I got this bike this morning for $50 off a fella on CL. After one look at it, I thought I got a pretty good steal, but now I can't seem to identify it. The pictures below speak for themselves. I've listed what I can for components as well. I didn't take a picture of the wheels, but the info is there. I think it might be a Super Course, but I don't know. What does everyone think?

SN: NOP8634
Suntour Cyclone Rear D.
Suntour BL Front D.
SR Apex cranks with Raleigh dust caps
Suntour Superbe brakes
Concor Profile leather seat
Suntour Pro-comp 6-sp freewheel
Raleigh hubs
Raleigh stem
Raleigh Sakae Custon handlebars
Araya rims

Supplying the serial number from the BB shell would help. Probably starts with W

No wheels?

I think you're right, Probably a super course

The wheel info is in the OP. I just didn't take pikctures of them.

I thought it would also, but it does not. I forgot to give it. it is: NOP8634 It doesn't seem to match any of the sequences I can find online.

Definitely NOT Worksop built - made in Nottingham.
Probably Super Course or Rapide.

I thought that all the English-made Raleighs had "Nottingham England" on the headbadge where the hashmarks are -- that looks like a Japanese headbadge to me. Also, it's a strange thing to see the Carlton decals on a frame that was clearly from the 80s (braze-on shifters & brake cable guides, sidepull brakes). The Reynolds decal says only butted frame tubes, so that makes it a mid-line bike, which lack of chrome supports. The downtube logo is an older-style one. But the lack of panels and chrome do not really lend credence to its being either a Carlton-Raleigh, or a bike from 79-80 or thereabouts. The "N" that begins the serial number could stand for "Nippon" as well as "Nottingham."

In any event: for $50, it's still a steal!

The only braze-ons are the cable guides. Shifters and FD are clamps. Is there any significance to the decal on the front fork "carlton race approved worksop england"? Maybe it was just a marketing thing? Could it have been a custom decal/paint job?

The Super Course had the hoop above the brake bridge for center pulls at least until 1978. The Super Tourer was butted 531 throughout. The Professional and the Super Tourer are the only two Carlton Raleighs that do not have center pulls in the 70's.

I think Worksop was closed in 1974 but they continued the W numbering anyway. My 1978 Competition GS is a W number but I believe it was built in Islington but I could be wrong.

I'd try to date it by the components but I think it may be early 80's. I don't know some of the higher end bikes were sourced from Raleigh in the UK in the Huffy days or it could also be a bike purchased in Europe for a trip.

Ron

the diagonal bars at the bottom of the head tube badge says "non-English manufacture". The decals are more than likely owner applied after the fact, because they are from an earlier era than the bike itself.

I saw that listed on Boston's CL and assumed it was an early 80s Super Course based on the pic. You definitely got a good deal at $50.

I'd guess given that headbadge and the Raleigh font on the downtube (which seemed much more common on bikes that were sold in markets other than the US) that it is a Japanese-made Raleigh from the odd time when they were transitioning from largely UK production to production overseas.

Neal

I believe Carlton-Worksop closed in '81.

Worksop closed in 1981.

Do you know when this was? so, does the N stands for Nippon? What is Nippon?

Nippon = Japan,

The transition began in the late 70's.

Sorry, you are right about the 1981.

Without shifter braze-ons, I'd guess that the frame is late seventies, early eighties. It's possible that the headbadge is not original, though unlikely.

If you have any doubts about the quality of the frame, just strip it and weigh the frame and fork with only the pressed-on races for the headset in place. If you're at or near six and a quarter pounds (2.8 kg), it's almost certainly a double-butted Reynolds 531 or Raleigh 555 tubeset. Another clue is seatpost diameter: anything over 26.6 does not equal 2030 tubing.

And decent components too. Hey, for $50, ride it like it's a Carlton!

It seems like frames of Asian origin came into the Raleigh Line about the same time as the Rampar designation. This was, I think, 1977. There were also Dutch built bikes in the line earlier. Did they have the barred head badge? If so, this could be one of the Dutch ones; otherwise, the frame probably doesn't predate 1977 at the earliest (unless the head badge is not original, as Charles Wahl says).

The seatpost diameter is 27.0. I would've had it stripped by now, but the damn BB lockring is very stuck. I'll definitely weigh it once I got it stripped and I'll let you know what I come up with.

Thanks for the help everyone!