A neighbor received as a gift a 1970 Competition. It was given to her by a man turning 70, the original owner who is unable to ride. I'm not sure how long it was sitting in the garage but with new tires/tubes and brake pads, plus a little TLC we got it running safely. Here is a link to the pics from today when I first saw this 40+ year old machine (serial # = E9169).

https://plus.google.com/photos/11242...CPbepqf8yrmqHA

There have been some changes over the years.
Wheels are 27", 36 spoke Araya box section rims (from the early 80s - I think) on Shimano hubs.
Replacement Raleigh fork with Campy dropouts - no detectable frame damage at headtube junctures.
Shimano FD & RD with Arabesque shifters, Sugino crank, wide range freewheel.
Stem is not original.
Inner chainring is now a Biopace ring (but not the big chainring)

Chrome is good, minimal surface rust, paint is rough but not too bad given the age. Black should be the easiest to touch-up.

Enjoy the pics. I had not seen this Raleigh headbadge before.

edit = rear dropouts are Zeus.
I have viewed several of the catalogs, but if anyone knows the original build it would be of interest to me.
This is the new owner's first road bike.

Nice bike. It is a small frame but, does your neighbor have very long legs? Also, is she comfortable on a saddle positioned with the nose down like that? Might be worth flattening it out a bit, and lowering it a tad if her inseam with allow it.

Look here, in Kurt's Raleigh data base.
https://www.kurtkaminer.com/TH_raleigh_catdata.html

Did they even offer the Competition in 1970?

Looks like a fork from an International (chartreuse). Headbadge would seem to be 1968-1970 variant. Even if the catalogs don't show a Competition in 1970, Raleigh had a way of doing non-standard things Looks like a remnant of a Reynolds decal on the seat tube.

Be easy enough to paint that fork black I would think. Neat bike.

I'd be willing to bet there's not a lot of that seatpost left in the frame? I wish my 74 had chrome lugs though. Nice gift!,,,,BD

Info about the Competition from these years (late 60s) seems limited. The '69 catalog listing (on the same page with the Professional) states in bold, "Write for Full Specification".

It appears that the original owner did a re-build sometime in the mid-80s - wheels, drivetrain, etc. From Disraeli Gears, the RD identified as Shimano Deore XT (M700) intro'd in 1983 which matches the age of the rims. Maybe that's when the replacement fork was needed.

Not my bike but the wrap-around seatstays and headbadge made it worth posting.

Still wondering about original build if anyone knows?

The photos are before any fitting or cleaning or maintenance. The seatpost has been lowered to fit her, she may ask my assistance in dialing in a better fit as this is her 1st road bike.

Many of the decals are missing/deteriorated. The downtube "Raleigh" in script came through the years pretty nicely. 531 butted tubeset, per 1969 catalog.

These varied a lot by batch imported, at least from the bikes that came through the shop in the mid 70's for service.
It would have had tubulars though, and AVA or Weinmann rims.
The fork sure looks like an early 70's Raleigh International fork.
They were available as a replacement item, but often Raleigh only had Pro forks or International forks in inventory.
A friend crashed his International, and only a Pro fork was at the distributor at that time.

27" wheels per '69 catalog = tubulars?

Oh yeah - I put on a tubular wheelset for a quick spin and lighter wheels (as always) make the ride hugely different from heavy 27 inchers - nimble vs stable.

Tubulars are 700c. 27" clinchers would not be what I would call an "upgrade" from the originals, but were more common for clinchers in the '70s. If it were mine, it would get 700c clinchers, so swapping (with tubular) would be direct with no adjustment.

+1. And so easy with the brakeset. I forgot to measure the width at the dropouts, but narrow - 126???
IMHO, this bike will ride like a dream, whether fitted with go-fast tubulars or light touring 28/32 tires or something in between; but it is waay to small for me so my test ride impressions are pretty meaningless.

Only speculation but, the original owner went with mtn bike drivetrain and big cassette sometime in the '80s to accommodate the hilly terrain locally and an aging body.

Still wondering the original build kit for this bike?

Could it have been purchased as a frameset? (That wouldn't have been likely, right?)

Interesting bike and well worth riding and restoring but looks like the bike is too small for the rider.

This would have been 120mm OLD originally. Raleigh was one of the first (if not the first) to offer 6 speed 126mm on the 1973 Professional (and RRA).

You could be correct on the MTB drivetrain as originally this would have been something like 52/42 with a 14-24 5 speed freewheel. Owner may have had it cold set to 126mm though, for 6 speed (or ultra-7).

Still 5 speed so maybe 120. And it was a wench to get my 128mm into the dropouts = shoulda measured first, but then i missed measuring the frame, too. As stated earlier, just a quickie fixie at new owner's house to get it on the road with an around-th-block on the tubies. I'm a 58 - 60cm frame size.

I had one of these, a '69. Zeus crankset. Weinmann brakes. GB stem and bars. Straight alloy seatpost. Simplex Criterium deraileurs. Wheels were Normandy Luxe Comp, with AVA rims, pretty sure. Atom Pedals.

Thank you.
And how do you remember the characteristics of this bike?

Its a long wheelbase relaxed angle bike. Very smooth rider. A bit whippy when you get out of the saddle, not the stiffest frame by any means. But for long rides you will find it very comfortable, stable, and light feeling. Great bike for century rides. Add some fenders and racks and you have a nice tourer.