I can only speak to the two 70s Raleighs I owned, and absolutely loved. In 1979 I purchased a 79 Super Course and an NOS 74 International. I got a sum of money from my former employer, for vacation time that was unused, when I left to finish college, my senior year. Both were used for commuting to school daily, and for weekend rides with our club at that time. Neither one gave me any trouble, and no fit and finish problems were ever noted. I learned a good deal about bicycle maintenance and repairs by keeping both bikes pristine, and I enjoyed the many miles they both got.
I suppose it must have been our LBS/Raleigh dealer, a purely family business (as was our Schwinn dealership,) and their care in setting up each bicycle as it was assembled. I wasn't party to that, yet (eventually I worked part time doing bicycle assembly for them,) but I did get to observe their oldest son doing the assembly many times, he did an excellent job of carefully assembling bikes, he took nothing for granted. Perhaps his care caught any fit or finish errors, but I did not hear any customer complain.
I don't doubt the posts here about the poor work and details of this time period, I just didn't experience it. I owned both Schwinns and Raleighs during this time, both were dependable, well made lines, in my experience. YMMV.
Bill
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Semper Fi, USMC, 1975-1977
I Can Do All Things Through Him, Who Gives Me Strength. Philippians 4:13
Last edited by qcpmsame; 08-15-16 at 07:30 PM.