Like the build quality, I have found the ride of 70's Raleighs to be variable as well. I have three Internationals and they all steer differently. If you look at the two chartreuse '71 Internationals on Ebay now you will see one with a fork that has quite a bit of rake , mostly at the bottom, and nice thin tips. The other has much less rake and a more continuous fork bend. I also have both of these versions and the former version is far more sensitive (although prettier to my eye). I also have a International with a Pro fork that steers best of all. And yea, I can get the one shimmy, but no "tank slappers" as of yet!
I would like to think that Raleigh changed the fork rake in an effort to improve the handling but I suspect that it was likely the result of what fork blades the worker happened to pull from the bin that day!
My '48 RRA steers better than all my Internationals and Pro's!
Paul (but they look so pretty in the catalogs!) Raley Leonardtown MD
RDF1249@aol.com wrote:
>
>
>> I don't know when the change happened; but I'm sure there are plenty who
>> do. I'm still looking for a cure for interest in 70's Raleighs, myself. ;-)
>>
>
>Brian - Just ride one o the damn things for a couple years and that will cure
>you. Squirrelliest bike I ever had! Must have had 40mm of trail if that. I
>rode - er - wiggled an International across the US on Bikecentennial in 1976.
> Later, we used to offer to derake the forks for people who complained about
>their shimmy. It helped some but not much. I sold Raleighs in the early 80s
>by the way, and the last few years of the Pro had the aforementioned nearly
>flat crown and no longer had fastback stays. Back in the day my buddies who
>could afford one had a Paramount. Now I have four of them as you saw last summer
>and do they ever ride nice! They had steering geometry dialed!
>
>Bob Freeman
>Seattle
>
>
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