Original Message: ----------------- From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 10:36:32 -0700 (PDT) To: losborn2@wvu.edu, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR]EBAIT: Unidentified Flying Raleigh...
Larry, the CR site seems to be down again today. (Maybe the SOB's are trying to extort yet more money from Dale). However, I thought it said there that the International was a Carlton model before Raleigh bought Carlton, which was well before 1969. Did Raleigh kill the International , then revive it in the 70'?
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Raleigh bought Carlton, Worksop, in 1960 but as a going concern. This coincided with the end of lightweight cycle production in Lenton, Nottingham and henceforth all Reynolds 531 machines were made by Carlton.
In 1974 specialised production was shifted to Ilkeston and c. 1983 lightweight construction returned to Lenton Rd. I think Worksop closed around this time and Ilkeston c. 1986?
Now, marketing is everything and we must remember that Raleigh as a qualit y lightweight was practically non existant in the UK c. 1962-1980. You b ought a Carlton. So there was indeed a Carlton International and a Carlton Professional when we were buying a Raleigh International and a Raleigh Professional in the US. A lot of models varied. For example, what we c all a Competition was a Clubman in the UK. One of the great blackholes in our collective knowledge is Carlton lightweights in the UK during this time.
Amazingly there is no UK version of Retro Raleighs with a comprehensive collection of catalogues etc.
But again everything was made under the same roof c. 1962-1974 by Carlto n Cycles, Worksop. This explains the Carlton decal on the seatpost, the double "CC" bb cut-outs on the Pros and the Carlton "racing guy" logo on the pumps of earlier machines c. 1969-71. The main difference was the headtube transfer and the paintwork. The Gran Sport was the most Carlton
"looking" of the Raleigh line with its Carlton racing blue and white liver y.
I am not sure about Canada during this time. There are indeed more Carlt ons up north than down here, either they were brought over from the UK or you could really buy a Carlton-badged machine in Canada. There was also a transition period in the US 1961-66ish when Raleigh North America (Boston)
issued a separate price list and catalogue leaflet for Carltons. I remem ber that as my dad had one. I think it was limited to the Pro and Internatio nal as complete machines and then framesets. This is a period we need to do a lot more research on.
So I guess to be really accurate, Carlton was the largest manufacturer of quality lightweights during the Bike Boom, not Raleigh!
Peter Kohler Washington DC USA
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