Exhibit A - a 1974 Raleigh International, A877 - one of those countless '70s Carlton-made Raleighs with a 1966 serial on the BB. This frameset is now owned by another BF'er:
Exhibit B - a 1974 Raleigh International with a W-series serial. (WE4..., if I recall right):
Most of you remember when I acquired Exhibit A, for I made quite a noise about its build quality; arguably the worst I've seen on a 531 Raleigh to date. I so happen to have a '73 Competition with an A-series serial as well (A4392, I believe) which exhibits similar lack of care.
In the meantime, Exhibit B, a W-series '74 International belonging to a friend, has since dropped by my workshop. While not a stellar example of framebuilding, it certainly shows some better framebuilding skills than A877. Definitely one of the better Internationals, at any rate.
Note, however, that though the brazing is much better, the typically-rough Nervex lugs appear to have been cleaned up with roughly the same lack of finesse on both examples, though the second bike has had its shorelines thinned out with a bit more grace. Notice the uneven filing at the back of the lug feature cut.
A877 is shown first, followed by the W-serial frameset:
The seat lug is the most divergent bit of framebuilding, for A877 was fitted with a (poor) attempt at wrap-around stays. This is completely absent on the second frame, which uses conventional side-mount stays with caps, which - barring the nicks - have been brazed onto the lug with a lot more care:
Strange, isn't it? For the record, both bikes have the same BB shell.
Just to through some more examples out there, following are two other local Internationals. Years unknown for now (can contact owner for SN's), but worth a look:
Exhibit C:
^
Not bad. Filed reasonably well and brazed nicely.
Exhibit D:
^
The stays on this bike match Exhibit B. D is a mix of Exhibit A and B - a reasonably well-finished lug with so-so brazing. It also has one of Raleigh's infinite Vagner fork crown substitutions.
For the record, I know that frame quality is relatively inconsequential to ride quality, and I'm not insinuating one influences another (though it can, in certain cases). If nothing else, I hope this serves as a thought-provoking exercise regarding Raleigh build quality. Feel free to add whatever you wish to the discussion.
-Kurt