Help with Raleigh Competition

[molyza]

Hi,

I bought this bike about a year ago. Having made a fair bit of googling, I reckon it's a 1980 Competition (serial WA0002325), the type that Wilfried has posted about here: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=76844

What puzzles me is that I can't find it in any of the catalogues (and btw I haven't seen a UK 1980 catalogue anywhere, any idea why that is anyone?) The '82 Competition 12 is somewhat similar (script Raleigh on the down tube, script "Craftsman built.." on seat tube, etc), but with lots of minor differences (no mudguard eyes, no chrome front forks, mine has brazed break cable guides, etc) and definitely not in black.

From what I found so far, this particular model is a lot less common than say the Competition 12, the GS, or the pre-80 Competitions with the block Raleigh (again, any idea why? was this a limited run?), and I'm struggling to find a definitive source for the original specs. The few I could find on the net differ wildly from each other, there is a not-very-detailed spec here: http://www.vintagevelo.co.uk/2013/10/27 ... nolds-531/. Mine has a Suntour Cyclone FD, Shimano 600 RD, Miche Performance brakes (with which I'm not too happy with, surely a downgrade from the original, whatever that was), Weinmann break levers, Raleigh stem and crank arm, Atom rear hub and pedals. The front hub is a Shimano (it's black, just as the brakes and the Ambrosio rims, one of the previous owners must have thought it cool to have as much black as possible).

Oh, and note the "S" above the "00" in the serial. Any idea what it means?

All in all, I'd love some more info on this one please.

thx,
Ors

 

[MrW]

The 1981 Carlton/Raleigh brochure has this, which given the crossover of the 2 companies might suggest why yours has the Raleigh decal on the downtube, yet the Carlton one on the seat tube.

Frame set only:

 

[molyza]

Re:

Thanks MrW, that seems to tie up with what I have so far. Still at a loss as to the original kitting though... Is that brochure available anywhere? Couldn't find it, and http://bulgier.net/ is out of service, wasn't able to check there.

cheers,
Ors

 

[spitball]

I would have thought as it was a frame set only the kitting would have been dependent on how deep you pockets were, and what was available for that period, but I may be wrong. I have a more modern Peugeot which was sold as a frame set only and that had a strange mix of bits on it, all period, some decent and some not so, now however it has all decent bits on it.