jonwvara

Just picked up this Raleigh Gran Sport. At $200, I probably paid too much, but it was my size and I'd always wanted one. Overall condition is very good--paint excellent with a few minor nicks and a few sprinkles of surface rust. Chrome is also excellent with a few flecks of rust that should clean off.
I'm guessing the bike is from somewhere between 1970 and 1975. It doesn't really match the catalog descriptions. The frame is 25 inches c to c, for example, or 25 1/2 c to t. According to the Raleigh catalogs, they made a 25 1/2-inch frame in 1970, but after that didn't make anything bigger than 24 1/2. But the 1970 version only came in white with blue trim, and this one is blue with white trim. Serial number (under the BB) is K6002582, which bears no resemblance to any serial numbering system described on the Retro Raleighs site.
Components don't help much either, because many have been replaced over the years. The crankset is a 122 BCD Stronglight--probably a 103 (can anyone say what it is for sure?) that may or may not be original. From the catalogs, I'd have expected a model 93. Campy headset is original, I'm guessing. Suntour ARx deraillers are obviously replacements, as are the Suntour barcons. Odd Shimano freewheel with a skip tooth big cog--I'd never seen anything like it before, but some poking on the Internet revealed that they appeared in the 1974 Shimano catalog, though it's not clear if they were also manufactured in other years. Stem is also non-original, I think, and very short for a big bike.
The seatpost seems to be stuck. Not badly, I'm hoping--there's no sign of rust in that area, and the bike seems always to have been kept out of the weather. With any luck it will come right out with a little PB Blaster and twisting, with no need for heroic measures.
Right now my plan is to give it a good cleaning, grease everything, and ride it. Not sure about that 52-42 crankset--I'd be happier with something more humane, ideally a model 99 or some other period-correct triple, or at least a wide-range double.

cb400bill

According to Kurt's detective work, Raleigh called that bike a Grand Sports up to early 1973. For the remainder of 1973 it was called a Grand Sport. Then from 1974-76 it was called Gran Sport.

https://www.jaysmarine.com/raleighdecals.html

nlerner

Very nice, Jon! I'm not sure what on there, if anything, is original. It definitely would not have come with a Campy headset. What are the wheels? If Normandy hubs, they often had a date code on the barrel.

Neal

auchencrow

I sense you are being facetious when you say you probably paid too much. (That would be a good price for the frame alone, and yours appears to be in very nice condition). And you have those wondrous randonneur bars too!

These bikes have such a pleasant ride, and IMO, are among the most beautiful bikes Raleigh made. - I know you will fall in love with yours!

mkeller234

I payed really close to what you payed for my Gran Sport and felt like it was more than fair. I think Neal is right about the campy headset being a replacement... although Raleigh substituted anything at any given moment during the bike boom. I can't tell what style of down tube decal it has, if any... that would help narrow down the year a bit. I like the blue color scheme better than the white, I think it's a little more interesting to look at. Yours has the plain dropouts like mine, earlier models had Zeus forged droupouts. I want to say the dropouts changed in 1972 but I could be wrong.

Nice bike!

jonwvara

Wow, is that confusing. All of the Raleigh catalogs for those years (according to the scans on Retro Raleighs) called the model a Gran Sport. Are you saying the catalog called it a Gran Sport, but the decal on the bikes themselves said "Grand Sports?" The decal on mine does identify it as a Gran Sport.

jonwvara

Thanks for the suggestion, Neal--I should have thought of that. I assume that the wheels are original. The date codes on the Normandy hubs are R 38 76 on the front hub, and R 36 76 on the rear. I wouldn't have thought it was as recent as 76. Color seems to be right for a 76, though a 24 1/2 frame was supposedly the biggest they made that year. But it seems that what the catalogs showed and what the factory actually built often differed pretty widely.

auchencrow

Raleigh kept economizing on the length of the decal as time went on:
Oldest to newest:
Grand Sports - Grand Sport - Gran Sport

mkeller234

Oh yeah, definitely! The catalogs show the general idea of the bike, but the lower down the totem pole you go the wackier things seem to get. I'm guessing mine is a 73-74 and it has a different fork crown than the catalog and most of the ones I have seen. I was also told by the original owner that the suntour equipment and barcons came on the bike from the shop.... who knows, maybe the bike shop switched the parts before it was sold. My serial number is also completely different from any of the known Raleigh formats.

nlerner

Jon, does it still have its 531 decal? Later models were all double-butted while earlier ones were not.

BTW, this one in that color scheme recently went for $380 on eBay:

https://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Raleigh-...-/150576775577

Neal

auchencrow

I was watching that auction and would surmise that he could have gotten more if it was not "Local P/U in NJ only".

jonwvara

Yes, it has the decal with the "531" at a diagonal--fully butted, with Reynolds fork and stays also, I think. That would make sense if it is in fact a 1976, despite the fact that my size supposedly wasn't made that year.
Glad to hear that the price I paid was fair. I do wish that this one had a different crank, though--that 93 with the chainring guard is pretty cool. Do you recognize the crankset on mine, Neal?

nlerner

I don't know those later Stronglight cranks, Jon, but I believe that one is from the 80s. Perhaps a 107, according to this VeloBase entry:

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.as...=115&AbsPos=24

Neal

jonwvara

That's not it, because mine is a 122 BCD, not 144. I'm guessing it's a 103, based on a photo I once saw somewhere--a pretty shaky basis for indentification, I admit. But I'm sure you're correct that it's not original to the bike.
JV

toytech

My Grand sport from 73 recently sold quite easily for 500.00, so you did fine on the price you paid.

mkeller234

Yikes... I figured mine was worth maybe $300.00... I am clearly out of touch.

toytech

A frame and fork went for 400 ish on ebay recently timing is everything I guess.

cudak888 

A. Both the 1970 and 1971 Grand Sports were chrome w/brown and green accents. I believe late 1971 examples were the first to transition to the white/blue scheme. Ignore what the catalog says about which color is primary with the blue/white examples; they came either way.

Catalog says one thing, frame says another, and the sizes don't match anything at all. Typical Raleigh.

Sheldon's site, as usual, buggers everything up with incorrect ultimatums - sometimes I just wish Retro Raleighs would disappear from the internet.

As for decals, your chainstay tells the story (as the downtube decal appears missing):



It is a 1973+ decal, as noted on the decal page. Either your frame has a Carlton letter-number-number-number-number serial on it - in which case it is a '73 - or it has a Raleigh serial, which will positively ID it as a '74, 5, or 6.

-Kurt

jonwvara

My hunch at this point, based on the date code on the Normandy hubs, is that it's a 1976. The serial is K6002582. Given Raleigh's attention to detail, it's probably just a bunch of random numbers (and the one letter).
JV

cudak888 

You're missing a letter in the serial. It's supposed to be WK6002582; 1976.

-Kurt

Sixty Fiver

The GS is probably one of the most under rated vintage Raleighs and if we keep posting them and telling people how nice they are the price will only get higher... that and the upper end models often cost a good deal more and aren't going as cheaply as they used to.

For a 25 inch frame in that condition with such nice parts $200.00 sounds like a great deal... I paid 10.00 for mine and got the frame, fork and original stem and bars while the rest of the parts it came with were worth even less.

auchencrow

+1

Hey everybody! The Raleigh GS is really a terrible, awful, crummy bike!

jonwvara

By gosh, you're right. The W stamp is fainter and was covered by grease, but is definitely there.
JV

cudak888 

There you go - you own a 25-1/2", 1976 Raleigh Gran Sport.

-Kurt

nlerner

Well, Kurt, I'm afraid my "Grand Sports" doesn't fit your theory. It has the block letter chainstay decal but no consistent serial # on the BB. In fact, take a look at what's under the BB:



Lest you think that's a complete anomaly, this bike came with a matching but smaller sized bike (also marked "Grand Sports"), which had a similar, random number carved into the BB shell.

Neal