Odd Raleigh 653 frame

[drcarlos]

Spotted this on Ebay and was interested due to colour, size and tubing type (I already have a 653 MTB) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raleigh-Speci ... 35dd459022
Alarm bells started ringing though as it doesn't have the classic Raleigh features from the late 80's (when 653 was introduced) like the tops of the stays with Raleigh embossed into them and no branding on the dropouts (i thought Raleigh used branded one on high end frames like gipemme or shimano). The serial is odd too starting with a B.
The ad claims it's original colours but I can only think of the Record Ace Moderne that was 653 and that certainly wasn't neon yellow. Is this frame really a Raleigh lightweight or is it something else?

Carl.

 

[David B]

Re:

The embossed seat stays are usually a good indicator of quality Raleighs of a certain era, but in the official catalogues (see the 1989 Lightweight brochure in the RB archives) not all framesets, even near the top of the tree, had them. :?

The decal font and the braze-ons/fork crown style certainly match up to typical Raleigh spec of the late 80s although I could've sworn that 130mm dropout spacing was the norm by then. However, the loud paint job and the square "Custom Brazed" transfer on the seat tube seem atypical. Export job or bike show display frameset maybe?

David

 

[47p2]

Paint looks like it has been powdercoated

 

[drcarlos]

Re: Re:

The embossed seat stays are usually a good indicator of quality Raleighs of a certain era, but in the official catalogues (see the 1989 Lightweight brochure in the RB archives) not all framesets, even near the top of the tree, had them. :?

The decal font and the braze-ons/fork crown style certainly match up to typical Raleigh spec of the late 80s although I could've sworn that 130mm dropout spacing was the norm by then. However, the loud paint job and the square "Custom Brazed" transfer on the seat tube seem atypical. Export job or bike show display frameset maybe?

David

Forks do look correct and nice, a lot nicer than the ones on my quadra and I have seen some of the earlier team frames without the embossed stays too, but they had nicer bb shells and cable routing braze ons not the plastic guide.
Paint screams fairly recent powder coat too I agree.
Surely for any decent Raleigh it should have a serail starting w, n or SB?

Carl

 

[Midlife]

Is it one of these? A bit after my era so have no personal experience.........

Shaun

 

[Matt_wood55]

It's definitely a Raleigh. A few have been for sale similar in the last couple of years. I have a purple version bought as frame only by my dad at the back end of the 80's. I have never been able to find it in any of the catalogue scans on the internet. It looks 100% original to me.

My advice is to go for it!!

This is mine.....

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=302855

 

[David B]

It's definitely a Raleigh. A few have been for sale similar in the last couple of years. I have a purple version bought as frame only by my dad at the back end of the 80's. I have never been able to find it in any of the catalogue scans on the internet. It looks 100% original to me.

My advice is to go for it!!

This is mine.....

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=302855

I stand corrected on the issue of the seat tube decal!

It's a later model than Shaun suggested, though, as it has "5 o'clock" rear brake cable guides (typical late 80s/early 90s Raleigh) rather than ones on the very top of the top tube.

David

 

[drcarlos]

Just been scanning the catalogue's and the embossed stays only seem to appear on the training geometry frames, so its a bit of a bum steer there.
What's with the serial though?
Might see if the quadra fits the wife and go for an upgrade, would be nice with tri colour ultegra this one.

Carl

 

[Midlife]

David B

Thanks for that snippet about the cable guides..........learn something new every day as they say

I have a Raleigh frame in the garage bought off e-bay a while ago (everyone should have one) where if you stand in front of it the frame the cable guides on the top tube are indeed at the 5 O'Clock position. I guess it's a bit younger than I thought, note to self to have a look for any serial number.

Cheers

Shaun

 

[Matt_wood55]

Re: Re:

The embossed seat stays are usually a good indicator of quality Raleighs of a certain era, but in the official catalogues (see the 1989 Lightweight brochure in the RB archives) not all framesets, even near the top of the tree, had them. :?

The decal font and the braze-ons/fork crown style certainly match up to typical Raleigh spec of the late 80s although I could've sworn that 130mm dropout spacing was the norm by then. However, the loud paint job and the square "Custom Brazed" transfer on the seat tube seem atypical. Export job or bike show display frameset maybe?

David

David

Mine is 126mm, not exactly sure when Raleight went to 130mm??

Cheers
Matt