I own and ride a variety of bikes from the 60's coaster brake single speed to present day mt. bike,but my passion is Raleigh 3-speeds. A guy in my neighborhood has a mint condition Supurb he rides in nice weather....one day I will find one just like it!

I can scarcely conceal my jealousy.

Top quality, but lesser know Italian, esp. Gianni Motta, followed by Sannino (78 degree seat angle, anyone?) Rigi, Moser, Battaglin. Sold my Motta Personal 2001 in Italian tricolor with all black anodized Galli Criterium/KL Aero last winter, and I miss it. Had it since new in '81. Sigh. I might have just scored a NOS Motta track frame in American Flag paint -- can't wait.

Components -- obscure European stuff spins my prop. OMAS, Edco, Zeus, Excel, etc. Nisi rims, Galli Top Crit clinchers, color matched to the KL Aero group, please. Finally, I'd sell my soul for an Assos crankset or a pair of Assos clincher rims (they made fewer than 100 pairs in '86 and '87.

Personally, I like most any high quality lightweight road bike from mid-'80s & earlier.... As long as it's my size, and artfully made.
Road racer, sport-tourer & loaded tourer; it's all good ;^) I'm especially fond of mid-late '70s American made frames (only the good stuff though). Lugs are cool, but not all I like. Vintage fillet brazed (like some Jack Taylors) can also be very cool!

I seem to recall seeing a pair of rims on e-buy recently, thought they were
unusual (never having seen them before) but didn't know they were that rare.

Marty

The sew-ups were expensive, but not so rare. They made two models, basically a heavy (around 400g) for road racing, and a light (320g?) for TT and smaller riders. Sold in the 80s for about twice what the other high-end tubular rims, like Ambrosio Metamorphosis, Mavic SSC, Nisi Laser, went for. Pretty cool rims, dark anodized, aero profile, with special nipple washers that helped to keep them nice and true. Built up a dozen or so pairs over the years for local roadies, one of whom was a trust funder.

The clinchers are another matter entirely. They're my "Eleanor", pale grey annodized, basically the same profile as the sew-ups, and crazy-light for clincher rims in the 80s -- around 370g, if I remeber correctly. I regret not ordering a pair when I could still get stuff at wholesale, hindsight being what it is. There's actually some question at this point as to whether the rims ever existed outside of the Assos catalog, as nobody I know, oldtime distributors included, has ever seen a pair.

It's good to have a quest, eh?

Derek

Yup! Raleigh!