dimini

I just bought a pile of bike parts that I found listed in Facebook Marketplace. Amid the pile of 70's gear were two nearly complete Raleighs-- a 1975ish Gran Sport and a Raleigh Pro Mk 2 which appears to be 1970/71 vintage due to serial number, drop outs, etc. If there's such thing as a downside to scoring a Raleigh Pro amid a pile of parts costing a grand total of $40 for everything--that downside would be that someone had performed a scrappy DIY paint job on the Raleigh Pro. Considering it's condition and lack of provenance, I think this is a great candidate for undergoing a "restomod" that suits my nostalgic interests, rather than blowing $$$ on the model-specific, period-correct missing Campy components and having it refinished in OE colors/livery.

Raleigh Pro Mk2 that I rescued from a small pile of bike parts I bought for $40, pictured wheels and saddle bag not included. Yes, it's a poor DIY paint job by a P.O., and mix-match of parts, but I consider it a free bike as I'm ok with having spent $40 for a Campy high flange Record hub set alone . After a quick and dirty tune-up/overhaul, I slapped this pair of pair clinchers on it and did a 20 mile test ride--and to my surprise, I like it a lot. Enough so that I plan to strip and restore the frame.

plonz 

I love the rat-rod look you have going there. I recently did the same with a Peugeot in similar condition. Now using it for indoor training and riding in inclement weather. If you have other shiny bikes to admire, treat this one to some fresh bar tape and enjoy it in all its stealth, ratty glory.

acidlung

That rocks! With a few minor upgrades, that'll be a really fun ride. The cool thing with a bike like that is that it will be totally appropriate to build it out with a mishmash of parts. I recently saw a bike in similar condition and the owner had simply stripped the parts off the frame and fork, then scrubbed the dirt off and sprayed about 4 coats of clearcoat on there to prevent any further rust. He had some pretty nice mid-90s Shimano parts on it. Talk about embracing the ratty look, that guy owned it. Good luck and great find!

dimini

The PO who painted the bike (I’d guess over 20yrs ago) had a sense of humor with this faux Reynolds 531 decal “Gauranteed Not Built with...”

The early 70’s NR front derailleur is the model that does not have a circlip on the top fulcrum, and unfortunately, with every shift the whole cage slides backward just enough to make the shifting—well... a little sloppy.

dimini

If this bike still had it’s original Raleigh paint, I’d keep it as a rat rod bike w/patina as is, but I can’t bring myself to sporting about with someone else’s DIY Krylon paint job. It’s fun to imagine who owned (built) this machine as there are few if any matching parts, though—It definitely brings back memories of my being 17 (1977) and building bikes from scrap components pulled from the used parts bin. I loved my part-time job at the bike shop back in my high school days. My best memories as a teen and friendships that are as old as this bike.

repechage

yes. My first road bike had the same problem. I was not happy
less happy when I saw an early one with the screw retention
fortunately they did add the circlip
bought a replacement body and all was fixed. Later I bought s bike that had an early Record front changer... very nice.
Sometimes even the lure of added profit even put Campagnolo on the wrong side of good design.

bwilli88 

It it a pro, i am not sure Raleigh pros had seat clusters like this one. Either way i would love this frame. Looks like it could build up as a nice 1x any-road.

Edit, looking around and yes the Pro had that seat cluster. Nice bike.

dimini

According to SheldonBrown.com the "fastback" Brampton-Victor seat cluster was a signature feature among the early Raleigh Pros. This one is an early L-series serial number and oddly, has Campy rear dropouts, but Zeus front dropouts. Zeus dropouts apparently appeared on very early models. Fortunately, I was able to strip the DIY paint off the fork and found salvageable chrome beneath and I plan to leave the crown and fork tips chrome. My first semi-pro bike, at age 13, was a Raleigh competition, which was all black w/gold trim. I plan to have this Raleigh pro powder coated in black and I'll trim it out similar to the Raleigh Competition as a tribute to my discovering great bikes at an early age. I spent all summer saving my $2.50 per lawn earnings to buy that 1973 Raleigh Competition for $239. Fastforward 46 years and now I figure a tribute bike to youth, but an upgrade over the original, is just fine, and damn... did I mention that it's really a nice, responsive bike?

zukahn1 

Looks to be 71 best I know they made this style limited production for only 2 years. Very nice frame these were hand brazed by some of the best and full frame forge heat treated. Which made for some great riding super tuff frames. While 1 out of 2 boom era performance frames have failed while not as nice or pretty I have not seen a heat treated Nottingham frame fail or break.

dimini

Fast forward 1.5 months and I just finished the resto-mod make over of my junk pile 1971 Raleigh Pro Mk II. Since it had no provenance, nor it's original mink paint, I chose black & gold theme as an homage to the first nice bike I bought as a kid back in 1973--a Raleigh Competition MkII. I'll be riding this bike regularly, so I opted for Cinelli cork tape rather than cloth Velox and a $2 pair of Look clipless pedals. I rode it for a month with toe clips and straps but couldn't quite appreciate the step backward in pedal technology enough to blow even more money on old things like Detto Pietro shoes with nail-on TA cleats. My 59yr-old knees will probably appreciate thank me for that choice.


Mavic GP4 rims laced with Campy Record LF hubs, thanks to Ebay.

Buried beneath the previous owner's gray paint, I found the chrome plating of the fork to be just adequate to salvage.

Tried my hand at pin striping the lugwork and now have great appreciation for those with that particular talent.

Since I'll be riding this regularly, I opted for Koolstop pads, Look pedals and cork tape.

SJX426 

Great job! it is very attractive!

Flying G

Super job and an inspiration to the rest of us!

TugaDude

Very nice indeed. Got to love the old Raleighs, and that fork crown is one of my favorites.

fishboy316

Love it! I am a Raleigh freak and I totally enjoyed looking at this.