Raleigh Classic and Raleigh Nitro

[Claireysmurf]

I have just been to a cycle project's monthly recycled bike sale and noticed that they have a 1980s Raleigh Classic for sale for £150. The bike has long mudguards and Blackburn racks front and rear.
It seems to have new tyres, chain, cables. Paintwork was nice enough but plenty of scratches etc.

I felt a little underwhelmed by it in spite of its 531 frame etc. I am home now but will I regret passing the opportunity up?

They also have a couple of Raleigh Nitro bikes for £50 or £60 each. These would do well for me as a pub/city centre bike.

Any thoughts? They still sell bikes in the week if they are unsold from the monthly sale

[Claireysmurf]

I should probably add that I have a Dawes Clubman and an MTB already...

[Swallow]

The Clubman was an excellent bike in it's day but unless you have a great desire to restore an old bike I wouldn't bother. Nothing is insurmountable but there will be problems, wheels will be 27" limiting tyre choice, you can easily spend a lot of money on transmission if cassette and chainrings are worn. That's not to say old bikes aren't worth restoring, I have a twenty year old Raleigh Randonneur that I can't ever imagine selling. I have upgraded it over the years but I've kept all the original parts so that I could bring it back to original spec one day

[Claireysmurf]

My Dawes Clubman is a 2011 model http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Dawes-Clubman-2 ... _43370.htm

[geomannie]

I have just been to a cycle project's monthly recycled bike sale and noticed that they have a 1980s Raleigh Classic for sale for £150. The bike has long mudguards and Blackburn racks front and rear.
It seems to have new tyres, chain, cables. Paintwork was nice enough but plenty of scratches etc.

I felt a little underwhelmed by it in spite of its 531 frame etc. I am home now but will I regret passing the opportunity up?

They also have a couple of Raleigh Nitro bikes for £50 or £60 each. These would do well for me as a pub/city centre bike.

Any thoughts? They still sell bikes in the week if they are unsold from the monthly sale

I would have been sorely tempted. I have a late 1980's Raleigh Royale which I use as my day to day run about. The frame is the same as used on the Classic and is excellent IMHO. I have kept the bike going through a complete rebuild about 6 years ago.

The Raleigh Classic was the model up from mine, the top of the range, and an expensive bike at the time (about £500 in the late 1980's). If its been recently refurbished with all the new stuff you mention, then there is not a lot to dislike. Swallow suggested that the bike may have 27" wheels. This may or may not be the case. Mine can with 700C but my wife's Classic Ladies, bought at the same time, had 27".

If you can use the bike, I would go for it.

Cheers

geomannie

[Ant]

The Raleigh Classic is a great bike, I had one for some years. I have to say that the paintwork and chromed forks ends and dropouts are one of the great things about it so if these are not in good nick then maybe give it a miss....

The racks are good quality too and the original rear mech was titanium framed on some models. Possibly has a bit of rarity appeal for someone? £150 is peanuts for a proper hand made in the UK Reynolds 531st frame. These originally had a 21 year guarantee! Considering they were designed for touring I reckon they were probably fairly well put together...

[gamgra]

A fine bike, I still have one and use it daily.
Mine is a 1984 model, the tubing, fork and stays are all 531C, it is still all original except for chain, the tires and the front rack.
As far as I know the classic came in only one colour, burgundy with a silver head.
I paid 375 pound for the bike, bought it in Wales, in Pembroke where I was living and working at that time.

Attached a link to bulgier.net
http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Raleigh84/ral84_10.jpg
http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Raleigh84/ral84_12.jpg

[GavinC]

The Raleigh Classic 15 was my dream bike as a teenager, but at £350 I couldn't afford it at the time. I ended getting one off eBay about two years ago for about £75 I think but the frame is a bit scratched and the chrome on the front forks is rusted. With a few upgrades to the transmission I rode LEJOG on it and it never skipped a beat. Its a lovely bike