Ed.

I have this frame:

















It's clearly one of Gerald's frames, and it obviously was built up. There's a ding on the down tube, and I saved it from the scrap heap. No tubing sticker - I don't recollect if I checked the seat tube dia, I don't know what it weighs, it's just been sitting in my junk box for 30 plus years as I've never gottenaroundtodoingsomething with it.

There's a few here who know more about SBDU and its products than I. Thoughts?

rhm

From what I understand they started in 1974 and made ca 1000 frames per year, numbered sequentially; so this would be quite early, like 1975 or so. No fork?

KonAaron Snake 

RHM - they made that many? Your number seems high to me, though you're likely more knowledgeable than I.

rhm

Aaron, what do I know. I googled them a while back to investigate one on eBay and came away with the idea that by 1975 they were making 1000 per year; but I may have misread, misunderstood, or (oh no!) my source may be FOS.

KonAaron Snake 

Or you could be right and I'm, as usual, talking out of rear

This source agrees with you, and I think they're pretty credible. I had no idea ikelston built that many frames.

Raleigh SBDU

dddd

If these were production frames from Raleigh, 1000 frames seems like a small output, even for a top-end frame.

How special were these Ilkeston versions of what looks like a 1979 Raleigh Professional frame? Were these ones perhaps built for individual riders?

I'm obviously no Raleigh Racing Team expert. I have some interest though, because I've had Raleigh Pro's and I also have one of Jan Legrand's Presto framesets.

CV-6 

I believe below is what is generally acknowledged as the closest approximation of production. Based on that, the OP's frame would likely fall in 1977-1978.

YEAR Frame No
1976 500
1977 1200
1978 1900
1979 2800
1980 3500
1981 4100
1982 4900
1983 5500
1984 6300
1985 6900
1986 7700
Closed 8300

That is a top of the line frame AKA Team Pro. Got the fork? They could be any color the customer wished but for a lot of reasons the Team Pro colors prevailed for many. My own SB1016 is below:

SB 1016res 01 by CV6Enterprises, on Flickr

KonAaron Snake 

They weren't production frames and aren't similar to raleigh pros. They're custom orders and many were for pro riders and teams. A Raleigh pro is a mass produced frame, these are not. Many of the SBDU frames are 753 and most have some flourishes and touches that a Carlton Raleigh won't have. They aren't remotely similar.

CV-6, that seems more in line with what I thought - about 500-700 a year.

Ex Pres 

Ah ha, now I know why (or maybe why) when my '78 Pro was repainted, the previous owner chose that single-color blue.

Ed.

Nope, no fork. I don't recollect the specifics as to how/why it was 'returned'. No idea of the year, either.


4190, delivered, IIRC, pretty late in 1980.

Ed.

The Red/Yellow/Black colo(u)r scheme was selected as it photoed well in either B&W or color.

CV-6 

Because that was the original color most likely.

satbuilder 

I have a 753 Ilkeston SBDU frame that is 84XX. So I'm not so sure that list is quite correct.

KonAaron Snake 

Photos please!

OldsCOOL

Dang, I learn a lot here. This is my first hearing of this line of Raleighs. Interesting details. The lugs are beautiful.

On the OP dropouts, I dont recall seeing the mild drillium if that is indeed what it was for.

Ed.

Pictures or it didn't happen! Quite the guy, Mr Legrand, I'm most jealous.

Ex Pres 

Possibly it was, but all of the '78's I've seen have the contrasting HT & ST panels. If there's another one out there without, pics please.

satbuilder 

I don't know if it's something with Phtobucket or the way this site is set up but I seem to have a great deal of difficulty posting larger photos here. I don't seem to have problems on other sites. Here goes:







History: I picked up 2 SBDU 753 frames in 1999. One was a 1978/79. The other was this one, a 1984 or thereabouts. The '79 frame I sold off in 2002 or 2003. The newer frame was built up once and used as a showpiece in a bike shop in Boulder CO. The frame arrived and I didn't realize it at the time but the driveline side dropout was damaged in shipping. Cold setting resulted in a fracture at the dropout adjuster screw. So it needs to go off for repair. Other than that it's almost a perfect frame.

dddd

Ok, gonna have to dig a bit to get to it, it's boxed up to preserve it's excellent condition.

I recently moved, so I think I'll have to go up into the garage loft to get it when the truck is out of the garage.
It came by way of Hilary Stone some 5-6 years ago, and I've been wanting to re-measure it, angles and all.

I really hope that someone can tell me when it was built, would help me to select the right parts. It has a lot of drillium/millium on the fork crown, dropouts, etc.!

KonAaron Snake 

We have similar ones...

Yours:



Mine:

dddd

If you were hoping for a larger photo to appear here, be sure to first click "From URL", then un-check the "Retrieve remote file..." box before entering the photo's URL in the box.

Ed.

If you have an inside line, I've an email to him that's gone unanswered for longer than I'd like.

dddd

He listed this frame for sale to the CR list. I haven't communicated with him in years that I can recall. I hope he's okay and you reach him soon.

KonAaron Snake 

I've never had a problem using photobucket or flickr here - I use image, not HTML.

I don't think you're supposed to cold set 753. Mine is an 83' - Connie Carpenter's, though I lack strong provenance. I probably won't be able to build it up for a bit and not sure what I want to do with it anyway.

satbuilder 

If yours was one of the actual US team race bikes it may have been Marinoni built. At least that's what I recall reading a while back. Might be worth comparing frames sometime just for kicks.

EDIT: Frame had no damage during shipping, only the dropout. It's a standard 1010 Campy dropout and they can be cold set if it's minor. In my case the dropout was closed about halfway. As I've said in the past, that threaded dropout adjuster hole in Campy dropouts really compromises the strength in that area.