While trying to find info on the Kent WA factory I found this.

https://articles.latimes.com/1988-09-...leigh-bicycles

My 87 Skylite Technium was made in a factory owned by Huffy ?

Likely

Yep.... One reason later Raleighs don't get much respect.

But, not all mid 80's Raleighs were made by Huffy. Our 1987 Granada sport touring bike was made in the UK out of Reynolds 531.

I bought mine for $35 at the pawn shop.

It has a frame not like other bikes and I was interested to find out about it.

Love the bike and ride it a lot.

Made in the USA bikes interest me.

I started riding Huffy's in the 60's.

Still riding one ! ! !

What ticks me off is that folks turn a blind eye to the fact that the similarities between Raleigh USA and Huffy end at the management level. The U.S. factory that produced Techniums did not produce Huffys - and while Techniums aren't C&V, they aren't bad at any rate either.

Ditto for the steel machines - they didn't even come out of Huffy-owned factories. Nearly all of them - save for the Team Pro 753 and 555 - were spit out of Japanese or Taiwanese factories which produced frames on par with any Panasonic, Giant, or Japanese Schwinn.

What really gets on my nerves is that the same folks that idolize the mid-range Japanese Schwinns often diss the steel Raleigh USA lineup for no other reason than their connection with Huffy. Heck, some of the mid-range Schwinn stuff had stamped dropouts and kickstand plates in place of a proper chainstay bridge, for crying out loud. How can you call a LeTour superior to a frame with a tubular bridge and forged dropouts - with adjusters? It isn't.

I'm not saying that the Schwinns are bad in any respect - no sir - but they aren't better than all the Raleigh USA machines - for the most part, Schwinn and Raleigh are on par throughout the entire mid and upper range of the late 1980s.








Not the hallmarks of a cheap bike, are they? No. Neither are they signs of a Huffy. Ditto for the Techniums.

-Kurt

Thanks for the info and pictures !

I keep an eye out for them !

I was the plant manager of a factory in Kent when Raleigh came to town. I had some interactions with their team, and never warmed up to their bikes. I have owned a couple of Kent Raleighs, didn't keep them long, and at least on those bikes, the finish work was not the best. And not on par with similar grade Treks I have owned. I have had some Schwinns with mediocre finish work as well. I have never owned a high end Kent bike, they probably made some good ones with good finish work.

The Schwinns I really like from that era are the Tenax models and above.

I do like many of the mid grade Japanese bikes from that era, and consider many of them a good value.

Interesting... I'd be interested in more of a history lesson about that plant sometime. When did it open, who owned it, etc. I have a 1994 Nishiki made there, and I also own one of the Huffy Raleigh-USAs (made in Taiwan).

From the article:
I bought a bike from that shop back in 1984.

I actually have two Raleigh USA bikes. I have a 1993 C-50 hybrid that was made in Kent WA. I purchased it new in 1994. Nice bike with a ChroMoly frame and fork.

The other is a 1984 Tamarack that was made in Taiwan. I recently acquired it and it is in line for an overhaul.

I never cared for the US-built Techniums either, but they're decent bicycles, nothing to sneeze at if you simply want a good machine. Definitely miles ahead of the best Huffy you could ever buy in a department store.

If you like the Tenax Schwinns, dig yourself up a pre-1987 Raleigh USA Grand Prix, Super Course, Competition or Prestige sometime. They're nothing but a Schwinn Prelude in a different paint scheme. All are unrelated to the Kent bikes, FYI.

-Kurt

Kurt, you're right. Some take issue with reusing the Raleigh name, but you really can't look down at the bikes, bearing whatever name they bear. I sold an Olympian, and it was very nice for a slightly-above-bottom-end bike.

I do think the Tenax series of Schwinns was something special. I only just discovered them. I flipped a Prelude, and it was the hardest bike to part with. The buyer said we can have an open adoption and I can visit her whenever I want. She lives only four blocks from me.

Since I've gotten my Prelude shifting figured out (early SIS), I've been getting a lot of compliments from other riders on the Saturday breakfast ride. People are telling me it's time to move up to the Swifty group.

Dad loves his Technium and he's had some nice bikes over the years.

My Huffy Raleigh has been sitting for several months because I have been riding the Schwinn trike.

I took the Skylite out for a 10 mile ride yesterday and WOW ! ! !

That was the fastest bike ride I have ever been on ! ! !

Riding that trike has made my Raleigh so fast ! ! !

Thanks for the education/discussion - I remember some time in the 80s I switched out components from a frame bent Raleigh USA to a Prelude frame that I stripped and did the rattle can on - The ending bike was very much a keeper and with a good ride - Odd that the owner a "Head" bent his Raleigh when trying to get home on "Ludes" in the 70s...

I salute all those bike shops that have developed a reputation for restoring and preserving vintage bikes - I know there is not really much money in it... And maybe so goes the driving force of having a USA classic bike building company again...

I bought an 83 Olympian on eBay. Sure, while it has not been as awesome as another bike I now realize I could have gotten, it still works very well and I have had many fun adventures on it. My biggest gripes with it would probably be the lack of frame craftsmanship (not that that impacts performance), older standardization, and lack of committed touring technology (that was avaliable on Raleigh's touring dedicated models around the time such as the Touring 18 and the Alyeska). I plan to keep riding this bike for many years untill I break it, or unless I come across something much better for free.