same here. had a 49cm teal, gray, yellow with suntour components, not the higher spec shimano xt. stolen late 1980s. my social security id etched at the bottom of crank shaft. nyc. cost me under $500 brand new, had it a few years. i still have a raleigh bike catalog from this era with the techniums listed.

My wife's:

Replaced the rear shift lever and tires has been about it, but she doesn't ride it much.

Hoping to once again revive this thread...
Just bought a raleigh technium pro tri lite for 100
Lots of paint damage and a little filth, but no apparent rusting.
Shimano 105 brakes, crankset, derailleurs, stem shifters
Shimano SLR Brake Levers

Rígida 700c rims

First bike (aside from occasional citi bike rides and riding as a child) .
Im in NYC and was on a tight budget so this felt like a decent deal despite the aesthetic condotion.
Im mostly excited to casually bike on weekends, perhaps do an occasional short commute .

Did I overspend? What should be my first steps in getting in clean (ish) ?

EDIT: had previously misted Rigida 7000 instead of 700c and SLR shifter instead of brake lever.

Techniums had a following, way back when. I think they also had a reputation for cracking, down by the bottom of the seat tube.

Believe it or not, one of the best solvents to bust up old grease and dirty chain lube is WD-40. It's hard on grease but won't harm paint. After that, attack the whole bike with a bucket of soapy water, then put some real lube on the chain. BUT... maybe the first thing you should do is measure the chain with a ruler. It should measure exactly 12 inches from center of pin to center of the corresponding pin 12 outer plates away. If it's more than 12 1/8", don't bother cleaning the chain, just replace it and the cassette.

That's some interesting geometry.

Any idea if I might be able to fit racks and/or fenders to the Tri Lite?

Tri-Lite picture posted in 2012 earlier in thread doesn't show any fittings for a rack - p-clips might work. If the geometry is cooperative. Hard to tell from those pics if room for fenders.
This thread was started in 2004.

So what about this silver/blue/yellow for $50? It's not local to me, but if it's worth it, I might be able to arrange to have someone pick it up and ship it to me.

I had one I bought used, all turquoise color. I don't recall much about it except that it had a touring gearing setup, and I think some kind of trigger shifters. I really liked it a lot.

This thread was very helpful, thanks. Picked up a 86/88 Technium from the local CL ($70) today. After a few adjustments took her for the danger ride. Other than a deep cleaning, truing the wheels and some new handlebar tape she is good to go. I have another project ahead of her so she will need to wait a bit.

One quick question, during the test ride this bike definitely had the wobbles as indicated by the reviews.

I have an old old set of Mavic Ksyrium Elite 700c rims. Would this make any difference in firming this up a bit?

Anyone tried this?

Thanks

i guess I'm not exactly sure what the "wobbles" are but I would check out the headset for excess movement and the wheels for bearing issues or being out of "true". So, in answer to your question, a different set of wheels (trued up and with properly adjusted hubs) may fix the issue.
BTW, I'm glad that I won't be chastised for reviving this very old thread but I AM glad that it's been resuscitated. I have a "frankenbike" that is built around a mid 80s Raleigh TECHNIUM 420. I'm pretty sure that not a single component beyond the frame and fork, is OEM! The guy I bought it from had stripped it down for painting (it didn't really need it but he didn't like the mauve color). Somehow he misplaced the components and/or lost them during an Army PCS move. He had neither the money, time nor know how to bring it back to rideable condition. At the time, it was a "pity buy" to relieve him of the burden. I'll post a pic or two later.
Bottom line, the Raleigh TECHNIUM frame allowed for a nice riding bike in spite of the mishmash of components!

Here are a couple of pics of my FrankenBike.


Some may say it's a bit "Fredish" but I like nearly everything about it

Thanks for the insight. The Technium has a reputation for being flexible, not a negative just an observation. Especially when compared to my other bikes. The head and bearings are good on the Technium. The “wobble” was noticeable in the rear wheel and frame during the test ride. Truing the wheels may help. I have a spare set of wheels and was just wondering if it would be beneficial to run those instead of trying to true the original wheels. IMHO, they will never be as good as a modern wheel.

How does your “Frankenstein”Technium ride, I guess that is my real question?

I also have a “frakenbike” that I converted to a single which rides very solid. A friend sold me the frame for $50 a few years ago and I just cobbled it together from junk we had laying around. It is built on a mid 80’s Serotta.

My TECHNIUM rides nicely! While I ride quite a bit, I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I can't really "feel" the differences between the aluminum framed TECHNIUM and my other steel framed bikes. I've never ridden a carbon fiber framed bike so I can't even comment there.
Anyway, my TECHNIUM is a very smooth, stable ride. It tracks well and I can ride "no handed" without a problem. I have 27 x 1 1/4" wheels with a pair of 32mm tires aired up to 90 psi.

Appreciate the feedback. It may well be my rear hub that is the issue. I’ll have a closer look after I finish the current project.

I met a nice young man who wanted a commuter bike and decided to pass the Technium onto him. He appreciated a cheap commuter more than I needed another bike. Thanks for the help and advice.

I acquired one about six months ago; I fixed it up and sold it for a decent price. I think they are good bikes, all in all.

This was written on 7/27/11:

Wow, this has to be the zombie-est thread ever. Seven resurrections, if I'm counting correctly, over 7 years, and only 24 posts!

And the thread now appears to be in the eleventh resurrection in some 16 years.

Had several Raleigh’s when I was younger. It used to be a great brand.

I don't see anything 'Franken' about it. Replacing bits and pieces is normal. In my book, a Frankenbike would have an old steel frame, a mtb fork, mis-matched wheels, derailleurs from a third bike and handlebars/controls from a fourth. And colors wouldn't match anywhere. Yours looks like a nice old classic bike with a few more modern upgrades.

Just to add: I actually have a bike like described above. The frame was brazed together from pieces of 3 different bikes and it goes downhill from there. But it works.