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Mystery frame! Lets solve it!

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Mystery frame! Lets solve it!

Old 09-11-20, 02:14 PM
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eyeletsnoptions
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Mystery frame! Lets solve it!

I recently acquired an unknown frame from someone in Seattle, WA. The bike was previously RED and my first initial guess was its a Raleigh Kodiak but these were never RED. The serial is nowhere near what Kurt Kaminar's website says. From what I have researched it is not a Raleigh Portage (650b), Kodiak or Alyeska since the frame doesn’t have a third bottle mount. One thing that does tell me it’s a Raleigh is all of the Braze-ons and dropouts. The 73.5 stamp on the seat cluster is common in some Taiwan made Raleigh frames, such as the Grabd Prix.

The fork is what makes me think it is not a Raleigh, the brake bosses in the front and rear are an exact match and have the holes on the outside. This makes me think that the fork is original and is what came with the bike, but I could be wrong. The fork is a 27" Spinner fork from 1986 with mid mount eyelets (has a stamp on the steerer tube). SERIAL NUMBER: M6-L0771

So, I think this is a early production Raleigh that was made in Taiwan (Merida) but someone please prove me wrong.

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Old 09-15-20, 04:14 PM
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autostrada048
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I was able to recover my old account that had its original email compromised. I have attached photos of said frame.








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Old 09-16-20, 10:04 PM
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Bump, This made it to page 2 and no responses. I have no idea what frame this is, however, between the serial number and some of the features, I would think someone here would have an opinion.

Any guesses? Any thoughts on that dimple on the chainstay?
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Old 09-16-20, 10:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Velo Mule
Bump, This made it to page 2 and no responses. I have no idea what frame this is, however, between the serial number and some of the features, I would think someone here would have an opinion.

Any guesses? Any thoughts on that dimple on the chainstay?

Thank you for the bump! I'm trying to be patient and hope that someone from Bikeforums can give me some info on it. It definitely is always on my mind as to what this frame is. Also I just wanted to add that I put calipers on the seat post tube and it seems to be 26.8.
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Old 09-16-20, 11:26 PM
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I have no guesses but am curious.
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Old 09-16-20, 11:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Velo Mule
Bump, This made it to page 2 and no responses. I have no idea what frame this is, however, between the serial number and some of the features, I would think someone here would have an opinion.

Any guesses? Any thoughts on that dimple on the chainstay?
To answer your question on the dimple I have attached a photo of a Raleigh Portage that has a similar dimple.


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Old 09-17-20, 12:18 AM
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Full-on tourer, unicrown fork suggests to me it's l990s or late 80s. That serial number and the lug angle posted on the seat cluster is going to be a big hint to somebody. But not me.
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Old 09-23-20, 03:44 PM
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Was there a bike produced that was very similar to the Raleigh Kodiak? I know Merida made bikes for other companies like Miyata and Univega.
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Old 09-24-20, 04:26 AM
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@autostrada048
Raleighs of this period (Kodiak, Alyeska, Portage) had pantographed seat stay caps rather than the plain ones on your frame.
Merida did contract builds for several marques, including Raleigh, so the mystery frame could have sported a number of different decals.

One bike that was almost identical to the Raleigh Kodiak and had a unicrown fork was the Univega Gran Touring (not to be confused with Gran Turismo, which was the prior iteration built by Miyata in Japan). Even though the mystery frame shows a 1986 serial number, it's possible that it was sold as a 1987 model. Univega catalogs show the Gran Turismo through 1986 and Gran Touring starting in 1987. There were some minor variations with the Gran Touring (e.g. I've seen some with a curved brake bridge and some with a straight brake bridge) but I'm not sure if those were done between model years or if there's another explanation for them.

Here are some pics:







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Old 09-24-20, 11:18 AM
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Originally Posted by MauriceMoss
@autostrada048
Raleighs of this period (Kodiak, Alyeska, Portage) had pantographed seat stay caps rather than the plain ones on your frame.
Merida did contract builds for several marques, including Raleigh, so the mystery frame could have sported a number of different decals.

One bike that was almost identical to the Raleigh Kodiak and had a unicrown fork was the Univega Gran Touring (not to be confused with Gran Turismo, which was the prior iteration built by Miyata in Japan). Even though the mystery frame shows a 1986 serial number, it's possible that it was sold as a 1987 model. Univega catalogs show the Gran Turismo through 1986 and Gran Touring starting in 1987. There were some minor variations with the Gran Touring (e.g. I've seen some with a curved brake bridge and some with a straight brake bridge) but I'm not sure if those were done between model years or if there's another explanation for them.
WOW! I started to lose hope there! Thank you so much for your help! I can sleep at night again.
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