huntgl

I have just bought a 1981 Raleigh badged 'Clubman' model which was built by Carlton Cycles. I have found a catalogue from 1983 that lists this model with a slightly different spec to what I have (gears etc). The '83 catalogue states that the Clubman is made of Reynolds 531 tubing, but the decal on my frame (stuck above the gear levers) says 'guaranteed built with Reynolds SMS frame tubes'. The decal is black and orange and has the Ti logo and address too. I bought this bike in France, so that may have something to do with it, but it has a Ti decal on frame that says 'Made in England'.

Does anyone have an idea about SMS tubing? Maybe it's 531 under a different name...

T-Mar

The 1980s replacement for Reynolds 531 plain gauge. 0.8mm, plain gauge main tubes. 2700g complete tubeset. Intended for touring and city bicycles.


Edit: The above post appears to have caused some confusion. Many have taken it to mean that SMS used the same manganese-molybdenum alloy as Reynolds 531. This was not the intent of the statement. At the time of the original post, the alloy was unknown (to me), however translation of German pamphlets have since indicated that it was a seamless, high strength, carbon steel tubeset, introduced in late 1980.

huntgl

Wow, Thanks. It seems strange that they would describe it as 531 in a later caltalogue. Maybe they dropped the SMS name after a very short time and went back to using 531 again. Oh well, you've more than answered my question. Thanks again!

GMS 

See what H LLOYD CYCLES says about the SMS decals. Does that sense?

https://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...YDS/decals.htm

huntgl

Thanks for that link. I just emailed them some images to see what they have available. I'm not sure the bike is really that collectable to be honest and I would love to have the frame re-painted in the future as I'm not that keen on the 'claret' colour it currently is. Sacrilege eh!

Kanow

Sorry for such late a reply, but just to keep the record straight: Raleigh closed down the Carlton factory in Worksop (acquired in 1961) in 1981 after the staff had been on strike for quite a long time, and only a small number of the employees was relocated to Nottingham. So from 1981 on, nearly everthing changed, and a 1981 Carlton-Raleigh quite differs from a 1983 Raleigh altthough the true difference might not show in the catalogue.