eBay find of the week... a Raleigh with 531 tubing

DrewSavage

Retro Guru
I'll admit it, I seem to have developed something of an addiction to buying retro lightweight road bikes on the cheap.

But look! Reynolds 531 tubing. For 23 quid!

OK, it looks like there might be rust on the front fork and it could turn out to be a wreck, but technically it's a better, lighter frame than anything else I've got so far. And I'll need some sort of project to keep me busy through the winter.

But can anyone help identify what kind of Raleigh this is?

I'd guess at late 80s or early 90s but so far I haven't found it in any kind of catalogue. I collect it on Tuesday. I asked the vendor what kind of bits were on it, but he could only tell me about the Reynolds sticker which is visible in the photo.

I'm guessing if it has 531 tubes the original groupset would have been decent. But of course that may have been sold off and replaced with bog standard bits - it's a risk you take, I suppose.
 

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I haven't checked but I'm reasonable sure it is a Classic 15, the model before the Randonneur.

Chainset looks like a TA, but if memory serves it's a Sugino.

Jon.
 
roadking":1kalupcl said:
I haven't checked but I'm reasonable sure it is a Classic 15, the model before the Randonneur.

Chainset looks like a TA, but if memory serves it's a Sugino.

Jon.

Cheers! I was wondering if it might be a Randonneur but having scrolled through pages of them on Google, the Raleigh logo didn't seem right... most of those have it in a mixed-case handwritten kind of script.

I was wondering if that Raleigh logo might be early 90s rather than early 80s though?
 
The white plastic thing on the front wheel looks just like the sender unit from the 1980's Raleigh Sensor bike (had a built in speedo...)

Whats the frame number on this one?
 
I pick it up on Tuesday, I guess we'll know a lot more then - in the meantime I've got that impatient curiosity to cope with...
 
Thought it might have been a Royal, but now I'm not so sure!

A google image search for Classic 15 brings up a few options, so maybe that is the one after all!

Frame number will date it, and probably confirm

Wheels don't look original, as they appear to have black anodised rims...
 

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