BenPink

Hi I have just bought this touring frame wuth no decals other than 531st. It was advertised as a Raleigh but I think the seat stays are wrong and the frame number is 34130 without a prefix. If the 531st decal is origjnal, then this is post 1982 (also with braze ons for the downtube levers). I wondered if it was a Holdsworth or Evans but the forks aren't typical fir them. All help very welcome.



I cannot see any identification on tbe dropouts

USAZorro

Looks like it certainly could be a Raleigh. The rear brake arc, the font on the serial numbers that are visible, and the lugs are all consistent. Four things will help in verifying what it is:

1. Picture of the full frame
2. Determine the full serial number. I suspect there are characters before the "3" which are hidden by the paint flake. You can either scrape the flake off and then sandpaper down until you can tell for sure (with the rust forming, doing that seems almost inevitable). Some frames also have the serial stamped on the steerer, so pulling the fork may be less of a task to get to the same information.
3. Describe any braze-ons - such as water bottle cage bosses, rack and fender attachments, etc.
4. The size of the seatpost.

This looks to be a touring model - possibly a 1983 Touring 18?

BenPink

Thanks. I will take a picture later and look at the bottom bracket some more. It has braze one for gear levers, bottle cages, cantilever brakes and a rear pannier rack.

USAZorro

Is there a set of bottle cage bosses on the underside of the downtube?

BenPink

Here"s the whole frame. No bottle cage bosses under the downtube and having scraped the psint away no letter prefix before the serial number 34130. It could be a 1973 Raleigh with later braze ons and the wrong 531 decals. The seat post is currently jammed. Thanks.

USAZorro

I'm not as familiar with 1980's (the integrated top tube cable guides are a certain indicator this was made in 1983 or later) Raleighs as I am with 1970's. The serial numbering convention may be different for bicycles not made in the Worksop factory. If I look only at what's on the frame, the closest catalog match I can find is a mid 1980's Alyeska. The latest catalog I found is for 1985 and it comes with 555 tubing, rather than 531ST. Actually, none of the touring models listed from 1982 - 1985 indicate they were made of 531ST tubing - so it's possible this bike is a couple years newer than 1985, or possibly the tubing decals were added later.

The serial number is what I'm finding incongruous. Some folks here who are more familiar with 1980's Raleighs (cudak888 and marius.suiram are two who immediately come to mind) may be able to shed some light on that.

Charles Wahl

Doubled eyelets, cantilever brakes and 531ST (Super Tourist) tubeset all suggest a "touring" sort of frame. The lugs are very like, if not actually, Prugnat windowed type, which were on a 1984 or so Raleigh frame that I once rode (but it had a W-style serial number, made in Worksop factory). The dropouts look like Suntour short type to me, but if they are, there should be a "SunTour" logo engraved in their bearing faces on the rear ones. Looks like a Raleigh product to me, perhaps of Asian (Japan or Taiwan) manufacture. Does not look like a Specialized Expedition (we have one) or Miyata 1000 to me -- their seat stays have noticeably longer scalloped (concave) caps at the seat post end; and I can't recall any having windowed lugs.

BenPink

Thanks for all your help. Certainly the lugs look like the ones used by Raleigh but the seat stays seem to be unusual for a Raleigh which is why I thought it may be another UK manufacturer.

MauriceMoss

Although there were minor variations over the years, to me this looks like a British Eagle Touristique:

BenPink

Thank you so much, that looks like a really good match.

Charles Wahl

That's an incontrovertible match IMO. Hats off to Maurice.
Here's an article that gives a rundown of later equipment used on the Touristique:
https://www.thevelocollective.com/bri...lassic-or-not/

BenPink

Thanks Maurice again you too Charles.

1987cp

Looks awesome under the wrecked paint! I was thinking as I read, this is definitely too nice to be a '80s Raleigh.

I see the OP appears to be British ..... This Touristique looks like an amazing bike and I'm wondering how many ended up on the western side of the pond ....

igz

Hey everyone. Newb here.

Currently on a bike hunt and saw this “86 Miyata” as description for this bike. Messaged the owner for more info on model, and was told it’s a koga pro.

Didn’t wanna go into it blind, so figured I research it before jumping in. I found the miyata catalogues from that year and as blurred as the images were, and Dutch as the language was... it didn’t seem like this frame looked like any Miyatas of those years.

Hoping someone here can let me know what I’m looking at here!

thanks!

*EDIT* seems I can’t post a pic due to being a new member without any posts so I upped image to:

bit DOT ly FORWARDSLASH 2YQTP75

madpogue 

^^^^^ Your question isn't even remotely related to this thread. Please start a new thread.

igz

Oops - I thought this was a generic thread about frame identification (as opposed to a thread made about one specific frame)!