beicster 

Well, we may never know anything else about this bike. Fedex says it was delivered today at 12:40 and "Given to Customer". Except, no customer was home and the neighbor says they did not get it. Usually when we are not home they leave it by our side gate which is not easily visible from the road and note "left at front door". We live in a rural area and not much traffic goes by. I suspect that it was delivered to the wrong address or handed it to a random person standing in the road in front of my house. I have filed a complaint and the terminal has 48 hours to report back.

nlerner

Yikes! Sorry to hear that. Hope FedEx can track it down for you.

beicster 

Thanks. I am hopeful that it was accidentally delivered to the wrong place and that they find it. I was really looking forward to it.

beicster 

beicster 

So far it is all good news. The frame has arrived and the bottom bracket is 24 tpi and 68MM. The fork is 24tpi as well. The seat post is 26.4That will make replacement parts much easier to source.

And now, for some additional pics. It is a crappy, rainy, dark day so kitchen light and an iPhone camera will have to suffice for now.
First up, the fork. The lug is a Vagner 12+ fausse saignee according to google. The chrome should be easy to clean. There is evidence of paint on the steerer tube which could be remains of the Coffee color or primer for the blue. I want it to be a rare blue Super Course, but I think it is likely a repaint. Appreciate any thoughts you might have about that.

Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr]
Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr

Bottom bracket lug and cable guide and the underside with no serial number. If it is a repaint, it might be covered in paint, I guess.

Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr

Headtube and lugs

Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr]

Finally, the seat stays

Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr
Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr
Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr

juvela

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Great to read all of this good news!

After reading message twenty-six thought "Oh no! Not after all of this discussion; now we'll never know more."

Do you think the purplish maroon colour which can be seen on the steerer may have been part of the original finish?

Look forward to next reportage.

​​​​​​​-----

beicster 

The light is pretty terrible for pictures. It looks more silver in these pics but it has a bluish tinge to it in reality. Closer to a metallic sky blue than silver.
What looks like purplish/maroon in the pics is closer to the coffee color that Raleigh put on Super Courses for so long. The 1970 catalog mentions a blue model but I have never seen one. The paint definitely has the scars of a regular rider. So, the question is, did the original owner strip the parts and remove the decals in anticipation of a repaint? Or, was it repainted and used a lot with the decals never being replaced? The rivets on the headbadge suggests it was removed and replaced.

I am heading out on Saturday to take my daughter to school and then heading to Maine for a week to hang with our older kids who live in Portland. It will be a while before I build it up but I am very anxious to ride it.

Edit to add link to the album where you can see full size pics. https://www.flickr.com/photos/147193...57695256650132

juvela

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Thanks so much for the response.

Can verify that there were produced blue Super Course models ca. 1969-70.

Have a lady's with the anniversary headplate hanging in me racks. Have not checked its serial to get a hard date.

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beicster 

Can you post a picture of the blue? I have not seen it so I have no idea if what I have is even close.

juvela

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I do not have a camera.

It is a medium deep blue flambouyant IIRC.

One interesting thing, if I remember correctly(!), it has a small red and white transfer on the top tube. [cycle an me person are ~seven hundreds of km apart at the moment so it is not to hand to examine]

Will poke about online and see if I can locate an example for colour.

Have been unable to post images either via URL or from device since we got the new format.

Discovered yesterday that if I upload them to a host I can get them to display on the forum.

Have a fine trip to visit family. We can "talk" when you get home.

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rustystrings61 

Here is the 1970 catalog page that lists the Super Course in choice of blue, bronze green or coffee. I know I have seen a blue c.1970 Super Course on this forum in the last two years, I just cannot remember where. I will trawl for the photos at my leisure, or maybe someone with better search skills will turn it up.

noglider 

Whatever it is, you have a winner.

beicster 

Thanks, Tom. I am very excited about it. I am fairly certain it is a Super Course frame and that is good enough for me. There are no extra holes in the head tube where the badge is mounted so I won't question it's authenticity. I like the color enough to leave it alone for now whether it is original or not. If I end up deciding to repaint, I will put more effort into determining whether or not the paint original. If it is, I will try to match it. If not, I would want to go as close to the bronze green as possible. I love that color.

beicster 

I have a temporary build on the bike for right now. I wanted to get it built up with easily accessible parts so I could test ride it before I committed to pulling parts off other projects. Turns out that @noglider was right, I have a winner. It rides really nice and fits better than the Trek 61x it is replacing in the stable. I have an older Sugino Triple crankset to put on it and an older Sun Tour rear derailleur to replace the modern Tiagra. I am also going to change out the stem and put a honey colored Brooks B 17 on it. I will put yellow tape back on it and coat it with amber shellac to make the tape and seat match.

It will easily fit 700x35c and fenders. The current tires are 32 Paselas.


Untitled by Andy Beichler, on Flickr

beicster 

@jmeb shared this link to some pics of his Carlton Catalina. I don't think I will ever know for sure what this bike is, but it could easily be a Catalina based on this.

https://imgur.com/a/sC5mH

noglider 

@beicster, that's outstanding. I've rebuilt my Super Course several times as proofs of concepts. I've had it since around 2010. I think I'm about to invest in having a frame builder modify it and maybe have it painted.

jmeb

Oh that's just my size. Jealous mine isn't one larger. Beautiful.