Bert Ooesterbosh was Raleigh's time trial specialist and leadout man. He was the only Raleigh team rider to experiment with the latest Aero ideas... :shock:
This is Bert leading out the 1980 Tour de France team time trial..
There are some interesting braze-on changes made to Bert's 'Aero' machine. The rear brake cable is running through 'Divers Helmets' along the top tube. There are no gear lever boss's on the down tube with the bar- end shifter cables running through the handlebars and then they appear to run underneath the top tube, where next is hard to see..??
Back at the end of summer me and a couple of mates loaded the van with Retro Raleigh's, camping gear & beer heading off for the Retro Raleigh & Chopper Show at Billing Aquadrome and Water Park Northampton. The show luckily went ahead right at the end of the easeing of the lockdown and a great time was had by all. There was plenty of displayed bikes, stalls selling vintage parts, a bike auction, ride outs and show & shine competitions all with a really laid back and friendly atmosphere... everybody passionate about every type of Raleigh imaginable.
I was amazed at how many variations of the Chopper were built for different markets with some very rare versions... my favourite the Chopper Spirit with it's drop bars and skinny front wheel...proper aero..
One of the highlights of the Retro Raleigh and Chopper show was the Saturday afternoon 'Show & Shine' with two separate events. First up was the Choppers with various classes for the different Mk's followed on by the Retro Raleigh's and their various classes...never entered a bike into any competitions before so thought why not give it a go. On paying my entry fee for the road bike class my SBDU 753 Aero was parked into the arena to be judged. The judges did their rounds accessing all the beautifully presented machines and the runners up anounced, then to my shock and suprise my name came over the tanoy..Best Road Bike..☺
Something I picked up at the show was this little SBDU Professional Team Burner BMX frame... It's super light for a BMX frame.
One of just only five ever made by the SBDU so it's also super rare. Like my 753 Aero it has underslung top tube cable guides which first made an appearance on the team riders frames for the 82 season. Another neat touch is the addition of the SBDU signiture capped seat stays..
Hope theres another show this year
Over on a FB group page a couple of these showed up from their original owners , Holy grails in the Burner world
Heres some of the comments and the frames -
They were made to order at the SBDU (Specialist Bicycle Development Unit) which was based on Bath Street in ilkeston , just outside Nottingham.
These bikes were Available to the public .. they were hand made by Gerald in the bespoke plant in Ilkeston beautiful frame sets few team riders raced them they were two small for Me when I rode for Raleigh... lovey bit of History ... me personally would use what you have a lightly restore.. good luck with your project be lovely to see when you’ve finished it
This one is pretty Cool -
Here’s my sbdu Raleigh that was built for me just in the process of rebuilding it once I find all the original bits that I have scattered around
Cheers Scooter, thanks for sharing all the information you have about these beautiful little SBDU frames..
I find it really interesting that each of the frames are slightly different...the gold one with capped seat stays...the chrome catalogue frame looks to be the same as the half built chrome bike with a ribbed seat stay cap as seen on early SBDU frames...the gold one with an extension of the top tube with seat stays attached underneath... and the 2nd prize frame looks very similar to the gold one though the seat tube and clamp doesn't extend quite as much. Thanks again for sharing your information, do you think this is the four out of the five that exist ?..I wonder what the number five looks like..
Looking again at the two chrome frames with ribbed seat stays they are both different with the one in the catalogue having an extension to the seat tube... this is the five frames, each one slightly different.
Frame (frame & forks). Raleigh SBDU Dynaflite Fastback Special
Tubing:. Reynolds 753 Aero
Lugs: Yep
Size: 57 cm stamped on BB shell
Frame Without Forks Weight: 1700g
Forks Weight: 620g
Headset: Campagnolo Super Record
Stem: Cinelli XA 110mm
Handlebars: Cinelli Giro D'Italia 64-40
Bar Tape: fizik Superlight perforated with Velox end plugs
Brakes: Campagnolo Chorus 1st generation calipers with C-Record levers
Gear levers: Simplex Retrofriction with slotted levers
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record with Titanium bolts no patent number
Cranks: Mavic 630 170mm
Chainrings: Mavic 630 52-42
Bottom Bracket: FT Bologna Titanium with red, blue and black anodised cups & rings with Campagnolo bolts
Pedals: Campagnolo Super Record Piste with Titanium spindles
Toeclips: Christophe Z Alloy with Titanium bolts
Straps: Christophe leather with REG pulls
Freewheel: Maillard 700 Compact 6 speed 13-18
Chain: KMC SL Gold
Rims: Wolber Profile 18 Aero
Hubs: Campagnolo Super Record small flange
Tubulars: Vittoria Competition Rally 21
Nipples: Pert
Spokes: Shiny
Saddle: San Marco Rolls
Seatpost: Campagnolo Super Record 27mm
Seat Bolt: Titanium
... me personally would use what you have a lightly restore.. good luck with your project be lovely to see when you’ve finished it
