silvercreek

I thought the Raleigh Professional had chrome chainstay.

SoFlaRaleigh

The chrome chainstay on the Raleigh Professional was introduced in 1971.

flash2070

Lovely bike! We would all love to know the story behind it! It is just in beautiful condition! Congratulations!

Flash

ftwelder

TWINS!

Mine is a '71 however. I rode it a bit Sunday. Fine machine!


29 807 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

systemBuilder

I am purchasing a 1971 Raleigh Pro that has been repainted. So the limited edition # has been lost. Could you please post your serial number (Fnnnn from the bottom bracket) together with your limited edition number? That way i could use interpolation to try to guestimate what my limited edition number should be, in case I ever get it repainted. I already have one pair of numbers from my friend Peter Kohler:

https://on-the-drops.blogspot.com/201...-i-v-1968.html

Thank you! - Don

systemBuilder

What is your serial number? I would like to add it to my serial number registry ...

https://xa.yimg.com/df/raleighprofessional/mark_ii_limited_edition_registry.txt

63rickert

In 1970 there were galvanized spokes and there were chrome plated spokes. Stainless was not an option. The chrome spokes looked real nice while they stayed chromey. Regardless of whether or not they broke easier, many thought they did. And many thought the chrome was just too much. Myself I would still have galvanized on all my bikes if it was not so much trouble to find them.

Bad Lag

So much that was has been lost to PhotoBucket's imbecile business practices This thread is nearly worthless without those photos.

SoFlaRaleigh

My '71 Raleigh Professional serial number was F6578.

Roll-Monroe-Co

Aw, for a second, I thought Frank the Welder was back.

dimini

Hey folks- I'm resurrecting this thread to see if anyone out there currently owns one of the Raleigh Pro Mark 2 limited edition bikes. Various websites and pdfs of catalogs indicate that 500 (maybe a few more) were made. I've seen photos of one that showed it's specific build number show as a decal on the seat tube near the bottom bracket. I'm curious if that build number is also stamped on the bottom bracket. I have a Raleigh Pro MK 2 with serial number "F1519" stamped on the left side of the bottom bracket and stamped on the right side is "271". My bike has been repainted and nobody knows if it has any original parts on it, but my guess is that maybe it's one of the limited 500 editions and that the number 271 is the specific build number within that promotional edition. Anybody have any knowledge of what stampings were on the bottom brackets? Of the two photos I've seen, neither showed the entire bottom bracket--just close-ups of the "F1234" stamping.

Pcampeau

The only way that I know of to tell with any certainty (and seeing as yours is a repaint this method will not be absolutely certain) is if under the new paint you have 1/2 chrome stays. If not then you very likely have a limited edition MK II. The Mark III was built with 1/2 chrome stays and the MK II has painted stays with no chrome. That was the only difference in the appearance between the 2 marks except for that limited edition sticker. I’m not certain about your extra serial #.

dimini

Thanks for the info, Pcampeau!
Mine has no chrome on the stays and the fork's chrome is salvageable, fortunately. Oddly, it has Campy rear dropouts and Zeus on the fork. Either SheldonBrown or RetroRaleighs states that Zeus fork ends showed up occasionally on the early ones.

RidesaCarlton

My first decent bike was a 1971 Carlton Professional. I am not American, so I never respected Schwinn out of national pride.

merziac

No need for flames, Raleigh Pro and Paramount stand on equal ground IMO, have several of each, love them all.

Icons from the same era, very much the same but very different in many ways.