Raleigh rsp500 full sus

Might be good with a Z1, but I must say I could never work out why they decided that the attributes of 853 suited the requirements for a full-suspension frame.

What did you make of this titanium hardtail RSP John?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0660005748
He says early 90s, but I thought E-fit fms only came out in 97 or so.

It went slightly higher than I expected. I would have bid if it had been cheaper. Still, why an RSP ti frame is only worth half what a Hei Hei is worth I really can't see. We're not very patriotic in this country, are we?
 
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Anthony":pdfgbfv5 said:
He says early 90s, but I thought E-fit fms only came out in 97 or so.

I agree it must be at least 97 to have the E fitment. Most 97's I've seen have a canti stop too though, so my guess is this is >98..

Anthony":pdfgbfv5 said:
We're not very patriotic in this country, are we?

I thought I was being quite patriotic bidding that much! ;)
 
Funnily enough, he has just replied to the questions I had asked him. They do say better late than never, but in this case there's not a lot in it.

He says the frame weighs 1585g, or 3.5lbs, which is right on the money. He also says that the forks were original to the frame, and as they are 42.5cm a-c that adds to the perception that it must be a late 90s frame. It suggests that it will very comfortably take an 80mm suspension fork. I had it in mind that the style of the Raleigh decal might suggest 97/8 rather than later, but I can't claim to be any kind of expert.

If you bought it, well done, I'd say you scored a very good frame for a very reasonable price. Fundamentally it 'should' have a higher market value IMO, as £255 isn't much for a good ti frame. And fundamentally I don't see why a Hei Hei sold in Britain should be worth more than it, but they never raise less than £500.
 
I'm by no means an expert either as my knowledge is based purely on what I can remember of them in the 90's (hazy at best) and from what I've learned in the past week researching this frame. I agree with all your points, if I had to take a guess at the age I'd say 98. Hopefully I'll find out more when it arrives and I get the serial number.

These seem to have a rep for cracking and that's maybe what keeps the price down. I'm pretty cool with that though as a lot of bikes crack and it's only ever the ones that do that you hear about, not the ones that don't. It seems most go around the seat tube/top tube/stay junction. I feel this may have a something to do with the fairly rare post size of 30.0 and people running shimmed posts, exposing the junction to higher stresses. Here's hoping anyway! :?

It looks to be in great condition though and I'm stoked to win it! just can't wait to get it here! I'm planning a patriotic build too! ;)
 
from what ive seen raleigh ti frames go for 200 to 250 all day long.
at the time they were touted at 'affordable' ti frames cos they used the newly liberated russian titanium, which people were sceptical of quality wise. seeing a number of torus's with cracked and rewelded tubes makes me wonder. weights are usually around 1600 to 1650, so poss this one is different.
also on the patriotic theme, the price of ti saracen kili's is failry constant around 200 to 250 also - about as cheap as ti gets. built for strength tho, around 1700g usually. pretty rare tho :(
the khs ti lite i have cost me 200, which i think was about right, weighs 1440g, about same as a hei hei? but ultimatley you are paying for the name arnt you?
the low end airbournes and litespeeds usualy start at about 350. after that i dont pay much attention, out of my range.
i read somewhere that the plain guage tubes they all use wernt made for bikes at all, but for the hydraulic pipes on jet planes. cool
 
W W Biffta":35tl6z5y said:
i read somewhere that the plain guage tubes they all use wernt made for bikes at all, but for the hydraulic pipes on jet planes. cool
Nevertheless, plain-gauge ti is arguably better for mtb purposes than butted ti. Even with plain-gauge ti, you can build a frame that is too flexy even though it is strong enough not to break - so you don't really need it even flexier.

Whereas the limiting factor for aluminium is the reverse - as you build an aluminium frame lighter, it will become too weak for mtb before it becomes flexy.
 
unfortunily came at wrong time for me as have no money :cry: as i would have bidded as then have rsp250 and never seen a 500
 
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