Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,811
Likes: 596
From: NJ, NYC, LI
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
Thanks for the photos!
My first all 531 frame was a Raleigh Professional, silver with black panels and lots of chrome, that I bought pretty cheap in 1980. Someone had bought a Colnago frame and the complete Raleigh Pro, and switched all the parts over. It was the cheapest way to build up the Colnago with all Campy NR parts.
I suppose someone could have seen the double crank, derailleurs, and centerpull brakes as 'upgrades.' but so many of those parts are basically junk that I I wonder if this Rapide wasn't stripped of all its original parts for some other reason; someone bought a custom frame that fit him, and the Rapide with its comparatively high end parts, and switched them over. I guess the new frame had a different seat post size, so you got to keep that.
Well, we'll never know, and there's no use in speculating.