Cycles of Life

Need help dating this bike

Moe Zhoost

More information would be helpful. You won't be able to post pictures until you have 10 posts, but you can run up this tally quickly. I will say that even without any information, if your bike has a three speed hub in the rear, the month and year of its manufacture is stamped on the center area. That will give you some idea of the bike's age.

Welcome to the forum.

T-Mar

Welcome to the forum. The low resolution, non-drive side photo makes identification difficult. However, assuming the aero brakes are OEM, it is likely late 1980s to early 1990s. Most Raleighs from this period can be dated from the serial number.

Link to OP's photo album: https://www.bikeforums.net/g/picture/15116719

brian3069

1984/85 Supercourse, Competition, or Prestige with the original paint removed. The frames were chrome plated prior to painting.

cudak888 

Agreed, though I'd narrow it down to Super Course. The shifters have the right curve for Shimano 105 Golden Arrow.

On that note, the SC also had Shimano-specific shifter bosses so it didn't require adapters for any other shifter. This presents some limitations for shifter swaps and brifter conversions.

-Kurt

cb400bill

brian3069

Yeah, I hate those ****ing Shimano proprietary bosses with a passion.

cudak888 

There's got to be a workaround for them (at least for cable stops) but I didn't try to find one when I had this '84 SC. Though I hated the feel of the plastic half-moon washers, I decided not to over-complicate things and simply filed down some 600 levers into a suitable solution for my tastes - visually, anyway:




-Kurt

Cycles of Life

Oh cool thank you. I’ll take a look at the hub, the serial numbers were scratched off. I’ll inspect further.

Thanks
tim

Cycles of Life

Would the chrome finish be of more value or less
tim

cudak888 

There's a separate valuation forum for monetary-related requests: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...th-appraisals/

But in answer to your question, no, the chrome does not give it more value. It means is that the original, factory paint job was in such bad shape that the previous owner chose to do this as a last resort of making it look better. The chrome under the painted areas will be rough - though passable from 5 feet, it won't present well up close. This is a general rule with any painted-over-chrome bike (with a possible exclusion to cromovelato paint jobs), but is guaranteed in regards to these Raleigh USA models. Been there before.

If anything, the stripped-of-paint frame ought to command a significantly lower price. There are some less knowledgeable buyers who may get suckered into believing otherwise.

-Kurt

Cycles of Life

Bummer, but it’s ok. Still looks nice. I looked at the back hub but it has the original Raleigh tape around the middle of the hub, not sure I should remove it. Thoughts? And thx for the monetary link
tim