Raleigh 531 Veloce or Falcon 653 Late edition

[mikerich]

I just purchased a 'Raleigh' frame off ebay painted up in Castorama colours but sold as an 80s Veloce.

It certainly isn't a Veloce and having looked at some of the posts on here i'm now thinking that it's probably a Falcon not a Raleigh. I suspected this when I bought it but liked the look of it anyway...

It looks very similar to the post with a Falcon PMS picture. What should I look for to work out what it is?

I'm keen to get it back to it's original colour scheme or the old Falcon Blue. Under the very poor white paint job it has some black paint on the bottom bracket shell.

What looks like bad frame building in places is actually congealed paint, it is actually very well built. Thanks for any assistance!

Also include some pictures of what I think it may be or have been originally...

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Frame number on bottom bracket?

 

[mikerich]

Difficult to read atm but i think it's 907423, nothing on the fork steerer.

Found something very close but mine has a different chainstay bracket. Front forks and the pump 'nib' look the same.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

No W prefix or SB? If not, its not a Raleigh. Top eyes look wrong for Raleigh too.

 

[mikerich]

No W prefix or SB? If not, its not a Raleigh. Top eyes look wrong for Raleigh too.

No just a number and I can confirm the number as 907423. I also cleaned off the rear drop outs and they are the Gipemme forged short variety.

 

[mikerich]

No W prefix or SB? If not, its not a Raleigh. Top eyes look wrong for Raleigh too.

No just a number and I can confirm the number as 907423. I also cleaned off the rear drop outs and they are the Gipemme of forged short variety.

My current inclination is to go with a light blue frame with the possibility for the headtube having a red insert like the old Falcon team colours.

The group set I have for it isn't quite period as it is Campagnolo with Ergo 9 speed shifters, but at least this means I will ride it! I have rebuilt the wheels with the original Campy hubs to use Mavic clincher rims instead of tubs, but with tan side wall tyres it is a case of spot the difference. I used Sapim double butted race spokes... there is something about the aesthetic of a shiny aluminium wheelset with silver spokes and nipples that surpasses all the modern black and grey carbon!

If anyone thinks I should go with the original black and gold let me know. All a bit F1 JPS for me...

This will be a light bike for the vintage for sure. Pics to follow but it may be some time.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Ride and enjoy. I do like a JPS scheme