ForestHill
Retro Guru
Hi, I've come to terms with the fact that this is always going to be too small for me and that 'making it fit' will involve too much saddle/bar drop for what I'd use this bike for.
So, slight interest check before I take better photos or go into to much detail.
It's a v.rare Raleigh Portage 650b tourer, size 53. They were made for a few years by Raleigh USA as their top of the line expedition tourer and I seem to think they only made about 3000.
I've no idea how it ended up in the UK, but over the years it has lost its original shifters, brake levers and cockpit. I've replaced them with 6400 bar ends, Cinelli cockpit and Shimano levers, but obviously they're not original! I've also added the (barely worn in) Brooks.
Everything else is as it should be. It was an odd transition phase for Shimano so the original group is the 'deerhead' group; a Deore XT group, but for road. The shifters were just regular friction downtube shifters, but with a natty deerhead on (similar to the Golden Arrow ones, I think).
Anyway, it runs as it should but the rear tyre has suffered a bit of a sidewall failure and needs replacing. I think these may be the original tyres, and as I've not ridden it since buying it I haven't got round to replacing it.
If anyone is interested in this beast, then I'm looking for around £600 due to the rarity of it. That may be way off, I'm sort of pulling a figure out the air - but I know that they have sold on eBay US for upwards of £1000. I'm doing an interest check to see if there is any sort of similar market in the UK.
I can discuss finer details if anyone's interested in it.
So, slight interest check before I take better photos or go into to much detail.
It's a v.rare Raleigh Portage 650b tourer, size 53. They were made for a few years by Raleigh USA as their top of the line expedition tourer and I seem to think they only made about 3000.
I've no idea how it ended up in the UK, but over the years it has lost its original shifters, brake levers and cockpit. I've replaced them with 6400 bar ends, Cinelli cockpit and Shimano levers, but obviously they're not original! I've also added the (barely worn in) Brooks.
Everything else is as it should be. It was an odd transition phase for Shimano so the original group is the 'deerhead' group; a Deore XT group, but for road. The shifters were just regular friction downtube shifters, but with a natty deerhead on (similar to the Golden Arrow ones, I think).
Anyway, it runs as it should but the rear tyre has suffered a bit of a sidewall failure and needs replacing. I think these may be the original tyres, and as I've not ridden it since buying it I haven't got round to replacing it.
If anyone is interested in this beast, then I'm looking for around £600 due to the rarity of it. That may be way off, I'm sort of pulling a figure out the air - but I know that they have sold on eBay US for upwards of £1000. I'm doing an interest check to see if there is any sort of similar market in the UK.
I can discuss finer details if anyone's interested in it.
