Raleigh Professional
 

Serial # WD1000261, additionally the bottom bracket is marked with a 4 for hopefully size 54 :)
Reynolds 531, pearlescent white with blue accents. Seatstay caps with Carlton engravings. Frame only, though no visible damage to the front of the bike.
Will need some work though with plenty of damage to the paint.

Any ideas as to age and value?

My best guess is that it is a 1981 and produced in the Worksop England plant. Raleigh began the longer serial numbers with the 2 letter prefix in 1973 from what I've read. The format on your bike matches that change. So it is no older than 1973, however the first number after the two letters is a "1" and it can't be 1971 because that serial number format wasn't in use yet. So that leaves 1981. The first number is the year of manufacture according to this and other resources I've read.

https://raleigh-sb4059.com/2018/08/3...ucts-division/

There is a lot of speculation about what the rest of the numbers mean. The article indicates there is no 100% reliable way to determine their exact meaning. There are "best guesses" but apparently they are only guesses.

We really need to see the bike before offering much in the way of value. The Professional was their top-of-the line for the average consumer. They did manufacture special frames for racing teams in a different unit, but I doubt this one is an example.

And the fork is? Without original fork, I would cut value in half.

Frame only, though no visible damage to the front of the frame.

Found a thread about a similar bike. It shows what style fork came on the frameset. According to the thread this may have been a bike sold in Europe and not the U.S. It certainly isn't in the U.S. catalog.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...fessional.html

The graphics on this look a lot like the graphics on a 1980 Raleigh Record Ace I picked up recently. It too was sold in Europe and not the US.

I am not in the US and neither is the frame.

Any thoughts on value?

Where are you? That will likely make some difference in value. I would expect a frame similar to this (condition issues, some rust, poor paint) without fork in the USA in a major metro area or on eBay to sell for about $75-$150. With fork perhaps as much as $250. Your local market may be and/or is likely different. Are you buying or selling? What happened to the fork? If buying I'd want to check the frame VERY carefully for any signs of crash damage -- no fork raises questions.

As it sits it is incomplete. Finding a matching fork is possible but could be a lengthy search and will likely be a different color. That would pretty much eliminate any ideas of leaving the patina of the frame I would think. I guess you could paint the fork and hope it matches.

So what I'm saying is unless you were to get really lucky it is going to be more work.

As far as value, the way I would approach it is to first determine what you want to do with it. Were you looking to repaint it anyway? Then the fork issue is more amenable. Or were you going to leave the original paint? If so, what about the top tube? That looks pretty bad compared to the rest. I guess there was considerable rust there and someone painted it. That's what it looks like anyways.

On the plus side, you don't see many of them and it was a quality build. I love window lugs so there's that.

At the end of the day what really matters is what it is worth to you and only you know the vision you have for it, so you will need to assess that.

Personally, if I were going for a repaint I probably wouldn't offer much more than $100.00 for the frame. If it had the fork, then I might go higher, but still, not much more. A quality repaint, to put it back the way it is, with pinstriping, decals, etc, will be expensive.

Sorry I couldn't be more help, but good luck whatever you decide.

I know it isn’t apples to apples , but for a baseline, I bought a 1978 Raleigh Pro that needs a paint job. Last year I saw an ad for it on CL for $150 and it was frame, fork with Campagnolo headset, and BB. I inspected the frame and it was in good shape except of course for the paint. I bought it and am still in the build process . I will ride it for a while and if I like it , will have it repainted.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...da728e36b.jpeg
As purchased 1978 Raleigh Professional

That is a worthy candidate for refinishing. The Mink Blue was one of my favorite bike colors ever.

^^^ Yea, it kind of reminds me of my Electric Blue Mini Cooper I had years ago!

25 years ago, I found one of these for sale with full Campy Record for $75. The frame was dirty, but nice, and way too big for me, I stripped it down cleaned up the frame and components, sold the frame for $50, and then used the Campy to build up a nice $120 used Serotta frame (too small for me) that I sold for around $400.