The workmanship on Raleigh lugs, even on relatively high-end models, was famously "inconsistent" to put it kindly. Stories abound of visible gaps between lugs and frame tubes where no brazing material had been laid down. Didn't keep a lot of these bikes from riding nicely. The less than perfect lugwork is, ironically, one of the quirks that seems to endear people to Raleighs. One imagines that the lads at Nottingham had one pint too many before brazing up these frames. Sort of adds to the Raleigh legend. Rather like the British sports cars of the 1950's and early 1960's. An old engineering professor of mine, who owned several MGA's and MGB's used to say that owning British sports cars "builds character".
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Houston, Tx
> I have a small complaint about Raleigh's workmanship, but also wish
to raise some questions about the lugs used on the bike. You might have to
visit retro raleigh to know what I am talking about. On the International
page, http://retroraleighs.com/
>
> The other day I bought a Raleigh Competition frame, from 1973 I am
told. I was most surprised to see these same lugs on it, as I don't recall
seeing these lugs on the Competitions that I have seen. So, the general
questions are, what are these lugs, and were they typical on Internationals
and Competitons?
>
> Now on to the complaint portion of my post. If you look at this
International frame, it is probably the 22.5" frame. And as you can see the
points of the lugs just about touch the Raleigh emblem. So on my smaller
frame, they simply used a hacksaw and crudely cut off two thirds of off
those beautiful points! And whoever did the cutting must have just had a
few pints, as the cuts are about +/- 10 degrees from square.
>
> Thanks in advance. Also, I was going to build this up as just a
basic riding bike, not a perfect restoration. But if anyone has any
Competition parts from this era that they want to part with, please don't
hesitate to let me know. So far I have frame, bar, stem, headset (worn),
brake cable hanger, seat, seatpost (no clamp yet). Though not correct, I
have NR derailleurs/levers I will use until the price of Huret comes down.
I also have nice campy side pull brakes to use and Weinmann levers. Will
need to find wheels from the era, a seatpost (or clamp), cranks, BB,
pedals, and a headset would not be bad. Oh, I should find some weinmann
calipers for it too:)
>
> Thanks again, looking forward to hearing about those cut down lugs (I wish
they were whole). If anyone wants a picture, I'll take one and can email
it.
>
> Dan "did I violate any CR list rules?, don't think so" Kasha
> Salt Lake City, UT
>
> PS over 10 feet of snow in the mountains here, skiing and xc skiing has
been great.
>
>
>
>
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