'Unboxing' an unknown Raleigh
 

I had been able to keep away from the classifieds for quite a while, but I fell off the wagon a couple of days ago. And came across this bike labeled 'Raleigh'. Now I'm a sucker for Raleighs, not in the least because they're rather underrated here and can often be had for sensible money.

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-6VOLOPKJ.jpg

This was the only pic in the ad, that furthermore offered the following information: "used as training bike by skating team 25 years ago". That, and the willow leaf I spotted atop the seat stay made me join and win the bidding. I picked up the bike today after work. I was running a little late, so I just put the bike in the car and hurried home.

First thing I did after supper was get out the camera and make some pics while I checked out what I had actually bought. Here they are.

So this is what it looks like from the drive side:

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-D6UWZFJH.jpg

Lugs look nice and Campagnolo is always good ...

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-34HVSKCG.jpg

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-A7V7LYCR.jpg

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-UDPEGBBX.jpg

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-LOMBFKAM.jpg

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-IGSKH6T8.jpg

Nothing wrong with SunTour either ...

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-LESUPJZY.jpg

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-XQNADMJI.jpg

What's this?

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-GRLVEYLZ.jpg

To be continued ...

Yup, willow leaves. I like those.

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-KO6HXAON.jpg

27.2 mm seat post. Check.

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-PUXWHVDI.jpg

So, let's turn it over and see what this really is ...

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-WYKM67JZ.jpg

'74 75'? What does it say on the cable guide thingy?

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-X4KBRL7F.jpg

That is some confirmation of it being a Raleigh. But that serial number? Only four digits? Let's have another look ...

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-AIJNPKUZ.jpg

Aha! An Ilkeston frame. Mid-eighties, it seems. I'll be trawling the 'net for the next few days to see if I can find out more. For now I'll classify this as 'nice find'. :)

Cool. Have you had a chance to ride, or will you clean it up first?

Definitely a nice find, and it looks like it will clean up well.

Beautiful find!

My sediments exactly. :)

Great find!

Thanks for the kind replies. Yes, this find has lifted my mood considerably today. Should have bought some lottery tickets as well ... :)

No, what you've read is what I had time for so far. It definitely needs work before I'll attempt to straddle it. The headset is severely indexed, the rear hub has some play, and it looks like it hasn't been serviced this century either.

Very, very interesting bike. Do you know what skate team? Eric Heiden was a fantastic cyclist in the 80's for the 7-11 team. Take your time and make it shine.

Well now, that's a good find. Will look forward to seeing it cleaned up.

Maybe raced by a Wolverine? Jeff Bradley, perhaps? I don't think Heiden - he was sponsored by Schwinn; he even raced a Paramount in his first year with 7-Eleven while the rest of the team rode Rossins.

The "willow leaves" were a dead-giveaway this was a high-end Ilkeston frame. Very cool find. I hope you can find out more about its provenance. It may have an interesting story to tell.

Edit: Oops. I forgot you're in the NETHERLANDS and not the eastern America ;) Please disregard my first sentence.

DD

[QUOTE=non-fixie;18007432]Should have bought some lottery tickets as well ... :)/QUOTE]

Nah. You hit the jackpot already.

You know what they say about the lottery.
A self- imposed tax for those who are bad at math.

So, do you think the P inside the star was the skating teams emblem ?

Fork is different, aftermarket or original to the bike ?

I wait... You have such a nice growing collection !

Great score. That'll be a sweet rig once cleaned up.

What's a "willow leaf." I'm guessing it's the seat stay cap? Never heard it before, but I tend to learn lots of new things hanging around here in CV!

:thumb: now find a pair of racer owned Vikings to match :) I'm sure the skating is awesome where you live is well.

Lovely bike! Were you aware of the SBDU Yahoo group? Very useful and some informed owners/enthusiasts. Might be worth joining to help track down the serial number.

Very nice find! And...it is always fun to have a bike that has some mystery to it! It will be interesting to see how you develop this bike...lots of great bits on it...any idea on model?

Heck of a score. Definitely join the Yahoo SBDU group. There is a wealth of knowledge there. So few were made that it is sometimes possible to track down the provenance to the original owner. And I assume the bike is your size?

Very true. Yet mrs non-fixie and I do buy a ticket every now and then and spend the evening fantasizing about what we're going to do with all those millions when we win. :)

Thanks. No, it's one of the things I'm trying to find out. Based on what I know now, it might have been the Dutch national women's team in the late eighties. Which means women like Yvonne van Gennip ("Queen of Calgary" with three Olympic titles) and Ingrid Haringa, who later exchanged her skates for a bike (and not just any bike, but a RIH :)) and won five world titles and three Olympic medals in Barcelona and Atlanta.


http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-PDAJKI8O.jpg

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-NNDG6RCU.jpg

I did join that group yesterday, about an hour after picking up the bike, thanks [MENTION=260407]jeirvine[/MENTION] and [MENTION=297217]bertinjim[/MENTION].

And no, it's a bit smallish for me, alas. 58.5cm, where I like to ride 62cm frames.

Based on the '86 cataloque it's either a 'Service des Courses' frame or a 'Road Champion'. I'm not sure yet how to tell the difference. If it's a Haden BB shell and the fork is original - which it might well be - it's most likely to be a 531 'Road Champion', as far as I can tell now..

Shrink man, shrink !

That's a special build. Team Professionals, Team bikes, and very special orders were all they made. This isn't a stock Team Professional, and is more likely a special build than a team bike based on the head lugs. The Yahoo group serial numbers should give the date to +/- one year.

That star got me wondering. Those are the World Champion stripe colors in it behind the P. I wonder if there is any connection between the bicycle and Claude Criquielion, or Joop Zoetemelk. Neither rode for Raleigh at the time, and the frame looks a tad large to be Joop's, but I suspect there's some interesting story behind that bike.

If it were made for a specific team and rider, it would have had that rider's initials on it. It may have been a spare team bike, though.

Searching for "p star" got me interesting results, but not this decal.