Slash5

Been watching for a high end Raleigh all summer. The odd one pops up but the prices are insane around here. I don't think many were imported to Canada and it seems anyone spending that much went Italian or custom.
Of all places, I found one in a bike store yesterday. It's been stripped of all it's Campy and it's a parts bin build. The store added the wheels and I was able to negotiate a lower price without the wheels.
It's a 1974 and has Universal Super 68 brakes and levers, a Sugino Mighty Competition crank, a Shimano Titlist front derailleur and oddly, a Suntour ARX rear derailleur.

So now I have to decide where to go with this.
I've got a set of Suntour Cyclone derailleurs I could put on it, dig up a decent pair of wheels with a 5 or 6 speed freewheel and go with that. It's vintage and will work well.
Or, I'm tempted to go with a modern drivetrain. I've got a 10 speed brifter bike that has become redundant due to another bike purchase. I can strip the drivetrain and wheels from it and sell the modern frame.
Have to think it over, make a plan.

3speedslow

Great score, that is a mint looking frame to start with.

USAZorro

Beautiful frame. Nothing you've described is original. It's unquestionably functional stuff. I'd want to incur minimal disruption to my main rider until I had a chance to set it up and ride it to be sure the fit can be made to work well. After that, I'd consider updating it. However, this bicycle lacks braze-ons for the shifters, which throws in a wrinkle to conversion plans involving brifters.

CV-6 

You can find band type adapters. I did not see any on eBay at the moment, but that is where I got the banded adapters for my Lejeune 8 speed.

EDIT: Found them!

xiaoman1 

Wow, As clean as this one is I would go back to original....BTJM, it's your bike.
Regards, Ben

Wildwood 

and my favorite color.

Bikedued

A modern drive train would not improve on this frame, IMHO. "Maybe" if it was all silver group, but those are hard to come by these days. They look SO nice with original components, that I really can't see one of these any other way.,,,,BD

I have one of these exact frames, thanks to a member here. Bringing myself to spend the cash on the components has held the build back, but someday I will get there.

gugie 

Great oogly googly! Extremely clean frame!

With that classic paint job, I'd just build it up as is. Unless you want to go through the time and expense of collecting like condition components, I'd build it up with silver parts that look right. If you want to spread to 130 for a more modern gearing range, just do it right and you'll be ok.

plonz 

I'm a proponent of retro modding a vintage frame but for some reason this one looks like it was meant to stay adorned in down tube shifters. If you do modernize, do so with a high polish group. DA 7800 is my choice but it is pricey.

With that frame, it will be beautiful no matter which direction you go.

Prowler 

Very nice frame @Slash5, and my size too. Congrats. I faced these questions just 3 years ago when I obtained my '76 Pro. For various reasons I decided to just get it running. I was lucky in that the non-Campy crankset and pedals were the only glaring deviation from stock spec. I was missing one NR brake caliper too but that was not too hard to find. I did a 100% overhaul, bit of paint restoration and away we went. Yes, mine is not stock spec but it is period correct and I have greatly enjoyed the past 1500 miles. Great, do everything well machine.

I'm not sure where you live, but I can imagine having that bike out on those open roads of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, wind in your hair and highland pipes and Glengarry fiddles in your head. Get it ready for spring and enjoy.

rootboy 

Brifters
Schmifters.


(beautiful frame)

CV-6 

If you are going to modernize, I would suggest looking at 8 speed Campagnolo. Classic look for a classic frame and you get your "upgrade". Please do not put 7800 Shimano on it. Ghastly looking cranks IMO.

Bad Lag

Restore this one, do not modernize it.

plonz 

Certainly the 7800 cranks show a lot of alloy but I'd hardly consider them ghastly. Course, you know what they say about beauty...

Another consideration is if I'm acquiring components to modernize, I'm going minimum 10 speeds. Is there a better looking 10 speed group for mating to a classic bike than DA 7800? Maybe on the lower end but not at the top.

Wulf

Remember that the rear width is 120mm which can be expanded to 126 but 130 is not advised. If must have brifters, I think the band cable stop from some barcons will work

USAZorro

I learned something today. I thought the only option would be the stops like my old SuperCourse with bar-cons had.

USAZorro

Might be an optical illusion, but it looks to me like that has already been spread to wider than 120.

Bikedued

Inline cable adjusters look way more professional IMHO. I did that band with adjusters thing on a Suntour clamp on shifter band. It stuck out way too far for my taste, and I'd probably not repeat that mod.,,,,BD

Lascauxcaveman 

I like the idea of this bike with full NR. (Time to start trolling CL for a bike with full NR...)

Slash5

You are correct, I measured it at 125.
Gives me an idea, I've got a tri-color 7 speed wheel and shifters sitting around. Wouldn't be a bad build and the crank should work with it.

bikingshearer 

If you decide to go the modern route - I'm not saying you should, but you'll get no objection s from me if you do - pay careful attention to spreading the rear triangle. I have had 120mm rear ends spread to 130mm without incident, but I also have an experienced pro do it. The key is that you also have to make sure the dropouts are properly realigned so they are parallel again. Too many folks miss that part, and it makes a difference, both in performance and longevity of the frame.

USAZorro

Why not give that a try first and see what you think?

You may not be thrilled with the aesthetics, but it will give you an idea of how well you like the ride, and give you the opportuity to ride it until you figure out how you ultimately want it built.

Slash5

Did I mention I'm cheap?
Even worse I'm in Canada and in the Toronto area. A bike with Campy on it is automatically $1000 around here. Any bike that isn't junk is a deal at under $500. Miele's with light action Shimano and bottom line Dia-Comp brakes are $350.
And anything from Ebay has a surcharge of 30% due to our dollar plus exorbitant shipping charges. That band clamp mentioned that I will need on Ebay is $25 US - so $32 CDN and he wants almost $25 to ship - free shipping in the US.

davester

If you run a freewheel it can also hasten the snapping of the rear axle because tightening the quick releases on non-parallel dropouts bends the axle slightly. Also, if you don't notice the broken axle right away all that stress can crack the dropout or dropout-to-frame joint.

thumpism 

Boo! The reason I have my Pro frame is because a buddy bought the bike complete and ebayed off the Campy parts. Build with what you have and ride it.