Classic & Vintage - Raleigh Professional on ebay: what do you all think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/79-Raleigh-Pro-Professional-NOS-Reynolds-531-Campagnolo_W0QQitemZ260178140370QQihZ016QQcategoryZ56197QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Is this really a '79? Would this frame have been built at the Carlton factory? Other comments?

I have a friend who bought a new Raleigh Professional when we were both in high school, it seems to me his bike would have been about a '78 or '79. His was a sort of orange-coppertone color. I saw that this ebay frame/fork was listed as a probable '79, and it got me wondering. Thanks for any info-

Its not like the Pros I've seen, but is similar to other Raleighs I've seen... possibly not a US bike?

I know of the seller, he is reputable. What I find unusual is no mention of a serial number, which I am pretty certain a Pro would have. Assuming it is a Pro, it would have been made at the Carlton factory in Worksop and have a S/N starting with W. It does have the visual characteristics of a Pro and based on the decal, 79 would be a good guess.

The size is rather strange.

That is probably about right. In 1977, they did away with the fastback seatstays and went to the wrap arounds as shown in the pictures. Sheldon Brown's website has the 1978 catalog and the downtube decals are wrong for that year. I think they stopped selling them in 1982, at least in the U.S.
I wouldn't pay anywhere near $500 for it though. The seller says it is NOS, but it has a big chip in the toptube and several rust spots.

It looks pretty nice. It looks more like and SB bike than a W, as in special bicycles development workshop as opposed to the Carlton Workshop, a lot of lousy bikes came from the carlton shop in later year, not that I have heard such great things about the practices at the SB shop either...

...not that I have heard such great things about the practices at the SB shop either...[/QUOTE]


Please elaborate on what you've heard about the "practices at the SB shop".

Thanks for the info and comments, everyone. I posted this because this frame kind of interested me. It's obviously got a very short seat tube (50cm), but the seller says the top tube is 55cm, which would be about right for me. It's really too much money, though, I don't have $500 in my bike budget right now.

It also interested me because of the high school friend I mentioned who bought a Professional in the late '70's. That bike made an impression on me, it was beautiful but I thought my friend was absolutely out of his mind to have spent nearly $900 on a bicycle then. I'm actually wondering if his might have been an '80, because it was the light coppertone color, and I don't see that color listed in the '78 catalog, and if this ebay bike is a '79, unless there was another color offered in '79 it wouldn't make sense. I have no idea what color the '80 models were (assuming there was an '80 model?). Anyone know?

Funny thing was, I worked at a taco stand with this friend at the time; we both had paper routes also, we were quite enterprising. There came a time when we both needed transportation, and I bought my '79 Schwinn Traveler (somewhere around $200 IIRC), he bought the Raleigh Professional. He was kind of a big guy, a football player, and it probably wasn't a good match, him and the Professional. I remember he tacoed the front wheel on the way in to work (hmmm, tacoed the wheel on the way to the taco stand) when the bike was only about a week old. He got it fixed, he began to learn the limits of a true racing bike when it comes to commuting, and we did a lot of riding together; him on the Professional, me on my Traveler. Those were definitely the days-

This frame also has the interesting Reynolds 531 sticker with the "stars" usually associated with Schwinn?

This frame also has the interesting Reynolds 531 sticker with the "stars" usually associated with Schwinn?

Yes, for some reason they turn up on Raleighs now and then. The frame with the lug cutouts looks very similar to an early 80s one I had, but it was not a US model, and not labeled Pro, but was made in England.

BTW, there's a young teenager riding a mint 70s Pro around my neighborhood I see from time to time, I assume a family hand-me-down.

Offer him $50 and a new Walkman! I remember being at a McDonalds one time near my house and a group of kids (12-13 yrs old) rode up on their bikes and then kind of flung them to the ground (pavement in the parking lot) and went in. I took note that one of the bikes was a black Raleigh Competition with all original components,,,,hate when that happens!

...not that I have heard such great things about the practices at the SB shop either...


Please elaborate on what you've heard about the "practices at the SB shop".[/QUOTE]

Sorry I read some piece by a frame builder who was getting certified to use 753 in the 70s and when he went to england he was lucky enough to get a tour of the SB shop as the big wig was out. When the big wig returned he was infuriated. The key point to the story was that Ti-Raleigh claimed you could not cold set a 753 frame and that they had to be brazed in prefect allignment, yet when he went into the shop they were brazing 753 frames without a jig and coldsetting them, which was frustrating since you hade to jump through hoops to get 753 tubing.

sorry I don't know where the original document is.

It's got the World Champ bands on the downtube which Raleigh started adding to their bikes after Jan Rass' win in 1979. They were still adding them to bikes as late as 1982 (possibly later ?), my '82 Carlton has them.

It's got the World Champ bands on the downtube which Raleigh started adding to their bikes after Jan Rass' win in 1979. They were still adding them to bikes as late as 1982 (possibly later ?), my '82 Carlton has them.

That's interesting. So maybe this frame is actually later than '79, maybe somewhere from '80-'82?

It's got the World Champ bands on the downtube which Raleigh started adding to their bikes after Jan Rass' win in 1979. They were still adding them to bikes as late as 1982 (possibly later ?), my '82 Carlton has them.

Team Raleigh had claim to some WC stripes in '77 and/or '78 too.

Team Raleigh had claim to some WC stripes in '77 and/or '78 too.

Just to concur, I have a 77 Raleigh Grand Prix Mixte that has the WC stripes.

It looks pretty nice. It looks more like and SB bike than a W, as in special bicycles development workshop as opposed to the Carlton Workshop,.....

snippage



You raise a good point. The seat post bolt is more like a Team Pro than the professionals I have seen.

I just asked the seller for the serial number, it starts with WD9. So apparently the frame was Carlton-built, fourth fortnight, 1979.

You raise a good point. The seat post bolt is more like a Team Pro than the professionals I have seen.

My '78 professional has the same seatpost bolt, but slightly different decals...

It's not a 79 model. I have the 76 thru 80 catalogs and 1979 model Pros were the sale color scheme as my 78 Pro, that is the white collars on the seat tuby and the white Professional lettering set further back on the top tube. The Raleigh lettering on the down tube is different as well. The seat tube is all scured up for never having been built into a bike as well.

the owner at the LBS has an '80 hanging in the back that he's owned since new. Looks like my '78, nearly spot on. This is clearly a '79 based on serial number...maybe it is a repaint (not bad in itself) or maybe the decals are not the ones that they put on the U.S. exports...

the owner at the LBS has an '80 hanging in the back that he's owned since new. Looks like my '78, nearly spot on. This is clearly a '79 based on serial number...maybe it is a repaint (not bad in itself) or maybe the decals are not the ones that they put on the U.S. exports...

I would guess repaint since the decals seen to match.

But why would a frame need repainting if it was never built and ridden?????