[CR] Ralieg frame in Team Colours 0 Ebay 400032976224

(Example: Production Builders:Frejus)

Date: Sun, 1 Mar 2009 02:41:56 -0800
From: "Norris Lockley" <norris.lockley@yahoo.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR] Ralieg frame in Team Colours 0 Ebay 400032976224


I don't usually get involved in matters concerning Raleigh bikes as I am no t expert whatsoever on these machines, and I also realise that they cause m ore stirrings of the heart in many people than they do with me.

However I do know and understand a little about frame building in general.. and it is on this this aspect of this frame that I would wish to comment .. This frame is definitely mid-range and is very much a production model ie large quantities, dressed up in Team livery. As has already been pointed o ut Raleigh even used the livery to cloak frames made of Truwel mild steel w ith pressed fork ends and bent rather than curved front fork blades.

This Ebay frame is not quite as low in the hierarchy in terms of materials used, but it will have been produced by the same industrialised methods. Th e lugs are bottom of the range BOcama..the fork crown a standard Wagner ( although this crown could be found on many French Pro frames in the 50s an d 60s), and the top eyes are pressed into the tubing of the seat stays...no t plated or inserted..

Another factor makes me wary of mid-range Raleighs is that some of them use d seamed Reynolds 531 tubing. This feature was brought to my attention by a renowned French retailer who told me that he had stopped selling certain E nglish bikes because he had had 531 tubes split on them. When I suggested t hat hemeant cracks.. he insisted that the tubes had split along the length. Since that time I have had to work on several such Raleighs and still have sections of tubes in my Black Museum that tesify to this type of tube's ex istence.

Finally..I would be cautious of buying from this particular seller, not tha t he is any way disreputable or unreliable...but his starting prices are ju st so expensive. Check out his on-line boutique..and you will find bog stan dard French frames at outrageous prices. He has a Poulidor Super Vitus 971 frame on offer. This is a mid to low end mass-produced  frame, with poor lugs, pressed steel drop-outs etc etc. I bought a similar frame, but full b uilt up, in as new condition for less than a quarter of what this seller is asking.

Caveat emptor...

Norris Lockley..Settle UK