Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - What kind of chrome lugged Raleigh (Carlton?) did I buy

Just picked this up off CL. I'm a sucker for chrome lugs. The headbadge would place it between '67 and '70, right? The serial number, N5775 is on the left rear dropout. N would be for Nottingham but Carlton put the numbers on the dropout. I haven't found any evidence of chrome on the rear stays but the paint is pretty thick back there. Haven't seen a bike with chrome lugs but not stays.
It's been ridden hard and completely rebuilt and ridden hard again. Lots of different components. They seem to be well chosen, though. The hub shiners are trick. I'll dig into the BB really soon here and figure out the threading. It's got just slightly steeper angles than the green Supercourse in the background but lots and lots of other similarities.
What do you think? Grand Prix? Grand Sport? Couldn't be a Competition, I just don't have that kind of luck.
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll299/sailorbenjamin/Raleighs/IMG_5672.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll299/sailorbenjamin/Raleighs/IMG_5670.jpg
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http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll299/sailorbenjamin/Raleighs/IMG_5671.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll299/sailorbenjamin/Raleighs/IMG_5677.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll299/sailorbenjamin/Raleighs/IMG_5668.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll299/sailorbenjamin/Raleighs/IMG_5667.jpg
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I don't know! It's from the 60's or earlier. The seatstay style is like on the Grand Prix, which would make it a Nottingham Raleigh, not a Carlton. But the lugs are pretty fancy and they're chromed, so I really don't know.

The components are nothing special with the notable exception for the hubs. The hubs alone exceed the value of the rest of the bike.

First things first:

tire size?

there are a few interesting things going on there: The seat cluster looks like a Carlton seat cluster and there were very few models with that type of pump positioning (so at first sight, you might be luckier than a Competition) but that light mount on the fork clashes with that theory...

It's got 27 clinchers on it at the moment but the rims are Ukia, so not origional. There are stress fractures just behind the headlugs like you'd see on a bike that had been curbed really hard. Makes me wonder if even the fork is origional. I should scrape through a few layers of paint and see if it was the same color to begin with.
Ya know, I didn't even notice the hubs till I got home and was showing it to my wife. I think she though I was just showing off. Really I'm not proud of the hub shiners, I just pointed them out so that people would look at the hubs.
The bottom bracket is 70mm wide, the same as my Supercourse.

Hi Sailorbenjamin -

You really piqued my curiosity with your wonderful, very cool find, so I started looking. Unfortunately I could not identify the model - but I think I narrowed down the year.

From what I could find, the stem being drilled through for the front brake adjuster is typical of a Carlton of the period '62-65.

Early frame numbers were prefixed with a letter and were stamped on the left side rear dropout.
The Frame number chart lacks your "N" prefix, but it might well fall into the c. '64-pre-65 period. (See below):

(The list compiled from various sources and is probably not 100% accurate.)

A 1939 F 1957-58 L 1963
B 1940-48 G 1959 M 1964
C 1948-52 H 1960 S 1965
D 1953-54 J 1961 T 1966
E 1955-56 K 1962 Y 1967

Interesting. Thanks.
The bottom bracket is 24 tpi, standard english, not Raleigh.
I suppose the head badge mightn't be origional. It's pop riveted on.

I am kind of blank as to which model, but I do agree that it is early 60's based on the front fork. I believe that braze-on is for a front generator light add-on, but I could stand to be corrected. Either way, that is a really beautiful find ! Wish I found stuff like that out where I live. !

I just noticed the headlight mount on the right fork blade. This might have been a model intended for the British market, since they drive on the left side of the road. I saw a lot of those in the UK and Ireland.

The 1967 Raleigh catalog on RetroRaleighs (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/index.html#catalogues) lists a "Raleigh Carlton," which might fit the bill. That headbadge and BB oiler certainly places it in the 60s. Great find!

Neal

Hey, that's really nice! Those are pretty lugs!