CommanderChuff
Devout Dirtbag
This story starts with my first new bike back in the 1980's which was a Raleigh Dyna Tech Titanium mountain bike. It was a revelation for my cycling club and for my riding as it was just so light in comparison with other MTB's and it was a joy to ride. I used it for rough trail riding, road riding, triathlon, and general use. With that very pleasant experience in mind this frame was purchased from Brick Lane as a NOS with the aim of reusing the 105 gear from my Condor which was upgraded to Ultegra to ride in the Ride Prudential London earlier this year. The frame seems to be a team bike with the name of Neil O'Brien on the top tube. From other threads on this forum it appears that a number of frames were made for Sampsons of the USA but were not delivered to that shop. And that Sheffield cycles took them in. At this moment I am working on the assumption that a Raleigh racing team was formed in the 1999/2000 period, possibly by Sheffield Cycles, using the titanium frames. Although Sheffield Cycles has not yet responded to my recent enquiry to confirm this.
However, the old 105 gear was looking a bit rough after 6,000 miles of commuting over the last few years so the original plan was binned and a Dura Ace set from the same era was brought off ebay. The new plan was to make a properly retro bike in homage to and inspired by the wonderful machines that I seen on this forum. And as I already had an similar aged titanium bike with new Campy gear it would be duplication to add another.
The frame has been built up by my LBS using Dura Ace components and the results has exceeded all of my expectations.
David,
2013 Condor Fratello Ultegra
2000 Raleigh Team Titanium Dura Ace
1997 Colnago Oval Titianio Art Deco Chorus
1969 Holdsworth Professional Record.
However, the old 105 gear was looking a bit rough after 6,000 miles of commuting over the last few years so the original plan was binned and a Dura Ace set from the same era was brought off ebay. The new plan was to make a properly retro bike in homage to and inspired by the wonderful machines that I seen on this forum. And as I already had an similar aged titanium bike with new Campy gear it would be duplication to add another.
The frame has been built up by my LBS using Dura Ace components and the results has exceeded all of my expectations.
David,
2013 Condor Fratello Ultegra
2000 Raleigh Team Titanium Dura Ace
1997 Colnago Oval Titianio Art Deco Chorus
1969 Holdsworth Professional Record.
