Doug,
I think the confusion between UK Raleigh and American Raleigh is that in America from 1965-onwards, Raleigh actually offered only 2 models "made by Raleigh", and both were actually made by Gazelle of Holland : The Raleigh Record (entry-level steel sidepull 10-speed) and the Raleigh Grand Prix (centerpull bike with Carlton hoods, QR hubs, and some aluminum like rims and gears in later years.)
When Americans speak of Raleigh, we are typically speaking about the Worksop-built Carlton models, at least in the 1965-1980 era. So, there is a model-dependent translation that needs to be made :
Raleigh Professional = Carlton Giro D'Italia Raleigh International = Carlton Franco-Suisse Raleigh Gran Sport = Carlton Competition Raleigh Super Course = Carlton Catalina / or other C-series model
etc. etc. Were Carlton bikes unpopular on club rides in the UK ?? I would like to hear about that, thanx.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA