ShadoxBoxn

I recently stumbled on to this ebay find. It says its a 1980s Raleigh Technium track bike. I tried searching for a little history and info on this frame but couldn't find anything. I'm thinking of purchasing but would like some validity in the frame. Any help?

https://cgi.ebay.com/MYSTERY-RALEIGH-...item3efc594df2

adamrice 

Interesting. "Technium" was Raleigh's name for its steel-gluing process, IIRC, which involved big lugs. This is obviously fillet brazed, and pretty nicely too. I suspect that, like so many team bikes that wear sponsor logos, it was built by a custom framebuilder. I know nothing of this frame's provenance, but that seat-clamp design looks a lot like Skip Hujsak's (pronounced "high sack") trademark design. Skip has apparently hung up his torch, so it might not be so easy to check with him.

ilikebikes

I thought it was the process that they used to combine the aluminum tubes to steel? (main tubes of 6061 aluminum glued to the steel lugs and a steel rear triangle) I may be totally wrong though.

EjustE

This looks like a 90s Team Raleigh with Reynolds 753 frame that was put together using Raleigh's "technium" technology (which means glued/bonded together without lugs).

adamrice 

Here's a pic of a Raleigh Technium road bike in similar livery. It clearly does have lugs (or sockets, if you prefer) to joint the tubes.

T-Mar

Technium simply referred to Raleigh's bonding process which allowed them to join dissimilar metals. Most frames used proprietary aluminum lugs and early models were typically oversize aluminum main tubes mated to steel rear triangles but later models used bonded steel main triangles and even titanium IIRC.

I agree with adamrice. This appears to be a fillet brazed frame, not Technium, and simply bears the decal for sponsor/marketing purposes.

abarth

I didn't think Reynolds made 753 aero tubing. Interesting.

unworthy1

I thought there was some info years back about a similar "aero" 753 Raleigh that was discussed on the CR list...but couldn't find the thread in their archives. IIFC (and I wouldn't bet on it) there was some expert info on this being built at the Raleigh Ilkeston works, UK, even though imported, branded and marketed by Raleigh USA, WA State. Anybody remember the details (correctly)? The upshot was that it was extremely rare...
EDIT, found the quote, and by Hilary Stone no less:
"...And about four or five years ago I bought a 753 aero tubed Raleigh road
frame - this was built lugless with silver as there were no suitable lugs
and its fillets are a similar size to the ones I have seen on early
Silverlights and on Ernie's frame. It is certain that Raleigh with its close
links with Reynolds and the development of 753 that the silver solder used
was suitable for the job. Only about 50 sets of the 753 aero tubing were
made according to Mike Mullett who worked at Raleigh SPD operation in the
late 70s when the tubesets were made - and Raleigh only used about 25 of the
sets... At least one set has been built up by Argos here in Bristol I
believe.

Hilary Stone, Bristol, England"

norskagent

serial number is ?

abarth

Thanks for the info. If this bike is one of those 753 Aero, this bike just became my holygrail.

ShadoxBoxn

wow thanks a lot you guys. I'm looking at either purchasing this bike or a 06 bianchi pista concept (used for both track and street). Aside from the Raleigh being a rare bike, which do you think would be a better buy? (if both were the same price)

Exit.

The componentry on that Raleigh is about as good as it gets. Dura-ace and Superbe Pro are probably the nicest looking and best performing track groupsets ever made, and it's got some of each.

bloom87

only weird thing is the big noodle stem... it simply cannot be stiff.

sbarner 

I am resurrecting this old thread because I am the one who bought it and have been able to find out exactly nada about it in the years since. There is no serial number or anything at all stamped into the frame that I can find. It came to me with an almost complete late '70s / early '80s Dura Ace track group, but a Suntour Superbe track hub. Even though that is the best track hub ever made in my book, I eventually located a 28-hole DA hub and the aero Wheelsmith spokes to match the front and that's what it is now wearing. I swapped the cog out for one my knees can handle. I also changed out the stem to Nitto Pearl in a length I can ride and aero Nitto road bars. The round section of the seat tube is so short there is only about a centimeter of adjustment. I found an already cut-down Dura Ace seatpost that was the perfect length for me, so I ditched the Laprade it came with. I also mounted mid-80s Shimano Dura Ace aero pedals with toe clips. I am quite satisfied with the setup at this point. The pics do not show all these modifications.

Now for the bike. First, the comments about Technium and bonding are essentially correct, but do not apply to this frame as all connections are brazed. I have a road Team Raleigh that was made after the SBDU Ilkeston shop closed and the top British Raleighs were being made in Nottingham. That frame is lugged 753 and bears an SB serial number, so it is clearly not US manufacture, but it is also white and decaled as a Raleigh USA Technium, leading me to believe that it was shipped to the US in primer and painted over here. The point is that it is clear that Raleigh USA had no compunctions about labelling non-bonded bikes as Techniums. This track frame has no lugs at all. The dropouts are Campy, with a good deal of the extraneous outline ground away. Chainstays and top tube are conventional, as there is no aerodynamic reason to do otherwise. It appears that sheetmetal fairings were added to the back of the headtube and BB shell. Even the rear bridge has a teardrop crossection. Overall, the workmanship is solid, but not exceptional in finishing, almost as if the job were rushed, or the budget was constrained. It looks great from 10 feet away. It has a road fork with low rake. The area where the brake would mount was ground away, leaving a lot of space there, but this approach has been used before on some track bikes as it is more aerodynamic than round-bladed track forks.

It is only conjecture on my part, but I think this frame was built for some special event and somehow escaped destruction afterwards. Although the top tube is labeled 753, my guess is perhaps it is the only tube that is, and even that is suspect. I suppose the fork might be 753.. The amount of fillet brazing is extensive, and most of you know that 753 is not supposed to be brazed with brass. There is a possibility that this frame was built for such a special purpose that failure was not considered likely within its intended lifespan, which could have been only a few hours on the track. From what I have been able to find out, there were two small batches of aero 753 tubing drawn, several years apart. I could only find enough information about the first of those batches to determine that its cross section is not at all like the tubing on this bike. I don't know if the two batches were identical. I think it is safest to assume that the aero tubes on this frame are not 753, especially considering that 753 cannot be cold worked into different shapes. The graphics are almost identical to those on my road Team, except the green has been replaced with white and blue on my road version. I peg that frame at 1988, near the end of the SBDU era.

I would love to hear from anyone who has knowledge of the history of this frame, especially who built it. I wouldn't be surprised if Mike Mullett fired up the torch again to make it. Since it has no front brake, and there is no track nearby, I have not ridden it very far, but I have taken it out on low-traffic, flattish roads and, as someone who has put in thousands of miles on different track bikes over the years, I can say it was a blast.

georges1

Nice bike , thanks for sharing