Originally Posted by
NoControl
For that kind of cash, you could be rolling a Marrakesh. Disc brakes. Braze-ons. Brooks saddle. Boom.
My personal opinion of Raleigh has slipped over the years. The Grand Prix was my first quality bike (back in 1973), and I dearly loved it, but I truly dislike how they've slipped in quality and craftsmanship over the past few decades. Now all you are getting is the headbadge.
Wow. So much wow.
So its a break away frame the op is asking about, you miss that important point, and suggest something totally different.
Then you bemoan raleigh's current QC standards while providing some rosy colored history about their frames from the 70s being great quality. A couple models were great, from what ive read and seen. And much, again from what ive read and seen, was inconsistenrly made with questionable finish.
The bike the OP is asking about is an incredible deal at $1300.
As for current raleigh having low QC...what? Every frame ive seen in stores over the last 5 years has looked as well finished as the specialized and trek bikes that fill local shops.