I picked up an early 70s Raleigh Grand Sports last year and I'm finally getting around to building it up. This bike can take a fat tire so I plan on building it as a light trail/gravel bike with 700 x 35c tires. The frame was spread to 126 OLD and the drop out hanger chopped off by the previous owner (who was the original owner as well). The bike had a weird selection of parts when I bought it. The headset was in good shape though as well as the very nice 125 mm stronglight spindle. I had a few questions:
(1) Is there any way to date these bikes? It has a 5 digit serial number stamped on the left rear drop out (Zeus competition). The serial no. is 33548.
(2) Does someone sell the stickers for the bike? I'll likely pick up the right 531 stickers but I wouldn't mind the rest of the stickers as well.
The first pic is how I bought the bike (Mafac brakes, mismatched wheels, and a nice brooks saddle (not visible in the pic). The second and third pics were taken recently after I stripped the bike down, rebuilt the headset, and dealt with the crank as the dust covers took some destructive persuading to come off. The paint is in good shape but I'll touch it up and wax the frame before building it. I have a set of Weinmann center pull brakes and levers that I pulled off a Raleigh Competition that I'll use in the build and I may stick with these wheels (ugly looking hubs but the mavic MA 40 rims are in great shape). I have a Stronglight 99 triple that I'll use on the build as well as a Raleigh branded suntour rear derailleur.
(1) Is there any way to date these bikes? It has a 5 digit serial number stamped on the left rear drop out (Zeus competition). The serial no. is 33548.
(2) Does someone sell the stickers for the bike? I'll likely pick up the right 531 stickers but I wouldn't mind the rest of the stickers as well.
The first pic is how I bought the bike (Mafac brakes, mismatched wheels, and a nice brooks saddle (not visible in the pic). The second and third pics were taken recently after I stripped the bike down, rebuilt the headset, and dealt with the crank as the dust covers took some destructive persuading to come off. The paint is in good shape but I'll touch it up and wax the frame before building it. I have a set of Weinmann center pull brakes and levers that I pulled off a Raleigh Competition that I'll use in the build and I may stick with these wheels (ugly looking hubs but the mavic MA 40 rims are in great shape). I have a Stronglight 99 triple that I'll use on the build as well as a Raleigh branded suntour rear derailleur.