Hey americans, check out this "missing link" carlton model :
It's essentially the early 70's white and blue raleigh competition, in carlton paint. The head badge is carlton, the lugs are nervex, it has the pro/competition italianesque (not cinelli) sloping crown, and the frame is 531-throughout.
In the states the entire head tube was blue, but this model shows just a stripe of blue 2" high that is centered beneath the Carlton head badge. other than that, I'm guessing that the bike originally was exactly the same as a 70-72 blue and white Raleigh competition model, even down to the "Competition" transfer on the chainstays.
I enjoy trying to figure out the correspondence (if any) between Carlton models and the Raleigh-Carltons, e.g. (Giro D'Italia, Fastback Pro), (Franco-Suisse (w/downtube shifters), International), (Competition, Competition / Gran Sport), etc.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA