What does 'Superbe' really mean?
 

Hi,

So we need a second bike and we have our eye on a what is being advertised as a Raleigh Dawn Tourist. In my reading around I have failed to workout what exactly the difference between this bike and the Superbe Dawn Tourist is or was.

Can anyone enlighten me or point me to a website that explains?

Many thanks,

James

It's a perfectly cromulent word that embiggens the overall Raleigh marketing brand.

^^^^ huh huh...he said "cromulent" and "embiggens" ^^^^

Consider a similar question: What do "Deore," "Chorus," and "Kysrium" really mean? I think Raleigh showed the industry the way to be 70 years ago.

And is it Sue-Perb or Super-Bee?

~kn

Yes!

:bang:

~kn

I prefer to pro nounce it "se-pur-beh."

Sue-perb. Super Bee was the marketing name for a factory hot rod Dodge. But I liked the Plymouth Road Runner with the nose extension and flying rear wing, those days of yesteryear when Nascar race cars really started out as the car they depict.

I think it's neither. I certainly wouldn't claim "Superbe" is a French word, but I'd bet it was designed to evoke France. If it's a French word, the "e" on the end would be vocalized as a subdued "uh" sound, with the "u" sounding as a long "oo," and the "e" sounding as the "ea" in "bear." There would also be a stress on the second syllable.

soopear'buh

See, high school French wasn't useless after all.

It is a French world. It means Superb.

Soo-peahrb'(eh), where the (eh) is kind of swallowed.

For Raleigh, the Superbe label usually meant it came stock with a dynohub front wheel and lampset and perhaps a few other add-ons (e.g., locking forks in the 60s and 70s). It's always been a bit confusing for me as one could also get those features added with a Dawn model, at least according to the 1930s-50s catalogs.

Neal

Ye Olde Superbe Bicycle Branding trickses

...And then there was that early '80s, made in Japan gold Superbe, which had nothing to do with dynos, fenders, racks, or IGHs, and everything to do with Suntour (Superbe).

Did that make any sense (that Raleigh used the same model name on such different bikes)? To me, that is the mystery. This would be as if Schwinn re-badged "Paramount" as "Continental" in the '80s.

Superbe is French for awesome.

I think OP was looking for the differences between the specs on the Dawn Tourist vs Superbe (I vote for Soo-Pair-Buh, spoken like Inspector Clouseau). The Raleigh catalogs on Kurt's site should help a bit.... http://www.theheadbadge.com/

I want a Dawn Superbe Tourista with full Suntour groupo!

The 1950's Superbes were painted in green (opposed to the stock black finish) and equipped with stainless steel rims. This ended around '57 or so, but the classic Superbe nomenclature stands for these features, as the Dynohub and DBU were options on the lesser models.

1955 Superbe Dawn Tourist shown - from http://www.flickr.com/photos/niniferrose/4282534944/
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/...280dea46_b.jpg

However, the better known Superbe variants (U.S. market) are the 1967/8+ variants, which became synonymous with a Sports equipped with the Sturmey S5 hub, Dynohub lighting, longer stem, and a Presstube rear rack; pretty much a rehash of the 1966/7 S5 Sprite with the Dynohub lighting kit. These lasted until 1976 (in various colors and decal schemes as per the chart on The Headbadge):

http://www.jaysmarine.com/raleigh_superbe_manny_1.jpg

There was another oddball U.S. Superbe available in 1964 - the Superbe Sports Deluxe. Essentially a Bronze Green Sports with Dynohub lighting and green Bluemels fenders, along with a two-tone headtube and spearpoint/dart designs emanating from the headlugs back; as with the 1961 Sports. Neal has the catalog for it, IIRC. I didn't get to photograph the only variant I've had the pleasure of seeing locally; but it's a very interesting looking machine.

It looks similar to this, minus the "Sports" lettering:

http://www.jaysmarine.com/raleigh_sportsketch_1961.jpg

-Kurt

Thanks Kurt. I knew someone, sooner or later, would cut through the joking and actually interject some real information into the thread.

Thank you everyone, I must admit I had rather thought that the subject would treated in a more technical and less abstract way. Still, nice to have the mix.

The Dawn Tourist on offer actually has SS rims, the Dynohub and DBU. So other than the paint work I guess it is pretty much a Superbe.

I have seen that one on flicker and it is rather inspiring, although we are looking to up panniers on the bike and do some touring. Which leads me onto my next question, which is basically is this a mad idea? Does anyone actually regularly tour using two 60/70's era Roadsters? I have now doubt that we would cut the mustard style wise on our English country lanes, but would we actually get anywhere? I suspect mostly they will be used as day trip and picnic bikes, but I do have the hankering to do some weekend camping etc. Presumably they got by the 50/60s?

James

Droooooool. Those bikes are amazing.

It would be kind of the same way bike companies do now. The Specialized Expedition is a lowly Hybrid now. Way to destroy a brand image with your buyers who know, Specialized. ,,,,BD

Tsk Tsk Tsk....