Classic & Vintage - Difference between record and record ace?

Well I might be picking up a bike, but it's Raleigh Record Ace. I've heard ALOT of bad things about the Raleigh Record, but what's the difference between that and the Record Ace??

http://www.stageninja.com/Bike1.JPG

http://www.stageninja.com/Bike2.JPG

Thanks,

Andrew

The "ACE" as far as I can tell....;)

In 1973, there was a huge difference. The RRA came with 531 tubing. I think it might have been the frame that Raleigh's racing team was going to use, but the Team Professional came into being, and RRA went back to being rather undistinguished.

If you go back far enough, the RRA was a rather nice model as well - that would have been back in the 50's or early 60's when that stopped.

Obviously - judging from the stem shifters, suicide levers, and kickstand - the bike in the picture is not a 1973. :( Looks to be in great shape though.

The Record Ace you show *is* essentially a late 70s Record. The 1979 Raleigh catalog online just shows specs for the RRA with no mention of the Record: http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Raleigh79/09_specifications.gif.

The mid-80s RRA was a Reynolds 531 machine as was the top-end bike of the 40s and 50s. There a frameset listed on eBay now: http://cgi.ebay.com/50S-VINTAGE-BICYCLE-RALEIGH-RECORD-ACE-REYNOLDS-531_W0QQitemZ260060610423QQihZ016QQcategoryZ420QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Neal

Hmmmm, so it's essentially the same as the not so good Raleigh Record? How much would one of these generally run?

Thanks

Where do you live (this has huge bearing on the answer), and what does the frame look like under that plastic at the water bottle cage? If it's as nice as the rest of it looks, you could still get a (relatively) good price because of the condition.

Ehh, I'm actually looking to purchase it from a gentleman (more specifically trade for it). The rear rim is damaged from what he tells me so I planned on making it a fixy, but not if it's not worth what I'm trading. (around 180ish in value) I've got a feeling that I'm getting the worse end of the deal so I am going to see if he can't add cash, but I was going to base that around what you guys estimate.

Thanks,
Andrew

I can assure you with 100% confidence that bike is worth nowhere near $180.

Hahaha, I've figured that much :)

Good... just hate to see you get ripped off on it or anything--personally, I'd pay maybe $30 tops if it needs a new rear wheel.

I have an early 70's Record and Record Ace and both are 20-30 high carbon. If I remember right, the Ace had better wheels and components originally. Both are solid nice riding bikes, but not worth near $180.

In the bike-crazy Bay Area, I could probably get $140 for a '78 Record Ace in nice shape. OTOH, I wouldn't pay more than $40 for one that needed a rear wheel.

what's the difference between that and the Record Ace??
The Record Ace shown is a modest upgrade of the mid-70s Record. It had a low end Sugino cotterless crank instead of a steel cottered crank, centerpull brakes instead of sidepulls, and SunTour deraillers & shifters instead of Simplex. The Record Ace was the entry level British Raleigh, just above the Taiwan-built Raleigh Rampar junk. It sold for maybe $180 new in 1978.

The Raleigh Record Ace that I have was built in 1989 and was the top of the UK Raleigh range with Reynolds 653 tubing and full Shimano Sante (white 600) groupset. The frame is a pearl metalic colour. The name of the cycle does seem to drop in and out of the Raleigh range and be set at varying spec levels.

There a frameset listed on eBay now: http://cgi.ebay.com/50S-VINTAGE-BICYCLE-RALEIGH-RECORD-ACE-REYNOLDS-531_W0QQitemZ260060610423QQihZ016QQcategoryZ420QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Neal

Glad I didn't see this until it was over Neal, I think I'd have another project on it's way.
LOL, just noticed how old this post was.
John