nlerner

Very shiny! Hmm, I have a 40-hole 650B rim that's been waiting for the right project. Lace that up with an old IGH and lower that standover just a bit.

gugie 

Hmm, tempting. Current plan is to transfer parts over from another Grand Sport. As you're well aware, these old Raleigh builds are only temporary.

ascherer 

Ain't that the truth!

nlerner

They are a blank canvas to express your inner Weigle (which I mostly try to keep suppressed).

Andy_K 

Been done.

nlerner

Wow, that was a trip down memory lane.

76SLT 

Was that your bike on ebay?

fishboy316

NICE!I Love the chromed frames! Great find.

gugie 

Who you asking?

aceves 

Great find gugie! That frame is nice!!

aceves

Tallbikes

Wow that looks great , I always prefer unpainted metal :-)

GranSport70

Rode my first 1970 Chrome Gran Sport from Miami to San Francisco in 1972. She was stolen in 1974 and recovered 38 years later. She was originally the green and coffee decal model which came off easily. S/N 171232
I purchased another 1970 Chrome Gran Sport for my birthday, this month, in excellent condition being 50 years old. She has the gold and black decals which I pray will remain. S/N 182336
Both frames are 23-1/2”.

randyjawa 

What a nice chrome frame/fork set. Raleighs and chrome. What a timely thread. I got this late sixties Raleigh Carlton two days ago. I got it for free. And,when I first saw the bike, the chrome lug work was quick to catch my eye...

bikemike73 

What a score !!!!!

Beautiful bike and RARE !!!!

It doesn't matter if its a little too big.....I just bought a 1989 Schwinn Circuit all original in like a 9.9 condition that's a 25 inch frame !!!!

I can straddle it with feet flat to the ground...

I ride frames from 22 to 24 normally.

Good Luck and congrats on quite a find !!!!

beicster 

Any updates on this gugie ?

GranSport70

Thank you for responding, I located your Carlton in Raleigh's 1969 catalog.
(I had originally posted the URL site for the Vintage Raleigh Catalogs in this space. This is only my second entry to Forum and I am required 10 before I am permitted).
They note the great reputation of her winning many races back then. The next year, 1970, my Gran Sport replaces your Carlton as the Raleigh in line after their Professional and International.
I did pay a great deal more money than you did considering she did not include Campagnolo Derailleurs, etc..
I was prepared to purchase a Vintage Schwinn Paramount, Raleigh Professional or an International but I clicked onto the next, 5th or 6th page on the Ebay Vintage Bike site, and low and behold, there was my (Impossible Dream), a Newish/Vintage Gran Sport. They, Ebay, has a New, in the original box, 1974 International and had an immaculate Paramount for considerably more money.
So I couldn't be any happier, (except for my darling wife/best friend of 26 years passing in February).
I can barely straddle the upper tube with my feet flat on the ground but can no longer take off in a running start, with one foot in the stirrup, like a Cowboy getting onto his moving horse after saying "Gitty Up!". Must be the fact that I just turned 70 and getting shorter. I can't whip my other leg that high over the saddle, as reliably as I use to.

gugie 

Dang, guess I never published some build pics:



2nd biggest (by volume) waterfall in the US in the background


Same river, different day

Build:
Sturmey Archer 2 speed kickback hub
Stronglight Model 93 cranks, rebuild as a 1X with chainguard
MAFAC RAID brakes with new Salmon 4 dot pads
Black anodized Weinmann Concave 700c rims (a gift from Drillium Dude )
SOMA 700c x 35 tires
Brooks B17 saddle with Carradice Barley saddlebag
I forget what model bars, but they are sporting some VO "Constructeur" squishy grips
VO handlebar cage adapter, stainless cage, stainless insulated bottle - Portland man needs his coffee up close and hot
Vintage black Bluemel fenders
Flat pedals I got from Rivelo on sale, not sure what model they are
Vintage French "lion" bell - appopriate for an English bike

I was able to build up the wheels with stock on hand. The front wheel is all black spokes, the rear is half black, half silver, front is 2X, rear 3X. When you've got a bunch of spokes, you work the spoke calculator until what you have works!

One more pic:



It's light and fun to ride! Two speed kickback doesn't always hit the shift, sometimes it's multiple tries, but it's nice not having a single thing clamped onto the frame, like a 3 speed reaction arm. It's just a simple, clean build, almost like a fixie.

GranSport70

Great Job building the bike back up!
Question? Why would anyone have stripped down the original Gran Sport to the bare Frame that you purchased?

Kilroy1988 

They came like that from Raleigh for just a year or so with this exact chrome and paint scheme, and are rather rare indeed. A typical Gran Sport was certainly not fully chromed beneath the paint! That was a process typically reserved for high-end frame sets. Below is a photo from the 1970 Raleigh catalog showing a chromed Gran Sport, but with a different color scheme than Mark's. Most that I've actually seen surviving have the yellow head tube and such, unlike this advertisement. In fact, has anyone seen one just like the catalog picture here?

Or, if you happen to mean "stripped down" by referring to the components being gone... That's extremely common. Think of all of the technological changes, worn out or broken parts, etc... Over the course of 50 years! There are often as many or more "bare frames" being sold on the internet than complete bikes, and this is particularly true of nicer frames, which either had cool components that people wanted to switch out for different builds, or which possess value in their own right and justify parting out for the sake of profit.

-Gregory

GranSport70

I purchased my first Chrome Gran Sport in 1971. I still have and ride this Bike. It appeared just as in the catalog picture color scheme, Coffee and Bronze Green. It was shipped to the States with all the components. This is the bike I rode to San Francisco in 1972. The bike was just over one year old and the color trim decal was peeling off like Saran Wrap, so I easily removed all of it. (I can only assume that this may be why we do not see many of this color design. They may have stopped this color scheme and method of application because of this defect). S/N 171232.

The second Chrome Gran Sport that I own has the Black and Gold Trim. The Color Trim appears to be more substantial and may wear better. (This bike has had little use, a show piece for 48 years). S/N 182336

Both bikes came with the same components, Zeus Crank-Set, Huret Derailleurs, same Brakes, etc.

From my personal observation, Bicycling did not become popular in the US until after a charity tour, (the first I had heard of), from the NE to St Jude’s’ Hospital in Missouri, in 1976. Than it took off. You were no longer considered a child when seen casually riding on a bicycle. Bicycling magazines and Clubs were formed.

I still wonder why such a beautiful frame would have been stripped.

1. The Color Trim would have worn out and naturally damaged much more than you see on Gugies’ bike before any of the components, that all happen to be made of metal, would have worn to the point where they would have been in need of replacement. (And all at the same time?)

2. The Components on the Gran Sport were not “Cool”, where they would be scavenged from the frame for profit. In fact, in 1972, I replaced the Huret Derailleures, and at great expense back then, purchased and installed new Campagnolo front and rear Derailleurs before my cross-country ride. All the components on the bike, were of no special value and seen on many lesser valued bikes.

Kilroy1988 

I think you're over-thinking things... Vintage bicycles have been tinkered with and collected for decades already - this forum is roughly twenty years old. The frame could have been stripped a few years ago rather than forty. There are tens of thousands of vintage bicycle components and frames for sale eBay or Craigslist on any given day. Stripping down perfectly good bicycles is an unsavory but necessary aspect of the hobby of acquiring, rebuilding or modifying vintage bicycles like we love to do here in the C&V forum.

That's cool that yours looked like the one in the catalog! I personally find the chrome frame look rather distracting and haven't researched the model much, but chance has only led me to see a few like the one Mark has here.

The bike boom must have hit your area late, but as you yourself state, you were a victim of it when you purchased a couple of nice road bikes as early as 1971! From Wikipedia:

"The period of 1965–1975 saw adult cycling increase sharply in popularity — with Time magazine calling it "the bicycle's biggest wave of popularity in its 154-year history" The period was followed by a sudden fall in sales, resulting in a large inventory of unsold bicycles. Seven million bicycles were sold in the U.S. in 1970. Of those, 5½ million were children's bikes, 1.2 million were coaster brake, balloon-tired adult bicycles, and only 200,000 were lightweight 3-speed or derailleur-equipped bikes. Total bicycle sales had doubled by 1972 to 14 million — with children's bikes remaining constant at 5½ million, adult balloon-tired bicycles falling to about 1/2 million, and lightweight bicycles exploding fortyfold, to 8 million. Time magazine reported in 1971 that "for the first time since the 1890s, nearly one-half of all bicycle production" was "geared for adults."

-Gregory

GranSport70

The Forum should have the members acknowledge their age and years of Bicycling interest. The years sitting in one's parent's garage since XMass Morning in the 1970's should not be considered.
Who would agree to this thought?

Kilroy1988 

I don't quite follow... Anyway, most members in this particular forum are interested in vintage road bicycles but there are also many enthusiasts of older commuter bicycles like Raleigh 3-speed models, etc. Many members have been cycling enthusiasts since the bicycles they collect and continue to ride were new, while others are younger and interested in history or classic styling, and mostly everyone agrees that there's a wonderful nostalgia related to riding vintage bicycles compared to the newest thing on the block - though many of us move fluidly between both worlds.

Please feel free to introduce yourself and your Gran Sport in a separate thread. You'll be able to post photos once you've reached a post count of ten. Cheers!

-Gregory

zukahn1 

I really like the hand done blood red pin stripe details on this bike rare to see these this well done still intact on a 70's bike great find. I have little doubt that they are original and semi costume .

gugie 

I'm old enough to remember Captain Kangaroo in black and white, and have been interested in bicycles back when Eddy was winning Tours.

Other than that you'll just have to guess at the digits.