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Old 05-21-21 | 07:13 AM
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Charles Wahl
Disraeli Gears
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Joined: Jul 2007
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From: NYC
Do you have the fork? If so, is it one with sloping shoulders (fork crown) and apparently without external lugs? Having a mid-1983 serial number might make it a 1984 sales year bike. Take a look at these catalog JPGs, archived by bulgie:
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Raleigh83/
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Raleigh84/

If you look at the 3rd page and the last couple pages of each, you will see the various complete bikes (p.3) and framesets (latter pages) that Raleigh offered those years, with that particular seat stay termination. If you look at pages following and preceding those, you'll find some specs. Only a few of them have any chrome on chain stays or fork blades, and none of them appear to be chromed on the seat stays. One indicator of the "level" of frame would be what type of dropouts they have -- the "professional" level seems to have Campagnolo short horizontal dropouts (though vertical for the Time Trials frame set, unlike yours), and the others seem to use Gipiemme short horizontal. I once owned a 1984 (WG4) Gran Course frameset that I bought new in mid-1985, with the Gipiemme dropouts. It was all painted except for the dropouts (front and rear) and was a very nice ride; maybe the nicest ride I've ever had on a bike. That one had windowed Prugnat lugs -- well, at least they were windowed -- and the sloping fork crown was Davis, I believe.

[EDIT: OK, I looked at the pictures in your gallery, and you've got Campagnolo dropouts, plus the fork with the Davis crown. So it is most probably one of the higher-end bikes mentioned. It might even be a Reynolds 753 tubeset rather than 531 or 531C (the latter is what my erstwhile year-later frame has). Another thought on the chrome: Raleigh did make some custom-order frames according to those catalogs last pages.]

Last edited by Charles Wahl; 05-21-21 at 07:36 AM.
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