Drillium Dude 

Bit of a rush to judgement.

OP: why not simply clarify with the seller what part of the frame you are claiming is bent? Think of the facts: seller doesn't know you, and you don't know the seller. Neither knows the other's expertise in bicycles until a conversation is started. Modern bikes generally have straight forks, while older bikes are curved. Isn't is possible - even likely - the seller knows this and recognizes it as an old bike with curved forks, but is also not conversant with specifics? As in they may confuse the fork as a component of the frame, believe that's what you were referring to, and - perhaps believing you knew little about older bikes - explained the curve of the fork was a design feature of an older bike. In other words, they may not even notice the slight bend in the top and down tubes. Same with model name - it's right there on the top tube. Again: not a bike person, but assuming they are more of a bike person than you.

There's likely a simple answer to this. Reach out. Let us know what you find out.

DD

The Diceman OHH

I'm no physician but that looks like Peyronie's disease.

randyjawa 

Looks like the listing has ended. Perhaps it sold. Perhaps the seller realized his or her error.

jamesdak 

I sent him a message saying it was damaged and pointed out the reasons. Said I was just letting him know as it was dangerous that way. I was polite with what I said. Maybe between the two of us the seller realized they had an issue...

Kabuki12

I had a different experience with a seller who knew nothing about bikes. In my case it went well. I asked a couple of questions and got shut down immediately. I wanted to pick the bike up to save shipping cost……. NOPE! I wanted her to take a couple of quick measurements…..NOPE! I kept studying the pictures and decided to roll the dice. It was a 1972 Mondia. And it had all the original parts on it except the brake levers and pedals. Someone had used it off road or cyclocross. Knobby tires, black brake levers mounted near the stem, plastic mtb pedals and 27” rims but still had the Campy Record HF hubs. The Brooks Pro saddle was still there. I figured it was worth 300 tops with 100 for shipping(this was a few years ago). The starting bid was 100 and I won for 270. Figuring I got an ok deal unless there were surprises , I got the invoice from the seller and she said “because the bike sold for so much” she would only charge 50 for shipping. The bike arrived and was in very good shape , and packed very well. She must have spent 25 on bubble wrap! Gotta love the storage locker folks. She said it was in a storage locker she bought. Hmmm

SurferRosa

Hajo

This one is bent for sure! Looking at the picture, the top tube and bottom tube are both bent and the fork also has a kink in it. Not worth your afford, report to Ebay and forget about it. Lots more frames for sale!

polymorphself 

I really wonder how the top tube bent that way.

Trakhak

Usually seen as a consequence of a front-end impact thanks to the unfortunate combination of safety levers, slick steel rims, and (easily bent) steel frame in a high-speed panic stop with a novice rider. Looks like whatever the bike ran into was tall enough to smack into the brake levers and cause them to rotate inward, too.

Wouldn't be surprised if the front rim were undamaged. In such crashes, any combination of bent fork, bent rim, and bent frame can occur, but rarely all three at once.

kunsunoke 

As others have stated - it's not a Raleigh Pro.

And, no, road bikes weren't ever made that way - even in the dark days of ROC bike manufacture.

This is a "parts or not working" listing at best.

gugie 

That'll buff out.

jon c. 

I had a Raleigh Record with a frame like that when I was a teen.

Of course, it wasn't like that when I bought it. Riding in a cemetery after dark I encountered a piece of heavy equipment in the roadway that did not move when hit it. After that concussion I started wearing a helmet (albeit the leather strap sort that probably wouldn't have helped much in such a crash).

DMC707

(In my best Trump voice)

”this bike is perfectly normal! Perfectly normal.”

Mad Honk 

So I have been working on a bike (Raleigh Professional) that had some top tube damage. Cuda Kurt sent it to me to try and fix it. Does this top tube look bent? Smiles, MH

I am trying to match 30 years of sun damage to the paint of the original.

I'm thinking the top tube looks fine, but the paint match is being darn hard to get right.

steelbikeguy

Wasn't Diogenes looking for a match for 'blue mink", second in priority only to finding an honest person??

I've had some good luck with going to an auto paint shop to get touch-up paint made, but it's been very difficult with bikes that have seen a lot of sun and one section can be much lighter than another section. My current struggle is with an Olmo Competition with red candy paint that has seen a lot of abuse. Oddly, a $2 bottle of Testor's metallic red is working better than the $25 bottle of auto paint that was hand selected.

Steve in Peoria
(might have to mix in a bit of metallic gold to work with the gold base layer on the Olmo's candy paint scheme)

Mad Honk 

Yeah the match is always hard. I am going to stop because it is close and just a bit harder to be an exact match. I have spent three days in the paint jobbers shop adding silver to the base mix to get it this close. This one has got me thinking that I am going to keep sending frames to Pro Kote Indy and letting them do the entire paint job. They will do matching bottle cages and any other things I might add like racks etc. Way easier than trying to do this match issue. Smiles, MH

Homebrew01

+2

Mad Honk 

Hey now Randy, You know you can trust me! (just count your fingers after shaking hands with me)
I can attest that this frame is not bent, it had some Miami sun damage, and 40 years of patina and a bad top tube paint repair. Kurt sent it to me, and I have it as close to a match of the top tube as I think I am going to get. He says he doesn't want it back, and I certainly can't ride it so, It is looking for a new home. If a 61cm is your cup of tea, It can come to you. Last price for one on Flea Bay was $500 a couple of weeks ago, and it doesn't have a lot of value for me. Lemme know if you are interested, Smiles, MH

Frame and fork a matched set.

It is a Raleigh professional

Built by Carlton

531 frame and fork

tiger1964 

Tell the seller to "get bent".