I like many have missed just by seconds on those awesome finds. This time I was the first person and had that smile that couldn't be jack hammered off on your way to pick it up and on the drive home. The frame I knew was going to be a bit too big but I knew it was something that would sell easy and pay for itself hopefully. The seller was a pretty cool guy who used to race back in the 80's and stopped after back surgery and the stuff sat in his garage for twenty some years and just decided to part with it. He was telling me it was a warranty replacement as he cracked the other frame and Raleigh UK sent this to him in place of it. It's a Gran Course with Campy GS cranks, pedals, headset, calipers and shifters. I mostly wanted it for the Campy parts to put onto another frame I just picked up that's my size. The best part is I have to go back in a few days to pick up a set of tubular wheels he built that have Super Record hubs, skewers and Mavic GP4 rims for 50 bucks and campy freewheel! He just tossed some Suntour derailleurs on it to hold the chain on. I'm soooo pumped! The frame is white with a blue fade on the bottom of the tubes. Where did the Gran Course fall in the Raleigh lineup? From what I've seen it was sold as just a frame and fork. Everything was picked up for 125 so did I do good and then 50 for the wheel which are spotless and true.
Pics

Good deal! What size is the frame? This must be an '80s Raleigh, but a quick scan of some catalogs doesn't show this one.

From the 1984 Raleigh UK catalog.

I wanna say it's a 84-85 from some quick googling. It measures 60cm bb to top of seat lug and 57cm from the middle of the seat lug to the middle of the headtube. It also says 531C double butted tubing on the frame decal while the fork is 531. Whats the "C" for? Gipiemme fork and frame dropouts. Serial number WG3000491.

Competition. This is a step up from the regular 531. Nice find.

+1 that is a very nice find. What Suntour RD is on there?

Great find. I love the old Comps.

Great find and deals, especially the wheelset. A few years ago, I also got lucky on a set of Campy Record 6 speed wheels with Ambrosio tubular rims, and 4 tires, all for $45. You couldn't pry the grin off my face either.

My brother has that frame. Built it with Shimano 600 for him back in '86. I thought it was a nicely craftedframest and rode really well. His was a 57cm also. The pics don't quite reveal, but I recall his was a light blue two tone fade.

I believe the Gran Course only came in the faded blue color. Like a pearlish white color and blue on the bottom.

I have one, that I built in 1985, with a Campagnolo Super Record group. Here's a Flickr set about it.
Since by 1984, Raleigh was having the International and the Competition built in Japan, I've always thought that the Gran Course was a Competition-level bike -- I think it's essentially the same frame as used for the Road Ace complete bike model in the catalog you've referenced. That says Prugnat S4 lugs. Didn't have the Competition's chromed fork blades or socks on the rear stays, but the dropouts were chromed, which is nice. I like the double-taper seat stays, and the way they terminate in the seatpost clamp. And it's a very lively frame to ride, with 74-74 angles on the head and seat tubes. I have a flyer on it, from Michael's Cyclery in Ames IA, from whom I bought the frame, that I could send you if you email me. Mine's a 57 cm size, and too small for me, really, so I'm going to replace it.

Great find, at a great price, Henry III - That's the way to do it !
Can't wait to see it all built up!

This has a WG serial number which means it was a Workshop built frame? I'm used to riding a 50-54cm so this beaut is a bit tall at 60cm. I heard from quite a few older bike guys that they used to ride bigger frames back in the day? The guy I bought this from is only a few inches tall them me(5'5"). He said this was his training bike and received this after he snapped his previous frame at the brake bridge from Raleigh UK and not Raleigh Huffy. They told him this was a UK only frame and was probably the only one in the US. I'm just going by what he told me. He had back surgery and stopped racing and this has been collection dust for the past twenty or so years in his basement. Sadly the frame will go on eBay and net me a frame hopefully in my size. My poor 50cm World Sport I picked up for free has a bent fork and was never intended for downtube shifters as there's a cable guide right where the shifters would go.

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The Worksop factory closed in 1980, but this is definitely an English-built Raleigh. I don't know where they built the lightweights after that -- Ilkeston?

Michael's Cyclery in Ames IA was selling these frames in thd mid-80s, so they weren't unique in the US. Ames IA was the US headquarters for the Raleigh USA team then. I think that they probably had these as training bikes, as you say. Mine cost about half what a Team frame would have.

If you would like to trade your 60 cm frame for a 57 C/T, send me a PM.

Well I finally got around to taking some pictures so I can list it up on eBay with another frame I picked up earlier in the week. Why must everything cool I find be too big! Arrgghh.









The other bike...72 Sports Tourer for twenty bucks. It was pretty complete minus front wheel and saddle. I just stripped it down. It came with a Campy Gran Turismo RD I'm going to toss onto my World Sport project.

Oh man, I would keep the sports tourer together. Even though they may not seem like it, they were second in line to the Paramounts. Why pillage a sports tourer for a World sport? I'd love to have one of those someday. Is that going on ebay too?

Their both too big at 60cm's and for the prices I couldn't pass them up. The Sports Tourer was sitting up in a barn and was a CL find. I couldn't tell what it was from his tiny cell phone looking pictures but knew it was something decent with the three piece crank and fillet brazed frame. The parts on the Tourer were pretty rough. The rear wheel was junk. The only thing I kept off of it was the Gran Turismo rear derailleur which was missing the lower jockey wheel but chrome was perfect. The the stem, bars and levers were in decent condition. It's just flipping stuff to get parts off and make a little money off of it. Both are going on ebay. I still debating on keeping the Raleigh fork for my World Sport project that the campy stuff went on to. I would just need to get it cut and rethreaded. The World Sport is staying cause it's my size at 50cm and was free. I do like the look of the Sports Tourer but no sense in keeping and building a bike I can't ride comfortably. That's a pretty big frame for someone of my vertically impaired 5'5" build. lol. I tossed some 700c wheels onto it just get an idea and I can barely tippy toe on it without tipping over. Yes I know it never came with 700's but it just gave me a quick gauge to determine.

Uhh wow! the seat post lug work looks like my unidentified bike. The serial number on my bike doesn't jive with normal Raleigh numbering. What I do know is my bike was bought new by its PO who is from Oxford.

What sort of format is the serial number in?

Very Nice!

The serial number starts out with a W meaning it's a Worksop frame and built in England. The full serial number is WG3000491 which means it's a Worksop built frame, G would be the 7th fortnight of the year(98 days into the year I'm assuming which would of been April 8th in 1983) the 3 would indicate it was built in 1983(though sold in 84 going by the UK brochure from above) and the rest is just it's the 491st frame built. This is just going by the Sheldon Brown site on dating older Raleighs.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/dating.html