ericbaker

I wanted to share this bike with all of you who will appreciate it with me

I believe the reciept said it was 1980 when this bike was purchased, i dont have it beside me to be sure, but its right about there. It was written to Ken Steel, a tall slender Fireman from Altoona, PA. By this time he was an accomplihed cyclist, having crossed the country solo more than a couple times on his 1960s Schwinn Varsity then perhaps once later on his Paramount (which is now owned by another member here). He rode unsupported with a repoortd 100lbs of gear underneath him.

The most notable of the stories that accompanied this bike was his trip through Death Valley. Whether it was brevity, foolishness, or the just anticipation of the accomplishment that was the basis for his decision, Im not sure, but he did it during the day on July 30th. He left early to avoid the heat as much as possible but it was 110 in the shade when he reached the ranger station in the afternoon. He refilled his 3 quarts of water for a second time after a nap and set out to finish the climb. He was famished and dehydrated by the time he found resources again. It would be a feat that would make the rest of the ride back to Pennsylvania rather uneventful by comparison.

This was his last bike, he raced it in local races and rode it regularly until his tragic death in the line of duty, as I mentioned he was a firefighter. I changed only a few things during the refurbishing.

You'll notice a handful of features that make this quite a special bike, even without its rich history.
- The frame itself is an SBDU Raleigh Pro built with Reynolds 753, you might be more familiar with the "Team" red yellow and black livery, this was the other color option. Built in the Ilkeston factory, where only the best builders from the Carlton and Nottingham factories were brought.
- The Hi Lo rear hub
- The straight band front derailleur
- avocet pedals and seatpost
- original paint and decals

I replaced the beat up old rims on the original hubs and favored the SR rear derailleur over the tired Superbe, other than that its built as he rode it. The beautifully worn leather tape is fantastic.

Enjoy the pics

ericbaker

jeirvine 

Super cool indeed, and even cooler with it's history. I have it's twin: 1979 SBDU, but 531 (it's 65 cm). What size is yours (should be stamped on the BB). And you may want to join the Team Pro group where there is a SN registry.

ericbaker

It is a 62.5 cm, I wasn't expecting to see another even bigger! Haha very nice twin! Looks like you are running full housing to the back? On mine there are stops for the rear brake cable... Maybe this is a custom frame decision or maybe it's a difference between 753 and 531?

RubberLegs

That truly IS a CLASSIC bike!!! With an epic story to go with it.

CV-6 

re: Colors

There were other color options for the SBDU bikes. Gold comes to mind immediately. Depended on the year of production. Raleigh would paint the frames any color the customer wished. Proof of that below:


SB 1016res 01 by CV6Enterprises, on Flickr

ericbaker

I thought i remember reading in my research that the team color and the black/blue were the colors listed in the catalog for this year, thats not to say other years didnt have different colors or that they wouldnt do cucstom paint.

Beautiful bike, I like the lug lining on this bike very much, often i dont care much for it. Thqnks for the input.

CV-6 

Like I said, depended on the year.

What is your serial?

KonAaron Snake 

There really is something about the SBDU Raleighs...especially love the drilled dropouts.

due ruote 

That's a great story and a fine looking bike. Very purposeful, no-nonsense build.

jeirvine 

The 1980 catalog shows blue/black, gold, and team colors for the Team Pro framesets:
https://radpropaganda.org/raleigh-team-pro-timeline/

And in the same catalog it lists 753 as an option up to 61cm/24", and 531 up to 64cm. Mine's a 531 and measures 64.5, and is stamped 65. (And mine does have the 'diving helmet" cable braze ons for the rear brake cable. Since that pic I obtained the correct step-down ferrules and cabled it properly. Yours must be the biggest 753 available. It's also interesting to note that the 753 and 531 frames had different standards for brake reach:

ericbaker

Awesome, great info fellas! Thanks. I've never seen a gold one.


Also worth noting is that this on has 180mm cranks so there's another custom option.

It has the optional shifter braze ons, and is spaced at 120mm so likely for 5 sp


I'll grab the serial number tonight, but I know it had 62.5 stamped in the shell which would be larger than their largest option, so it seeps pretty clear this was a custom order rather than a stock SBDU, is that true with all of them? Or were their "stock" SBDU bikes as well?

Cache

Beautiful bike with a terrific history. How does it ride? And can you leave it for me in your Will?

jeirvine 

Is here any info on the receipt re custom options? I'd love to see that if you have it.

ericbaker

The serial number is SB3773 , can we date it?

I have the original receipt somewhere, packed away amidst a pending move, it didn't have any specifics about the frame order just a hand written pink carbon copy with the date and how much he paid for his "Raleigh Pro frameset"

daf1009

Wow...thanks for sharing...

Michael Angelo 

That's a great bike with a wonderful rich history.

Here's an 1987 For comparison. SB8750

CV-6 

Around 1980.

As recommended by another poster. Do join the Yahoo Raleigh Team group. You will find some interesting info in the files.

jeirvine 

SB3771 and SB3772 are both on the registry as 1980 bikes in the Yahoo group. Yeah: you should join the group.

ericbaker

Im not sure I understand how the group works?

jeirvine 

Its an old fashioned email group. Send them an email asking to join. Then you can either follow on line or have emails sent to your inbox. It's pretty low volume but there are some very knowledgeable members, some of whom used to work at Raleigh.

Italuminium

Thank you for sharing this bike and story, Eric.

pcb 

Lovely bike, kudos for keeping its history and Ken Steel's memory alive.

I had a thing for SBDU Team Pros for a while, had a few pass through, at one point had a very early one (SB153, '74) and a very late one (SB8625, '87, after SBDU shut down). None left under my roof. This is SB4423 '81, in gold:

rootboy 

Wonderful bike Eric. But reading this made blood rush to my head. ...