All this talk of head badges has me wondering if anyone has a nice one they'd part with that's appropriate for a 1980 build year Raleigh Team Rep? I say "appropriate" because I need a bit of an education from the group: it seems that unlike my 1975 Raleigh Team Pro, this slightly newer bike's head badge was glued on rather than attached to the head tube with rivets. The Team Rep has been repainted and perhaps the rivet holes were filled at that time? Or, did Raleigh start using a glue-on badge at about this time? Since the Team Rep has a Worksop frame number I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that the missing badge whether glued or riveted should read "Nottingham" rather than USA. A clarification is welcomed. If anyone has a badge correct for this bike in good or better condition for sale please contact me off-group.
To chime in on the discussion of whether or not to take a bike that has a "history" and then destroy that history by "restoring" the bike back to authentic spec, I'm of two minds: a machine that has been correctly restored can be a wonderful reference for others and a thing of great joy to look at. On the other hand, a mongrel with a history is often times more interesting to contemplate than a "gold plater". I'll offer my two Raleighs as examples. My Team Rep was formerly owned by a man in Massachusetts who's first love was cross country ski-ing. He used amateur bike racing as a means of staying in shape for ski racing. He is Finnish and so had his bike repainted Finnish National Blue with his name in large letters on both sides of the down tube. He also replaced components as they broke and wore out so the bike currently sports a dog's dinner of Campagnolo SR and NR both newer and older than the frame serial number. Since the bike was actively raced this seems fair enough. He was a Bay State Masters Champion at age 61 and only recently, now in his 70s decided to give up the bike after a hip replacement. I plan to keep the bike more or less "as is" to preserve this little bit of amateur racing history (well, I would like to replace that missing head badge). My SBD Team Pro on the other hand, while also having some history, is at this point a bare frameset (still has the original paint which looks salvageable and also her head badge!) and so that one will get built up with age correct components, using old catalogs and bikes lovingly restored to authentic spec as a guide.
George Albaugh
Bowie, Maryland USA