753 Raleigh 1983?

[gavr]

Hi

For my first post - I think this is a Raleigh frame from 1983, hopefully the picture works. Stamped under the BB WE300067. It has Gipiemme rear dropouts unfortunately no forks and weighs about 1.8kg. It's clearly been resprayed at some point. It has a 753 respray decal but I don't doubt the steel.

Is this a Nottingham build? What model would it have been?


I've built it up into something resembling a mid-1980s 6 speed there or there abouts

Frame: Raleigh?

Fork: ITM Visia carbon fork aluminium steerer 1inch unthreaded

Headset: Campagnolo Chorus
Stem: Cinelli Vai
Handlebar: Cinelli Giro d'Italia 64-40
Bar Tape: Cinelli cork

Brake Levers/Brifters: Shimano R600
Brake Calipers: Shimano 600/Dia Compe 9000 Ti
Brake Pads:Ultegra
Brake Cables: Shimano

Shifters: Shimano 600 SIS 12 speed
Front Derailleur: Shimano 600
Rear Derailleur: Shimano 600 SIS
Cassette: Shimano 6 speed Freewheel
Chain: Sedis
Cranks: Shimano 600
Chainrings: Shimano Dura-ace 7400 53/39
Bottom Bracket: TA Industries
Pedals: Shimano 600

Rims: Mavic MA2 Argent
Hubs: Shimano 600
Hub Skewers: Shimano 600


Saddle: San Marco Rolls
Seatpost: Shimano 600

 

[Elev12k]

Hi Gavr,

Welcome!

I happen to have picked up a 753R frame today. Mine has a SB (Special Bike unit) serial, what is pretty much necassary for a 753R. It could be for example JZ or JR alternatively, but than it was Joop's or Jan's bike Your serial probably denotes Worksop.

Gipiemme dropouts also do not sound 753 typical. Both 753s I had (have) hands on were built with Campag 1010B dropouts that went on a diet.

 

[feetabix]

Welcome to rb gav, nice start!......

 

[gavr]

Thanks for the responses. There seems to be some debate about whether Raleigh built in 753 outside of Ilkeston. The frame is certainly much lighter than my 531 of the same era and the tubing much thinner. The stays are a much wider diameter than 531 but the date would seem to be too early for 653 I think. The lugs are all pointed and the BB just plain. Certainly not to the standard of a special build but the next rung down?

 

[john]

Nice!

Assuming it is 1983 I think Raleigh were only building 753 at Ilkeston. The serial points to it being a Worksop built frame. I'm far from an expert on such matters but I'd guess it might be 531c if it seems lighter than a regular 531 frame.

 

[gavr]

Raleigh 1983

Looks something like a Competition12 from the 1983 catalogue I think

with the Prugnat pointed lugs and Gipiemme dropouts

 

[seve88]

How good were the Raleigh builders with 753? I've heard the Peugeot 753 were poorly built and 753 was made thicker so they could mass produce but still be coded to use 753.

 

[daccordimark]

Re: Raleigh 1983

Looks something like a Competition12 from the 1983 catalogue I think with the Prugnat pointed lugs and Gipiemme dropouts

That seems more likely especially looking at the weight of your frame. I would have thought a 753 frame without forks would be less than 1.8kg.

The Competition12 had a nice frame even on the '82 version I had.

Enjoy the ride,
Mark.

 

[roadking]

Hi

It should be common knowledge on here by now that Raleigh, after the Carlton (Woksop) takeover in 1960, continued to use the W prefix on frame numbers: usually denoting a Lightweight Unit frame, as marketed by Raleigh in the literature of the period.
Yours, according to my literature is not a Competition 12, which has the lugs and dropouts you mention, but has shot in seatstays - which yours does not. You don't state seatpin diameter.
Looking at my literature here, my guess, without the original fork and close ups of the lugs-long or short point Prugnat-is that it is was once a Scirocco 12 or Team Corsa 12 (the latter 501 tubeset throughout, the former 501 maintubes only).
Seve88 asks how good were the Raleigh builders - the SBDU in Ilkeston was almost certainly the best builder of frames PERIOD: from the SBDUs creation in 1974 to it's demise in 1990(I'm biased though). Look at the Palmares...I need say no more- results speak for themselves.
If it is a Raleigh(difficult to date, why do you think its an 83?)it was certainly built in Nottingham.

Roadking.

 

[gavr]

raleigh 1983

Seatpin is a 27.2mm. 1983 I took from the 1983 from the 3. I also understand that Worksop was shut by 1983 and production continued at Nottingham

This according to Sheldon Brown

In 1974, an entirely different numbering system was introduced for the higher end (531 and subsequently 753) Raleighs. Serial numbers should begin with a "W", which stands for Worksop, the facility that produced theses frames. This is followed by another alphabet. This alphabet indicates the fortnight in which the frame was built (i.e. A = 1st fortnight, B = 2nd, etc.). The third character is always a numeral. It indicates the year of manufacture, the decade being assumed (i.e. "4" could be '74 or '84; it is up to the interpretor to know enough to tell if the frame is from the 70's or 80's). What then follows is a series of numbers. At this point, these appear to be some sort of sequence, but this has not been substantiated.