1989 Raleigh team issue bike for sale £350

[dude391]

Hi there,

i am selling my Rayleigh 1989 team mountain bike, ive had it from new bought from Terry Wright Cycles in Peterborough.

This is not the mass produced model, this is the team issue bike which only made a limited run of, cost £450 back in 1990.

Everything is original other than the seat which was stolen( might even be able to find the original handbook and recipt but cannot promise).

54cm frame and still rides great just a few bumps and scraps which is to be expected at 28 Years Old, would make a great project for someone to restore.

I have attached a picture of the bike and some magazine clipings someone gave me of the team using the bike.

Looking for about £350

any questions welcomed.

 

[legrandefromage]

Sadly its not a 'team issue' as in 'used by the team' but a team issue paint job, the same as the road bike Raleigh Banana or team Panasonic colours

The bikes pictured are very different beasts to yours which as a perfectly fine Reynolds 531 frame, but its the same frame as used for the Moonshine or Appalachian and a very mid level Suntour groupset.

*your frame is identical to the Blueridge but in no way what was used by the racing team, these would have been hand built for each rider.

Not to devalue what you have, its just that you might want to change the wording or put better pictures on your ebay ad.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=58241

 

[dyna-ti]

What a well informed and delivered reply.

 

[drcarlos]

Re:

I have one of these in a slightly smaller 18" size, it's my longer term keeper as I had my eye on one in 89 but ended up with a holdsworth thing.

Anyway in my build thread one of the ex Raleigh team (he dropped in a picture of him on his team bike at the end of the thread) commented that they actually used a 531 frame for a period for the team bikes (however it's more likely to be the full 531AT frame that was found on the Avanti built for each rider than the 531AT main tubes off the peg frame that this bike and mine has) before they got the more exotic 753AT framed bikes seen in the article.
I've never ever seen a real team issue bike come onto the market and they must be exceptionally rare with less than 20 made as there were only about 5 riders in the team and they only used the 'lightweight' brazed frames for a couple of seasons before moving to the bonded Dynatechs.

The Appalchian is part 531 but got an upgrade with 531 forks, I'd quite like a set of the 531 forks to add to mine as they need paint anyway.

These though are still rare bikes and I've only seen about 4 of the 531 bikes for sale in all the years I've been hanging around here. Loads of the gaspipe ones come up though. I think there was also a 501 framed mid price rep (with Full Suntour XCT like the 1990 Montage) too but I haven't seen one of those on the market ever.

However price wise while Raleigh road bikes are well sought after and retain high values, Raleigh didn't take MTB seriously and by the time they did they'd missed the boat and were playing catch up in the shops to brands like Specialized, Muddyfox and Orange, in the boutique to Klein, Funk and Fat Chance. So while they did sell loads of cheap Mustangs and entry level Montage/Mirage the high end bikes didn't really sell like the roadbikes did so are rare. They just don't hold the same cachet as a Fat so don't make loads. To get an idea you'll quite easily pay £400/500 for a steel fat chance, but these Raleigh frames sell for £50-£100. Shame as they ride really well.

Carl.

 

[Kell]

On a completely unrelated note - I had that JT Bad Bones helmet cover:

I lost it (and the helmet) when I moved house years ago. Was gutted.