Mystery Releigh Technium
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Mystery Releigh Technium
Well I'm stumped on this bike. Frame looks factory paint graphics but unlike any I have seen before. I guess I need to make some posts so that I can post pics of it.
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Dura-Ace 7100 pre-dates Technium, so the components aren't OEM. Regardless,, a Technium frame can be dated from the serial number. Also, the 10 post minimum does not prevent you from uploading pictures to the site. While they won't attach to this thread, they will be deposited in a folder where they can be viewed by the members. Between the serial number and pictures, members should be able to determine the model and year.
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Team on the fork legs sound like the 1989 Technium Team. They were anodized blue main triangle with white forks/head tube and rear triangle. The red herring is the Cinelli BB shell. I've never seen a Technium with one.
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With the exception of the components and Cinelli shell, it sounds like a 1989 Raleigh Technium Team.
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While there were steel Techniums, I'm wondering if somebody simply didn't paint and decal a brazed steel frame as a Technium Team? A standard Cinelli bottom bracket shell wouldn't give the same surface area for bonding as would a Technium bottom bracket shell. Are the ends of the lugs all square cut, with a prominent, raised ring? If not, it's not a Technium.
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All the Technium frames I have are made with aluminum main tubes. You can put a magnet against yours to verify if it's steel or aluminum. Also the bonded lugs like the photo T-Mar shared look very different from (brazed) steel lugs.
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My Technium for comparison...
Last edited by cycleheimer; 07-23-19 at 08:23 AM.
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Sure sounds like someone painted and decaled a different make/model with Technium livery.
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Pic assist:
Mystery indeed.
Mystery indeed.
Last edited by madpogue; 07-23-19 at 11:03 AM.
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Wow. That definitely does not look like it was glued together. Very unusual. (BTW, that stem is set far too low).
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Seriously, though, on a frame that small the difference between the top of the saddle and the top of the handlebars is probably only a few inches. A large percentage of road bike riders, whether casual or race-oriented, regularly ride with that much drop or more. I frequently do.
Last edited by Kilroy1988; 07-23-19 at 12:39 PM.
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There were Technium models with bonded Reynolds 753 and Reynolds 531. However, now that we have some pictures, this is definitely not a Technium but a brazed, steel frame. The livery and graphics are definitely from the 1989 Technium Team. I can't imagine anybody doing this, unless they were on a Raleigh sponsored team and wanted to keep riding their non-Technium frame.
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Raleigh Technium Glued Together Frames
@frogeye100 are you Dave from Albq?
I have 2 Raleighs with Technium decals.
One is a real 1990 Raleigh USA (Raleigh Cycle Company) Team Technium with 0.6mm wall thickness straight gauge Reynolds 753 main tubes glued into cold forged aluminum "lugs". The top tube is 1" diameter while the seat and down tubes are oversize 1 3/16" (30mm+).
The forks were made by Raleigh in the UK with Reynolds 753 blades brazed into a forged steel fork crown. The rear triangles on these bikes were made of True Temper 4130 chrome moly tubing. True Temper may have made the complete rear triangle assemblies with dropouts and brake bridges. The frames were assembled at the Raleigh USA plant near Seattle, WA.
eBay pictures:
They take a 25.8mm seatpost held in place in the aluminum seat lug.
1988-89 Raleigh Team Technium 753 decals:
These glued together frames had/have a reputation for adhesive failure.
The prior or maybe overlapping timeline aluminum tube Technium frames had steel lugs with steel forks and rear triangles. This one had Easton 6000 series aluminum main tubes:
The second bike is an ersatz Team Technium. It's actually a 1985 Raleigh USA Team Pro Reynolds 753 frame made by Raleighs SBDU in Ilkeston, UK. The frame was repainted and has 1990 Raleigh USA Team Technium decals.
It was a local sponsored team bike that floated around Washington and Oregon for a long time. It may have been resprayed at the Raleigh USA factory? The fork is the original 1985 black color so I suspect that it was raced with a carbon fork.
Andy Hampsten's frame in 1985 Raleigh USA Team red and black colors:
My 1985 Raleigh Team Pro in 1990 kit as purchased:
Personalized:
In the UK "Technium Technology" was called Dyna-Tek. Their marketing department went to great lengths to explain why the glued together frames were superior to traditional brazed frames rather than a manufacturing cost cutting move.
verktyg
I have 2 Raleighs with Technium decals.
One is a real 1990 Raleigh USA (Raleigh Cycle Company) Team Technium with 0.6mm wall thickness straight gauge Reynolds 753 main tubes glued into cold forged aluminum "lugs". The top tube is 1" diameter while the seat and down tubes are oversize 1 3/16" (30mm+).
The forks were made by Raleigh in the UK with Reynolds 753 blades brazed into a forged steel fork crown. The rear triangles on these bikes were made of True Temper 4130 chrome moly tubing. True Temper may have made the complete rear triangle assemblies with dropouts and brake bridges. The frames were assembled at the Raleigh USA plant near Seattle, WA.
eBay pictures:
They take a 25.8mm seatpost held in place in the aluminum seat lug.
1988-89 Raleigh Team Technium 753 decals:
These glued together frames had/have a reputation for adhesive failure.
The prior or maybe overlapping timeline aluminum tube Technium frames had steel lugs with steel forks and rear triangles. This one had Easton 6000 series aluminum main tubes:
The second bike is an ersatz Team Technium. It's actually a 1985 Raleigh USA Team Pro Reynolds 753 frame made by Raleighs SBDU in Ilkeston, UK. The frame was repainted and has 1990 Raleigh USA Team Technium decals.
It was a local sponsored team bike that floated around Washington and Oregon for a long time. It may have been resprayed at the Raleigh USA factory? The fork is the original 1985 black color so I suspect that it was raced with a carbon fork.
Andy Hampsten's frame in 1985 Raleigh USA Team red and black colors:
My 1985 Raleigh Team Pro in 1990 kit as purchased:
Personalized:
In the UK "Technium Technology" was called Dyna-Tek. Their marketing department went to great lengths to explain why the glued together frames were superior to traditional brazed frames rather than a manufacturing cost cutting move.
verktyg
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Last edited by verktyg; 07-24-19 at 08:34 AM.
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T-Mar, thats what I was starting to think, graphics and paint do look very OEM and frame components are top level. Many pros have ridden personal preference frames painted as team bikes.
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The rear derailleur dates 1977-1984. The crankset and brakes date 1978-1984. The handlebar stem dates 1980-1984. The headset itself looks like 1984-1987 New 600EX. This pre-dates the livery by several years and these components look too minty to be race used. The wheels and pedals show more use, as does the frame itself. My feeling is that this was recently rebuilt, with some of the major components being NOS or lightly used parts.