Originally Posted by
krems81
I take it the Raleigh Pro was the top model for any given year?
The Team Professional trumps it. SDBU Team Pros are the absolute top.
Originally Posted by
krems81
Also, what exactly is the difference between the fastback stays and regular caps? Are plain caps mitered and brazed alongside the lug, while fastback stays are incorporated into the lug somehow?
Fastback seat lug/cluster:
Yours has a more conventional routing of the seat stays. Caps can be either forged pieces that fit at the end of the seat stay tube and provide the connecting interface between lug and tube, or it can be a flat piece of steel brazed to the top of a tube cut at an angle (as with your Professional Mark V).
Note that Raleigh was probably the undisputed champion of utterly sloppy seat stay caps - note how the caps "spill over" the tube over most of the tube's diameter (see picture #2). A framebuilder that would take any pride in his or her work would file them down.
Originally Posted by
krems81
Finally, what is the SDBU Pro?
My mistake - S
BDU. Stands for Raleigh Specialist Bicycle Development Unit, located in Ilkeston. The custom frames were produced here, along with the true Team Pros - they generally show significantly better quality then the production from other factories (though the Ilkeston seat stay caps are sometimes just as sloppy as normal production Pros, go figure).
Originally Posted by
krems81
As for the Colnago, any clues?
None at this end, sorry. I never followed Colnagos - don't care for them, and information is too spotty.
-Kurt
P.S.: Do you have an overall photo of that Raleigh Pro frame? They didn't come with braze-ons when new, and I notice these look abnormally low. I'll wager a respray for someone with very odd taste in where his shifters belong.