Raleigh Royal vs Randonneur later '80s early '90s

[Mark Manley]

I am considering a Raleigh touring bike from the late 1980s early 1990s and was wondering if there is any difference between the Royal and Randonneur frames? I have found a photo the 1988 brochure for the two and there appears to be a difference in components with the Randonneur having a higher spec parts but the frames appear to be the same, can anyone confirm this?
Am I right in thinking these bikes were Raleigh's answer to the Dawes Galaxy? Which would be another contender but for brand loyalty.

 

[pigman]

I'm not sure about the difference in frames between randoneur and royal, but I always preferred the look of the Raleighs to the Dawes galaxy/super galaxy.

Also consider the British eagle touristique which is a great bike that never had the love it deserved and so, can be good value.

And not forgetting Orbit and Ridgeback, both of which knocked out decent tourers in smaller numbers, hence there's not that many out there

 

[Mark Manley]

I'm not sure about the difference in frames between randoneur and royal, but I always preferred the look of the Raleighs to the Dawes galaxy/super galaxy.

Also consider the British eagle touristique which is a great bike that never had the love it deserved and so, can be good value.

And not forgetting Orbit and Ridgeback, both of which knocked out decent tourers in smaller numbers, hence there's not that many out there

Thanks for that, I looked up the British Eagle but it does not have the front pannier mounts or second water bottle carrier, I might also have answered my own question with the geometry for the two having been posted up elswhere on here, it looks like they are the same but the Touriste is slightly different, any other information gratefully recieved.

 

[Biospace]

I happen to have a Randonneur, Touristique, late 80s Super Galaxy and 70s Galaxy at the moment, one if not two will be sold at some point.

The Touristique is by far the most fun to ride, it's a really characterful machine which never fails to bring a smile to your face. Laden and unladen, it rides quite superbly although it's possible I've a natural bias having grown up riding Clements geometry frames over tens of thousands of miles. About the only criticism I can muster is of its paint which isn't quite as durable as the others.

The Super Galaxy feels the least well put-together of the four with steering which sometimes brings people to criticise, however it's a fine ride. Its older stablemate has a very different character with plain gauge 531 (three main tubes only) but is more satisfying and feels superbly constructed, this is the bike which explains the iconic status of the Galaxy. It feels like it'd survive anything.

I've yet to ride the Raleigh far but it rides like any classic Raleigh, with the sort of qualities which were defined by men who used their bike to commute in all weather, rode out on weekends then took their holidays on two wheels. There were some Royals which used very similar frames.

 

[vcballbat]

The Reynolds 708 tubed versions share the same frame with the Randonneur being the high specification model.. not sure what year this catalogue is though...?

Thread 'Raleigh randonneur, royal and touriste catalogue' https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/raleigh-randonneur-royal-and-touriste-catalogue.414645/

 

[bluenick62]

This is a while ago...but anyway...I have both a Royal and Randonneur and love both. They are the same frame in the Reynolds 531ST versions except the Randonneur has a spare spoke carrier braze-on on the chainstay. When new the Randonneur had the higher spec components. I've departed from the original spec - put straight bars on them, used Shimano XT Rd-M735 thumbshifters and mech (which is an MTB classic in itself from 1990) and then Stronglight 107 chainsets with Open Pro/Shimano 105 hubs. And they are so effing great....loaded or unloaded. I used them to commute. King o' the road...