IMO, there were (and still are) two, parallel hierarchies of bikes. On the one hand, there were the large production options offered by large bike companies. In the start of the 1970's, the European manufacturers were top of the heap. By the end of the 1970's the Japanese were taking over. During this period, (in the US market) the companies that offered top of the line, Campy equipped bikes were Raleigh, Peugeot, Motobecane, Gitane, Bianchi, Schwinn, Follis, LeJeune. I'm sure there were others I can't remember. IMO, Motobecane and Follis actually made the nicest of the bikes. This is not to say that they rode any better or lasted longer, but it reflects my belief that they were more meticulously made. Better paint. Cleaner lugwork etc. I owned a bike shop from 1974 through 1994. I sold many of these bikes and have some experience with them.

At the same time, there were numerous small manufacturers that made beautiful bikes. They probably didn't really ride any better or last longer either, but they were positioned in the marketplace with a great deal of cache. Many were Italian, but there were also many small English builders that offered beautiful frames. And by the end of the 1970's there was developing a core of American builders who were, again IMO, building the nicest frames of all. Names that come to mind include Masi, Cinelli, Colnago, Frejus, Sanino, Marinati, (all Italian) and Claud Butler, Wes Mason, Holdsworth, Bob Jackson (all English). There were many small builders and my list is not intended to be all inclusive. Everybody probably knows of builders I haven't mentioned and I'm sure they're excellent.

The original post seems to be asking about market perceptions of bikes of the 1970's . . . the comment about "equal to the Professional" really can't be addressed. There were many bikes that were as well made, designed for performance, and I'm sure rode great (and certainly provided as much enjoyment) as the Raleigh Pro. It was a terrific bike, but so were literally dozens of other top end machines. The cache associated with the upper model Raleigh bikes is a comment on perceived value and collectible desirability. While those perceptions function in in the vintage marketplace to determine economic value, those same perceptions don't really describe much in terms of real world differences between bikes of the era.