Got this this morning from a scrap guy, trade a bucket of empty beer cans for it, I guess he figured a couple of pounds of aluminum cans was worth more than steel bicycle?
I'm not sure if this is a mix match of odd parts or just an oddly built bike.
The wheels are Endrick style, vs. the normal Westrick rims, the rear hub is dated 2/65.
The fenders are chrome, beat up a bit but chrome.
The bike is metallic brown, which from what I can tell wasn't in the 1965 catalog.
I also don't see any pics of chrome fenders either.
Both fenders are identical to the normal Raleigh fenders, including a faint, partially rubbed off Raleigh Heron on the back fender above the reflector.
The earliest I see a brown sports is 1970 but since it don't have the Anniversary head badge, I'm thinking it's not likely older than 1971?
The tires are Dunlop, but have ribbed tread,
Its got a cheap chrome chain guard on it which makes me think someone either built this from bits and pieces or they really liked chrome. I've got an extra Raleigh Sports Chain guard but its green not brown. (Anything original though is better than that cheap chrome chain guard.
The bike is extremely dirty and speckled with rust spots all over but it looks like it'll clean up nicely with a little elbow grease. I'm not sure how I feel about the chrome fenders. They look out of place on a bike that normally has painted to match fenders.
The tires don't hold air for long, I pumped them up this morning and their almost flat again but I was able to ride the bike, so I know the breaks work and hub shifts okay.
It'll just need some new tubes and likely a pair of tires.
