1983 Raleigh Competition
 

New bike day. What can I say, I’m just a sucker for 80s road bikes from original owners in excellent condition. The Brooks professional select saddle on this one, made it irresistible. I made a little trip yesterday afternoon and brought her home.

I’ve been playing around with bikes of different sizes anywhere from 60 cm down to 56 cm trying to figure out what would be a good fit for me. Smaller frames with taller seat posts, more aggressive, riding position. Taller frame with less seat post and higher handlebars?

I hopped on this one this morning after just filling the tires. I didn’t have anything else to do to it. As soon as I hopped on and started gliding down a hill I knew this was my bike. It just fit like an old pair of blue jeans. Just dumb luck. Now I just have to measure this bike six ways to Sunday when I get home and know that these are my specs. It’s only taken 50 years to figure this out.

The condition is really immaculate for a 40-year-old bike. There are two tiny 2 mm paint chips and that’s it. I’m gonna pull the Suzue hubs and bottom bracket bearings out this afternoon and redo them. Lube up the derailleurs and go.

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Nice find. No shop sticker on it? I sold a few of those back in the day and Raleighs of that vintage had some nice flash.

No shop sticker. My LBS worked in a shop back in these days. They were Raleigh distributors. Once the Huffy buy happened, all their their competition had to say was: Oh, that's a Huffy now." They finally gave up the fight and dropped the line. Shame, it's a very nice bike!



I regreased the hubs and put on some 1-1/8th tires. Crap...front fits fine, rear won't take it. The front has about 4mm clearance with the bigger tires as does the seat stay bridge. It's the brake that is just touching the tire.

This bike is super sharp. The color is a deep teal with a light teal head tube. The graphics are classy as can be.

That is a lovely Raleigh from any period! Color makes it stand out for sure.

I like everything about your new acquisition, particularly frame, saddle, and Sugino/SunTour drivetrain. I am sure someone here can tell me how a Brooks Pro Select differs from my various Brooks Pros, none of which evidently are "Select."

Glad to see you bought it. Great bike at a great deal. Enjoy!

I like the frame too. It's made from the still mysterious Raleigh 555SL. What I've gleaned is it's about 5-7% heavier than 531, which is fine with me. I have a few 531 frames, and while they are nice and light and very compliant, they are also pretty soft. At 250#, when I stand on the pedals of my Trek 720 and 710 I can easily get the chain to rub the front derailleur cage. I did not hear any rubbing on my brief ride today with this bike. We'll see as the miles tick by.

Some research on the saddle revealed this message from Steve Green of Brooks that was in another thread:

The Professional Select was a saddle that Brooks made specifically for the French sales market, although a handful were sent out into the UK market (if my memory serves me well). It was not originally intended to be a limited edition at all - even though, in reality, only 600 or so were ever made. This was a case of Brooks trying to respond to market demand and the feedback that we got from the French market researchers is that this was a specification that France wanted in preference to our regular offerings - in particular, the black frame was a definite must for France at that time.
Brooks has not been the best at retaining its historical records and so we're relying here on my memory more than any printed evidence; I would estimate that the model was in production from circa 1978 to 1982 - for certain, no later than 1986 .
Best Regards
Steven Green
Brooks England Ltd
Downing Street
Smethwick
West Midlands. B66 2PA
UK


I bought a set of old Dura-Ace brake calipers to possible replace the Dia-Compe Aero Gran Compes on there now. A) brake pads on the AGCs are unobtanium B) Maybe a lighter bodied brake might yield enough room for 1-1/8" tires C) the AGCs don't appear to adjust any lower, So if I want a beefier tire, I'll need to switch to 700c. The new brakes will accommodate.

It's a shame if I have to go 700c. These Araya rims are very nice.

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These are the brakes I bought for $20 on eBay. They even look more appropriate to the vintage.

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Compared the these

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I’ve had a couple of these
83s go through my hands, actually I still have one with a super tall frame remaining. 1” Panaracer Pasela tires is the best I ever did with these tight clearances. I’ve even tried some 1” Continental tires and they somehow didn’t fit, so you’re best to stick with what works or switch wheels. It’d be a shame to switch wheels though, I’m with you, I really love the look of these rims. Beautiful bike! The emerald really shines.

Nice calipers, original Dura Ace. I have a set and they are actually about a decade older than your Raleigh and its parts. Those AGCs are more "period correct" if that's the kind of thing that appeals to you.

That is one great score, from the looks paint, chain and tires, it seems to have seen very little road duty. Things are only original once and to find one in this condition is a rarity. :thumb:
Best, Ben

The AGCs actually look more modern than the bike. FWIW, these are the brakes that came on my '82 Trek 710 from a year earlier that this one. I don't mind the swap if it gets me the mm more clearance I need.

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Nice bike. I love my '84 Competition. Fortunately my brake pads are in excellent shape. When the time comes, I think I can figure a way to replace the pads with something so I can keep the original calipers. I don't worry about clearance for wider tires, because mine is already 700C and I think skinnier is a nice aesthetic for the bike. I just wish I could find some decent brake hoods.

I like the Brooks saddle on it too. I've never considered one as I didn't think I had a bike one would look good on but I think a black one would be swift on my white and chrome Competition.

Found a matching set of Araya rims in 700c. Come will Suntour Vx hubs, but I might keep the Suzues and build a set of wheels. I have a new spoke threader that needs breaking in.

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I have an 85 competition with the chrome+white paint. Similar wheels and agc brakes, and those brakes are pretty dang nice. My raleigh branded hubs even look similar...
These are nice bikes for sure. Happy you found something that is just perfect.

The pads on this one are like new, so I'm not that concerned and replacing them. I should only be that fortunate to ride this bike enough to wear out these pads.

Speaking of hoods, did these levers come with hoods originally? The bodies appear finished and polished. Possibly never had hoods?


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And while we're here, never saw a wrap like this either. It kind of feels like my old 70s Qiana shirts


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If you still want to go 27” wheels I have a set of Avocet 27x3/4 tires that ought to fit

“Speaking of hoods, did these levers come with hoods originally? The bodies appear finished and polished. Possibly never had hoods”

They did have hoods originally. I’ve just used Dia Compe Aero replacement hoods in the past. They work but they’re a little big.

Yes. I put some aero D-C hoods on mine but as was mentioned above, they are too big. When I got my bike, it had Shimano aero hoods which fit better. I'm going to rewrap the bars this winter and I will probably put the Shimano hoods back on.

Beautiful bike. Congratulations.

Spenco
 

Those are Spenco gel grips, From Waco, Texas. They also made insoles, gloves, and hoods that wrapped around and attached with velcro.

For the record, as equipped this bike comes in a 24# exactly. Not bad for a 58cm.

Went out this morning to put the 1" tires back on, but before I did I wanted to check some things out.

This is what I have with the 1-1/8" on the rear. The tire spins, but gets hung in a few spots where the tire is out of round.

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So I pulled a 28-700c wheel off my '92 Allez to see how it fit and if the brakes would reach. They did, just barely.

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So far so good, I tried the problem child rear wheel. That worked OK too.

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Not great without the gummies, but 700c do not look out of place..

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While I'm here, this reflector bracket is a substantial bit of kit. Not your typical bent flat strap. Says CatEye on the inside.

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Then I remembered that the Allez has the same rear spacing. It's a 8-speed cassette, but it's friction so who cares?

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The chain clears the stays in the 11t cog and the wheel is still centered.

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But for some reason the rear derailleur, with the limit screws almost falling out, does not get to the 32t cog.

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I would think the shifters would have enough pull, but there's not enough travel on the Suntour Cyclone M II. Hum.

But it gets to the 30 which is what I had on the original wheel. So I adjusted the low limit to ignore the 32t sprocket and I'm going for a ride.

If you only needed a little bit more clearance, you could try pulling the axle further back into the drop out. BTW is the drop out adjusting screw missing?

I have one of these on the port side, but the one on the starboard side seems to be missing.

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I got the same AGC-300 calipers on my Pro Miyata. Faced with the lack of new brake pads, I got rid of the AGC's. Unless you're not planning on riding it, I'd get calipers that have fresh brake pads available. It's a safety issue.

Here's a recent thread about the hoods for the AGC-250 levers,
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ero-hoods.html