You're absolutely right Ken, those levers are definitely odd add-ons. The standard ones were also Weinmanns, but it's just the basic model with Raleigh's white Carlton hoods shown in the '69 catalog.
It's interesting how quickly Raleigh had abandoned those center-pulls on the Pro, and then that rear brake arch (the same one found on most all of their lightweight bikes).
By 1970, with the Mk.II, they had already stepped up to the FULL Campy NR gruppo - including brakes. And they also changeg the seat cluster treatment; that next year they had already switched to the fastback configuration.
I guess someone observant in their marketing department snapped that they needed to do some catching up if they were hoping to market a real world class image for a new full-blown Pro level racing model.
Or, perhaps someone had unexpectedly sold the idea of putting out a new model, but too late in the year to consider what they would actually need to produce... beyond just the new enamel.
Bob Hanson Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Ken Freeman wrote :
Beautiful, but I don't think Raleigh put on the brake "safety levers!" In those days as today "discerning cyclists" did not thing those things were worth the weight and in fact detracted from good braking.
Ken Freeman
Ann Arbor, MI