Dan,
I have fond memories of my Super Course. Mine was a 1977 from my uncle's shop, bought to replace the latest of my stolen bikes at the time. It was the newer model - still with straight gauge 531 tubing in the main tubes and 20-30 tubing in the forks and stays. I had ridden numerous lowe r end 10-speeds before, but nothing before had felt like it. I was immedia tely in love with it.
My fondest memory of it was the day I was return ing to my Junior year at Potsdam College from our home in Rochester, NY. D ad had gotten a small U-haul to cart my stuff, and even before I had my bik e loaded and my step mother decided she wanted to see the campus, there was only room for two people in the front of the car. The night before my ret urn, I decided I would ride the 218 miles, so I checked the route on the ma p, packed some snacks and went to bed early.
I was out the door before 5:30 am, with (quite foolishly) three dollars, some food and drink, no too ls, and no spare tubes. It was a very long, but enjoyable day of solo ridi ng. Mid-afternoon, my Dad found me on route 11 on his return journey and a sked how I was doing. I think he expected me to ask to put the bike into t he trailer and ask for a ride. I kept on going, and had it not been for an early evening torrential thunderstorm, I would not have had to call my roo mmate to give me a lift for the last 11 miles.
Sadly, my steed was sto len days before my induction into the Navy when I locked it to some bikes t hat had been stolen from my uncle's shop's storage unit. This sad event ma rked the end of my riding days for over 20 years - but now I am back, and h ave aSuper Course that's almost identical to my old one. Maybe next year I 'll take it on a double century.
Nostalgically,
John Barry
Mech
anicsburg, PA 17055
kasha@yahoo.com> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Friday, Septe mber 29, 2006 4:47:13 AM Subject: [CR]Any fond memories of a Raleigh Supe r Course?
I think a 1973 Raleigh Super Course qualifies as a vinta ge "lightweight" ...
I was wondering what people thought of the old Raleigh Super Course, and if they had any fond memories of them?
I j ust recently picked one up, a little aged, but all original down to the han dle bar wrap, and took it out for a first ride. Please email me if you wou ld like to see a picture.
The reason I was interested goes back to 1 975 or so, when my first bike, a Jr. sized Peugeot was stollen (I was proba bly 13). I went to the local bike shop (Bruskin's in New Haven Ct) and aft er a long study of the bikes, decided that a Raleigh Super Course II was th e right bike. Alloy rims. Those uniquely beautiful coterless steel cranks . And the 531 sticker. Why I knew about these things at that age I don' t know, but I decided this was it. $230 was the obstacle.
My father had another idea, I think he viewed the Raleigh as dated and clunky and no t a modern concept. I ended up with a Viscount Aerospace GP, it was $179 I think. 3 or 4 pounds lighter. The cranks were really cool. The sealed b earings even cooler, perfectly smooth. The Shimano Titleist deraileur real ly did work well. But I always remembered that Raleigh Super Course II .
So rebuliding this one (a 1973 Super Course) was fun. It is suprisi ngly similar to my International, with the rapid taper stays. And the cabl e guides and routing. Though many things have the feel of quality (cranks, brakes, bar, stem, saddle, even the chrome seatpost). Many things feel lo w end (pedals, hubs, headset). But all in all it works. Rode great, had a really solid feel, with very predictable handling. I was able to carry nic e speed with it, only negative was that it has the standard 14 - 28 cluster , and often found I needed a gear inbetween. And a shift of the front chai nring would slightly disturb the rear and I would have to make a minor adju stment of the rear. But all in all, a nice bike. Will be my bike for crui sing to a coffee shop here in Seattle.
Anyway, just wondering what o thers think of the Super Course. I feel it qualifies as a light weight (53 1 after all), and it certainly has a long history.
Oh, and one las t question (if you are still reading at this point). The sticker says 531 frame tubes. Does this really mean that only the 3 main tubes are 531, or are the stays as well? The shape is so similar to the international, it is hard to imagine they are not. But if not, what would they have used, just their won generic high carbon steel? Or another Reynolds tubing?
D an Kasha Seattle, Wa
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