1987 Raleigh USA 531c Frame and forks
 

Wondering what the value might be on a 1987 Raleigh USA 531c Frame and forks. It was made in England and shipped to dealers in the US that sponsored racing teams. This frame was shipped in the wrong box to a Kmart in Florida and sold to my father by mistake. It was never even clear-coated and hung in his workshop. Never ridden in 33 years.

I'm following this thread with interest because I have one of these frames, also a 1987. They are great riding frames! I'd love to see photos of yours. Sorry, but I bought mine a long time ago so I can't help you with valuation. It's now seen very often these days. I rebuilt mind as a neo-retro style a few years ago. I love it.

Pic Assist

https://www.bikeforums.net/g/picture/18086979

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9c10112f57.jpg

I landed one of these framesets used for $80 and built the lightest and fastest machine in my C&V stable. Rarely seen in this colorway which commemorates Pete Penseyres Race Across America. Major thumbs up from me. Your frameset should be worth every bit of $250+ IMO but I just don’t know that it commands this price.

Here is some inspiration for keeping it and building it up.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d58f942a3.jpeg

On ebay, I'll guess someone would pay $300 shipped.

I paid about that for my '87 Falcon 531c frameset. Just had to have it (at the time). The paint is near flawless.

Since we're talking about this frame, here's my 1987 531C in its latest incarnation:

http://www.fototime.com/DF54A3B5508C626/large.jpg

Thanks for your insights and great pics. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what type of frame this was and when I saw a post from Plonz in another forum I had the answers I had been searching for. It was the first time I had seen another one of these frames in that color scheme and confirmed many missing peices of the puzzle. Also thanks to cb400bill for the pic assist. As a new member I had hit my 5 post limit yesterday and could not respond to anyone or send any images. I love this frame, but at 24", it is a little big for me. I am trying to decide whether to keep it as a wall-hanger or sell it to someone who will be able to outfit it properly and get it out there on the road where it belongs.

Did you get the green San Remo on ebay?

I own both color combinations of this Raleigh 531c frame. There are some slight differences. Both bikes are in another location at the moment, but from memory the seat stays on the red/black are thinner than the seat stays on the red/yellow frame. I believe at one time I found several minor differences.

It's a red frameset I bought about a year and a half ago. Its pic started this thread:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ur-falcon.html

I really can't speak to the value of your Raleigh frame. But, I do know that somewhere around 1987 that the Raleigh brand name & North American distribution was sold off. I think that Huffy USA had control of the brand during that time. (But, I could be wrong). Revolutionary changes in the manufacture of bicycles began taking effect during that time and, many of the old brands simply ceased to exist. By 1990, Taiwan was producing more Raleigh's, Schwinns &, Fuji's than anywhere else.

Could you show us a nice pic front shot of the head badge they had a couple of different head badges. This will help with positive ID and valuation. As for value I would put a nicer USA 531 Frame set at about $200.

Will have head badge pic tomorrow.

These framesets were made in England for Raleigh USA. They are clearly stickered USA. My badge says Raleigh Cycle Company Of America. What other iteration would there be on these?


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4e606291dd.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...848aad5083.jpg

Mine is the same.

I agree with this valuation, but it saddens me somewhat. It really is a nice frame and nice tube set. I get why it isn't more valuable, but it still irks me. I love the colors, BTW.

Yes, I really like the color scheme on this bike. Thanks.

I really like the paint finish on all of the RBCA stuff from the 80's stuff also. Looking again I do see that it has the English RBCA badge which was silver and a bit nicer than the US badge which had gold colored backing there were actually a half dozen or so different badges RBCA used in the 80's and early 90's. Doesn't effect price much but likely makes the frame set a bit easier to sell.

These aren't valuable frames, but they are well built, and sweet riding for sure. :)

This is the head badge from my 1987. I took these pictures before I rebuilt her a few years ago.

http://www.fototime.com/573DDB291353C5C/large.jpg

Downtube stickers:

http://www.fototime.com/E2A86838554DBD6/large.jpg

Let's see if I can send a pic of that head badge now.

That's a real nice headbadge I like the hand enambled UK badges more than the US ones.

Paint scheme reminds me of Ronald McDonald.

Maybe I can use it in some sort of parade getup. :)

My wife calls it my ketchup & mustard bike.

I read somewhere that the yellow/red 1987 531's were commissioned by Huffy to send to their Raleigh USA dealers that sponsored race teams. If that is the case there would have been a very limited number of these made. Out of curiosity, I wonder if anyone knows about how many of these framesets were actually manufactured?