Anyone with any ideas?
Ebuy listing...

Looks like your location is Melbourne Australia, is that where the bike was found?

Looks like the triangular decal remnants on the fork are “Carlton Raced Prooved” and not Reynolds 531 decals. With that serial number we’re probably looking for a 531 main tubes only model from 1977. It’s gonna be a different model or different version of a model from what was shipped to the US. The frame details most closely resemble a US Market Super Course from the early 70s, but it isn’t one. Hopefully someone will know.

It looks like a Raleigh version of the 1977 Carlton Giro:

Listmember Bernie, aka 76SLT, has a Raleigh Competition with Nervex lugs in the Carlton "lagoon blue" and white scheme that is usually found on the Gran Sport. His is white with blue panels, but otherwise appears to match...





edit: the rear drop-outs do look a bit different than the OP's frame...



Steve in Peoria

^ Yeah, not a Competition given the stamped rear dropout without hanger akin to the Super Course.

What's that seat post? (other than STUCK)

crack on the seat stay connection?

I think it is a Gran Sport

Crack could just be chipped paint.
Phil

I believe it’s in France. Cheers.

That's the only thing that makes sense to me, but 70s Raleighs arent known for that (making sense).

It's a 1970-1972 Gran or Grand Sport in laguna blue with white panels. Raleigh used both Gran with or without the d and Sports with or without the second s. They were similar to the Competition but with stamped dropouts instead of cast ones. They were a step down from the Competition but a step up from the Super Course.

The only detail for me that confounds a definitive Gran(s) Sport(s) determination is that Worksop serial # under the BB (indicating a 1977 build, I believe). I don't recall seeing a GS with a Worksop #, but that doesn't mean one doesn't exist! I suppose another confounding factor is that the Gran Sport doesn't appear in the Raleigh 1977 catalog, but if this was a Europian-market specific bike, all bets are off.

An almost identical frame with no top tube decal in France:

Carlton Raleigh 1977

A virtually identical 1977 frame with a backstory and another from 1978 with the same specifications, both with "Rapide" model decals:

For Sale - Raleigh Carlton road racing /light touring bikeReynolds 531 1977 Bought this bike from TI Raleigh accountant. He was working in Ti Raleigh as an ac | Retrobike

Raleigh Rapide | Retrobike

A stock 1977 Raleigh Rapide located in France that is identical except for the lack of Nervex Professional lugs:

Vélo de course RALEIGH RAPIDE CARLTON 1977 - Vélos

It is apparently a 1977 UK/Euro spec Raleigh Rapide. I haven't found a catalog yet to confirm but all the examples above stack up pretty well.

-Gregory

This is clearly correct. Nice work!

Years ago this Carlton came my way...



Interestingly enough the bike sported a Raleigh head badge...


The following comments are based on what I have learned on-line. I have no hands on experience. That said, as i recall Raleigh bought out the Carlton brand/bike is the late sixties. Any remaining frame sets or bikes, regardless of the frame became badged with the Raleigh badge. Probably not too common these days.

I still have the Carlton/Raleigh tucked away and hope to find a new home for it, chromed head tube lugs and all...

That's really not the correct story at all.

Ti Raleigh purchased Carlton in 1960. Carlton continued to produce framesets badged as Carltons and sold in England until the factory at Worksop closed in 1981. Carlton bikes and frames marketed elsewhere were mostly rebadged as Raleighs and were not "leftovers" by any means but quite purposefully constructed to meet the specifications provided by Raleigh. A few other medium-to-high end road bicycles from brands Raleigh owned, ranging from Sun to Dunelt, were also re-badged Carltons.

-Gregory

The early ones did, I believe, but the "7" doesn't make sense, I agree.

There's just not enough to go on with that frame: rusty and same color could describe a lot of doppelganger Raleighs from the 70s -- maybe not this specific model, however.
OK. That makes sense. It probably rides a lot like a Super Course or Gran Sport. The head+fork angle are different from the early 70s models. I'm somewhat surprised they were still using the Thomas headset that late in the 70s.

This is a completely different bike that is nearly unrelated to the OPs bike. The only similarity is that it is a shade of blue.
+1. What he said is not correct.

Hmm, I think it being a 1977 with Nervex lugs, chromed stamped dropouts, double rear brake cable eyelets, a rear brake bridge, and the same color are a pretty good indication that we're looking at the same model on this one as well.

The chromed stamped dropouts are probably the most obvious "unique" feature of these Rapide framesets compared to any other offerings in the US or UK Raleigh/Carlton lineup of the era.

-Gregory

In response I started by admitting that I have no on hands experience, meaning what I believed is what I read on[-line. My bike is a Raleigh Carlton, simple as that. Hence, your comment regarding the "completely different bike" seems pointless. That said, I just read your on-line information and would very much appreciate it if you could direct me to the information regarding the subject.

The frame looks like a Gran Sport to me except for the lugs. Same bad brazing of the seat stays to the seat lug as on the one I had, made in ~1975.

To some degree, expecting consistency from Raleigh in the 1970's is doomed. There are many stories about Worksop just using whatever parts were available in the event that there was a shortage. How many models did the Nervex Pro lugs appear on over the years? The International was the one that they are commonly associated with. Bernie's Competition shows that they were used on Competitions too.... and how many paint schemes were used on the Competitions? There have been lilac versions in addition to Bernie's white with lagoon blue.

Were there Super Courses with Nervex Pro lugs? There's a BF thread on the subject, but no photos survive.

I suspect that this is one mystery that will remain unsolved.

Steve in Peoria

It'd be nice if people read the thread sometime but maybe that's a lot to ask. I took half an hour of my day to research this rather than speculate and provided multiple examples I found online of the matching 1977 Raleigh Rapide (UK/Euro spec) and others have acknowledged that the "mystery" is solved.

And yes, there were plenty of Super Courses with Nervex Professional lugs built around 1971-72. I saw a nice coffee brown one in person the other day and there are currently three or four of them for sale on eBay and locally here on Craigslist/Facebook. Nothing uncommon about them at all and there are lots of them posted in the "Show your Super Course" thread here in the C&V forum. You can also type in "Raleigh Super Course Nervex" on Google Images and immediately see several fine examples without so much as scrolling.

-Gregory

Agreed. And I have a Super Course with Nervex Pro lugs. Maybe that's why it rides so well. But seriously, it does.