhaps something must be different between a £ Raleigh and a ££££ Merlin ???
Looking at yours built up I notice just how diddy the headtube is for an 18" bike. I think I'm going to put some Pace Airforce forks on it but these are only 63mm travel so with that dinky headtube will they be too short ?
It hopefully turns up tomorrow so will have a chance to look over it properly.

Will send bikemeister2000 a pm so thanks for that info

 

[bikemeister2000]

Was this the one with the yellow head tube and mainly blue? here's a link to my bike:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=155654

It's a 1999 RSP 600, I think the 1999 RSP 550 (which was the 600 without disc brakes) was the same colour of yours. When the bikes came out in 1999 they were around £3000 new, the frames were built in Taiwan but came with a lifetime guarantee so Raleigh were obviously convinced as to the quality. In terms of mine, truth be told I've never really ridden it. I bought it from someone who worked for RSP in Sheffield who told me the history about the bikes. The team bikes for 1999 had a blue headtube, I remember seeing Barrie Clarke riding one and lusted after them ever since. If you PM Bikemiester2000 he'll fill you in on any information you want, he's helped me before.

Just putting the record straight here. These frames were hand made in Raleigh Special Products at Nottingham.

If more people bought them when they were new, we might still be making them :cry:

 

[Rampage]

Machine welded in the UK.
A very very good frame. Best I've ever owned. They generally sell for £200 for the unpainted models. Some had the BB threaded back to front.
Made from almost pure titanium rather than the alloys used on Merlins etc.
I think a STX equipped bike was £1000 new (from memory).
I use Pace RC31 forks (440mm) which I think suit it's flexy nature very well.
I have a feeling that your model might be in one of the catalogs in the Gallery & Archive.
This bike is the only one I would never sell out of all of mine.

 

[02gf74]

hahahah did anyone else search 140629065820 on ebay to discover the auction ended ages ago?!?!?!

 

[Lifecycle]

Hi @bikemeister2000 I just acquired Raleigh titanium frame equipped with both disc brake and v brake tabs. The serial number is begin with M letter. Do you mind to give me some information about this frame? What year is this frame was made? In which production facility? And what type actually the frame? (RSP 600 or RSP 550?) Is all frame painted (yellow-blue) or some are left bare titanium? Thank you very much