Classic & Vintage - Siziing a Raleigh Supercourse

Hello folks, I am brand new to this forum. I used to ride a Raleigh Supercourse in the late 70's and 80's. Somewhere along the way I quit riding and gave the bike to a nephew. I recently broke my toe and my doctor has suggested I refrain from any high impact activities in the future (running, tennis etc. are all out of the question).

So its back to swimming or bike riding for me. I hate swimming so I'm back in the market for a bike.
I have no need to go as fast as the new tech bikes allow. I was thinking I would enjoy a nice vintage supercourse as well as any other bike. I've been looking on e-bay and there seem to be several for sale, but the sellers are not using the old sizing measurements.

One bike for instance is listed as a 55 cm. Mr recollection was the Supercourse came in 21 1/2 inch and 23 1/2 inch frames. Am I correct in this? If so, which size would the 55 cm convert to. Also, is there anywhere on the bike that has the actual frame size. My 21 1/2 frame (if that is what it was) fit me perfectly and I would like to replace it.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Roadbikes are typically measured metric. If you go to google.com do a search for "metric conversion" and you will find a site in the list with a calculator that converts any metric measurement to any American measurement, like CM to IN. Very handy, but I'll save you the trouble since I have it bookmarked.

55cm is about 21 1/2in (55 Centimeters equals 21.6535 Inches )

You're older now. What fit you then, might not fit you now. Also, it might =not= have fit you when you were younger, but you were flexible enough to get it to work. You might not be that flexy now.

It's not just the "speed" of modern road bikes that makes them different, it's the gearing as well. You might never have ridden with more than ten speeds years ago. Today, road bikes can go up to 30. That can mean more options and lower gears to handle more hills more easily.

I love old bikes, but get fitted again and if you still want an older bike, consider getting it retro fitted with modern gearing.

Good points... I was going to add to my post that back in the Supercourse days, the idea was to have as tall a seatube as possible with a short top tube and no seatpost showing... the new bikes are FAR more comfortable in my opinion than the older bikes which seem to have one top tube length no matter the frame size in some cases!

I have a 25 1/2" Super Course. It needs restoring but I'm afraid I'm never going to get to it.

I had a Super Course of the late 70's or very early 80's in a 23 1/2" and am now riding a 56 cm bike. The 23 1/2" was a bit tall for me. Are you sure you want to break in another Brooks saddle? Not me! I don't know what your budget is but the Specialized Roubaix is vibration dampening carbon fiber with further vibration dampinging Zertz inserts and starts at about $1600.00. I find it a good blend of fast and comfortable, which might also work well for you.

BAH! I say to all you Super Course critics. BAH!

I had a 1977 back in the day. It was stolen from me right before I started my first "real" job. I just got a 1978 one off of e-bay. After a bit of fixing up, it's back, and it is just as sweet a ride as I recall it being then. Yeah, I can't take as many hills in 9th gear as I used to, but that's why they made 8th.

btw - did I mention - BAH!!! :D

So then -- what you're saying is "bah", right?

I'd feel sheepish about saying that too often.