Raleigh Rare Bike?
 

Hi All,

I recently went to a bike shop and the mechanic mentioned my bike might be of high value. It is apparently a rare Raleigh bike? So it has a wishbone rear post and double butted mo-cr tubing.

Any ideas?

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Never seen a Raleigh like it. No idea of the value - there's a special place for that sort of discussion. That said, there were some mountain bikes that had similar combination of quality lightweight tubing, and wishbone stays (Bontrager Privateer, Giant Iguana).

There are certainly people more informed than I when it comes to Raleighs, but what I can see makes me think middle of the lineup bike, maybe upper-middle. Tange Infinity is somewhere in the middle of the Tange lineup and the parts on it seem to be a mishmash of groups. Whats throwing me for a loop is the fact that the brakes are nutted yet the frame looks much more modern and the fact that it has 'Cross' in the name even though its obviously not a cross bike. Maybe it was a Canada thing?

Solidly middle of the road bike. But if it fits you, it's worth tuning up and riding. I agree that "rare" equals "wasn't very popular" more often than "valuable collector's item." Still, it could be a very good bike for riding.

This particular Raleigh is of the late-80s/early-90s hybrid genre, as evidenced by the Biopace chainrings. Most were built in the Republic of China, to reasonable standards of quality. The bikes are under-appreciated now, as then. They're not particularly valuable, even if uncommon. Tange Infinity tubing is seamed chrome-moly and is butted - not quite as lightweight as other double-butted tube sets of the time, but it's widely recognized as good stuff.

I recall that MountainBIKE Action! used to slag hybrids regularly as being poseur bikes that promised road and off-road and delivered neither. They actually do deliver both, though, provided that you stick to gravel and don't use them for hopping logs.

Moved from C&V to C&V Appraisals

Hey Tom (T-mar),

Thanks for everyone's input and Tom's. It's good to know. I didn't want to believe the guy too much. The serial number is RSO 05661.
Anne

I bet that thing rolls along very nicely, looks to have the same or similar Shimano wheelset as my 2009 Cannondale road bike . Have fun with it !

It does role wonderfully! "Wallace" is a good bike. And thanks T-Mar. Interesting that it's an impostor, and I never noticed those serial numbers were so close. Alright, sooooo it's just a regular bike then? I bought it for $300 on Kijiji, so sounds like I paid what it was worth.