Originally Posted by
paulb_in_bkln
Dunelt was the line sold by my LBS when I was a kid. I don't remember if they had Raleigh. I still can hardly believe how kind my folks were to get me one. The $45 cost was a major expense. Until I caught ten speed fever from my cousin in late '69 or '70, I couldn't imagine a superior bicycle, though, of course, I actually knew nothing.
If that bike was bought new, your folks caught one hell of a bargain. In 1972, at A.R. Adams Cycle in Erie, PA a Raleigh Sports sold for $100.00 (same as a Raleigh Record), the Triumph and Dunelt (we never knew which we’d get in the next shipment) went for $85.00, and a Japanese copy with a Shimano 3.3.3 hub (I think it was branded as a Kent, but my memory might be a little foggy on that point) sold for $60.00.
And Merle Adams considered the Shimano hub to be superior, as it was easier to tear down and repair. Oddly enough, I still have faint memories of how to dig in to an AW, but would really want to have a manual with me to back up those faint memories, as I haven’t torn into one (or needed to) in forty years now. A Shimano? I wouldn’t have a clue without a manual.