I've built this bike up previously when I wasn't sure of it's provenance. It had been resprayed and was badged as a 753 with no forks.
I'm now certain that it's one of the Raleigh 1983 531c frames sold as Gran Sport, Road Ace or Competition 12.
http://www.bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Raleigh83/ral83_05.jpg
I suspect one of the rationalizations that took place when the frame building was moved to Nottingham was the same frames were used on multiple models - gone was the nice chrome and different styling. The differences appear to be in the forks, the Road Ace had the Shimano EX Aero shifters and then just the colour of the paint.
So this is a Gran Sport or a Competition frame with Prugnat 54 lugs and tapered stays.
It's a bit of a shame to modernise it so heavily but I've built it as a present for my brother who is a bag of spanners when it comes to looking after a bike so it's a modern build that the LBS will be able to service for him. It's Ultegra 6600 mostly NOS expect for an older Dura-Ace 7700 chainset to save a bit of money.
The full bike weighs in at 9.5 kg so a bit less than the 1983 models, mainly down the the carbon fork.
I'm now certain that it's one of the Raleigh 1983 531c frames sold as Gran Sport, Road Ace or Competition 12.
http://www.bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Raleigh83/ral83_05.jpg
I suspect one of the rationalizations that took place when the frame building was moved to Nottingham was the same frames were used on multiple models - gone was the nice chrome and different styling. The differences appear to be in the forks, the Road Ace had the Shimano EX Aero shifters and then just the colour of the paint.
So this is a Gran Sport or a Competition frame with Prugnat 54 lugs and tapered stays.
It's a bit of a shame to modernise it so heavily but I've built it as a present for my brother who is a bag of spanners when it comes to looking after a bike so it's a modern build that the LBS will be able to service for him. It's Ultegra 6600 mostly NOS expect for an older Dura-Ace 7700 chainset to save a bit of money.
The full bike weighs in at 9.5 kg so a bit less than the 1983 models, mainly down the the carbon fork.
