91 Technium Supercourse
 

Does anyone have any info on this bike ? I'm familiar with Techniums but not the Supercourse. Interesting thing is it's a 21 speed. That seems weird to me. I think it's under 22lbs. I like the color combo. The geometry is really tight judging by the rear wheel. It's for sale in my general area for under 2 bills. From what little I did find I think its one step up from the Olympian ? Not a lot of info out there


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In 1991, the Supercourse was 4th in Raleigh's American line of six road bicycles. The Olympian was bottom of the line, just below the Grand Prix. It's a bonded 6061 T6 aluminum frame. The components should be Shimano 500EX/LX. Original MSRP was $560 US. I believe I have a road test on it.

I see similarities with my '92 Dash Max (early fitness/hybrid). The stays and forks on mine are chrome moly. I couldn't find any catalog pages for mine online. I can say one thing, the model I have is great.

That's the quandry for me. The triple crankset says some type of early hybrid, the weight and the steep geometry say road / race.

looks like a great hill/mountains race bike. its exactly what one needs on the western coastal range USA to have a lot of fun.

Are you sure? All the Techniums I have ever seen are T8.
(I've never seen one of these, though).

FWIW, the "Olympian" moniker got tossed around liberally by the various Raleigh entities of the 1980s. The one I had (a 1985 555-tubed model) was decidedly the very bottom rung of the ladder. I've never heard of a "SuperCourse" Technium; is the one you're looking at labeled as such? There seems to be a zillion flavors of Technium in in the late 80s and early 90s.

See also: http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...m-technia.html

I have come across a good few road bikes in the early 90s that have 3 ring cranks. The trend seems to have started in the early 90s and lasted into the mid 00s. 15 years of triples on road bikes.
Trek, Univega, Diamondback, Schwinn, Giant, Miyata, etc- all had triple cranks on mid-level road bikes in the 90s(and later)

Here is the direct link to the 1991 catalog mentioned above.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/.../Raleigh91.pdf

It is a European catalog printed in what appears to be German. You'll find an entire section on the Raleigh USA Technium line-up to include your Supercourse. The 1991 Technium lineup appears to employ steel tubes (tube type varies by model) and cast aluminum lugs bonded together using the Technium "process".

Team: Reynolds 753, Dura-Ace
Competition: Reynolds 531, Ultegra 600
Pro: Cro-Mo, 105
Supercourse: Cro-Mo, Exage 500EX
Olympian: Cro-Mo, Exage 300EX

Those bikes were built by SBDU Raleigh Nottingham and were marketed as Dynatech in Britain. The Supercourse Technium in the catalog page(s) you supplied is 6061-T8 with chrome-moly forks and stays, like 90% of Techniums. There were steel (753) Team Techniums in other years built in the U.S., but the lugs were steel, too.
Rahmen=frame
Gabel=fork, by the way.

Well I'm picking it up tomorrow. The guy says the paint is excellent, couldn't find a scratch.
I'm guessing that paint will sparkle in the sunlight. I'll take some more pics when I get it home.
This one just spoke to me

Crap! Sorry about the misinformation.

So are the 1991Team and Competition steel tubes with cast aluminum lugs?

Team Technium is 753 Reynolds, Competition Technium is 531, both bonded to what I believe are steel lugs. It is my understanding that only the Dynatechs had the steel tubing with aluminum lugs.
(I could not find an English translation for the word "muffen").

Should make a real fast rider, for sure. :)

Well the rain stopped me from getting pics yesterday so I obviously couldn't wait to tear into the bike. Took a break between the rain and got pics today. I really like the brushed blue finish - pics don't do it justice. It's almost like spun turquoise metal thread around the frame. The paint and decals are excellent.

I didn't like the clunky gray EX500 brakes, they don't work with the bike IMO, so off they came. I have a pair of low end Campy brakes in chrome that I may use. Might even be one of the few times I would consider black brakes, but don't know that I want to invest in that.

The Brooks saddle was a surprise. Don't know much about it, assume it's pretty low end. The LX mountain bike drivetrain still makes me laugh a little. It even says LX Mountain on the crank. The seat stays are every bit as steep as my Criterium so calling this a hybrid is funny. Is that even a mini granny gear in the back ? I really like the Araya wheelset. I was shocked at how light they were and still pretty attractive. I'll take 4 pair if anyone doesn't like them. A big jump from the second to third crank -- that thing is tiny. I am still a newbie, and know some have reservations about Techniums, but this is one sharp bike, surprised they don't get more publicity. I thought I would maybe change this over to a double, but I think I will keep it as is and see what happens. Worth every bit of the $140 I paid IMO. Seems like the perfect bike for those hilly rallies you guys talk about. The story behind this bike still intrigues me

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4268/3...4310e395_z.jpghttps://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4246/3...58c24138_z.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4268/3...087e75dc_z.jpghttps://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4170/3...793d3098_z.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4180/3...f4ed9620_z.jpghttps://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4156/3...3109e730_z.jpg
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Great catch! With a granny gear like that you are set for any hill out there! I would have bought that in a New York second! My size! If you like this bike half as much as I like my Raleigh U.S.A. (mine is an early version of a fitness/hybrid bike), you will very happy!

That was typo on my part. The price list does say T8. FYI, the lists states the Pro as being Easton E9. Not sure if this is their proprietary tubeset using 6061-T8 or not.

It's my understanding that the steel lugs originally used for the US road models were later replaced by aluminum lugs, circa 1990. This is most evident in the design of the seat lug, where the stay sockets flow more smoothly into the lug body. I have a 1990 road test of Technium Competition that specifically mentions aluminum lugs and the USA as the country of origin. Road tests and articles on early 1990s UK Dyna-Tech also mention aluminum lugs.

The USA Technium and UK Dyna-Tech models used similar bonding technology but different lug designs. The USA Technium models had square cut tubes pressed over necks on the lugs whereas the UK Dyna-Tech used mitered tubes that were pressed into the lugs.

Externally, the UK Dyan-Tech appear more like traditional lugs with collars that are larger diameter than the tubes. The USA Technium lugs are the same diameter as the tubes, with the exception of a narrow, slightly larger diameter ring, which acts as a seat for the tube. The USA Technium also use a seat lug with a single bolt whereas the UK Dyna-Tech use two bolts, one for the seat post and the other for seat stay retention. The subject catalogue exhibits both UK Dyna-Tech and USA Technium models.

Wow, thanks for the correction, T. That's some great information on an obscure chapter in Raleigh's past. Very interesting.

That is a really nice-looking bike! Don't go with black brakes! (Suntour Superbe Pro, hint, hint). If it is like my Technium, it'll ride as nice as it looks, plus you get to ride an American-made bike for $140.00. This light bike, with the triple, is ideal for hilly, torturous long rides like Dairyland Dare.

Here's some more relatively obscure information. The steel tubesets were straight gauge. The combination of a relatively low curing temperature and the internal reinforcement of the lug extension meant that the tubes did not require butting to compensate for the strength lost due to high brazing temperatures. For instance, the 1990 Technium Competition had custom Reynolds 531 main tubes that were a straight 0.6mm. No 0.8mm or 0.9mm butts!

It's not a hybrid; it's a "sport touring" bike! The light weight and performance geo let you ride fast and keep up with everyone else, and the extra-low gears come in handy for longer days and/or steeper hills. :thumb:

I was going through the same thought process on my Technium Pro, and ended up finding a nice used black & chrome pair of Tektro 420As on the 'bay for $25 shipped. Take a look around before you rule out more black goodness for your new Super Course. http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...m-technia.html

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/d...m/RedTech4.jpg

Be sure to post your pics over on the thread once you've got your SC all squared away.

Appreciate the info and conversation guys. I'll post final pics in the Technium thread when finished. Other than the brakes, I am definitely going to keep this one stock.
I am still amazed at the Araya wheelset. Turns out they aren't really as common as I thought they'd be on ebay. I think the 32H makes a huge difference in the look IMO. Don't know how much the DT Swiss spokes make a difference (weight) but really happy with the overall weight and look. If anyone has additional info on them (red or black etc etc) I'd love to hear more.
Glad to be lucky enough to find this bike and hope to give an update once it is up and running.

I'm partial to the 60s and early 70s super courses but this one looks pretty nice. You'll want to tighten up the b-tension screw to get your derailleur parallel to the ground.

I found the Technium Supercourse that I mentioned in an earlier post, but it's for the 1992 model. It's almost identical to the 1991 with hte most notable exception being the adoption of a new seat lug with two bolts, though it's not the same lug used on the UK Dyna-Tech models. Here's the important information, without scanning the entire article, which is spread over five pages.

Thanks for that, [MENTION=20650]T-Mar[/MENTION]. I think you just posted some info that is is not available anywhere else on the net. Raleigh catalog info for N America models from late 80's to about 2004 seems to be pretty scarce. As in not available, at all. Some of us weirdos are actually interested in this stuff. :P

At any rate, I now have the Raleigh USA Kent, WA address. I drive past within a mile or two of that location once a month or so. Now I'm ready to make a small side trip pilgrimage and see what's currently in that location these days. :)

This has been a very helpful thread! I just purchased one that had been neglected in a garage, but it's in seriously bad shape. I don't think it will take a lot of money to fix it up, but definitely time.

Thanks for sharing, if you ever get a chance to scan the whole road test that would be great ! Interestingly the gears are shown as 30/42/52 and 13/15/17/19/21/23/26 for the 1992 version and as 28/44/50 and 13/23 in the German catalog. I'll have to count the teeth on mine...a 1991 version that I was given when did an internship at the Kent factory back in...1991. Good times ! I've kept it all these years and moved back and forth between Europe and the US twice ! On one occasion it got bounced around pretty bad and the saddle post got jammed but I found a fix. Anyway it's still going strong and I plan to use it for some climbing in the mountains this summer.

I still have this bike and as I get older, it's my dumb reach. It covers all the bases for me. It may not be C&V sexy, but I still dig it