Delivered-To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 18:50:28 -0700 (PDT) From: marc garcia <marcgarcia80@ameritech.net> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org X-OriginalArrivalTime: 01 Jun 2005 01:48:14.0000 (UTC)
At 09:50 PM 5/31/2005, Marc Garcia wrote:
>thank you Larry for the welcome to the subcult of RRA.
>It is a great bike and I'm already smitten with it.
>I've ridden it almost everyday since I bought it and I
>like it more and more. I polished everything up and
>boy do those maillard 700 hubs look pretty. Thanks for
>the links, the only difference I see in my bike from
>others besides the carlton decal is the headset which
>does not appear to be a stronglight but rather a
>brampton (SP?).
Possibly erroneous memory on my part when I wrote some of that stuff for R-R. I keep forgetting about that little mistake. The bike I have now has a Brampton headset, as do most of the ones I've seen in recent years. The bike in my mind may have been just another Raleigh fluke with a Stronglight. I wouldn't have noticed the difference back then.
>. In terms of price, the original
>receipt says the owner paid 330.00 for the bike, which
>I guess was a pretty good deal!
Found my price lists last night, and the official dealer list prices for April 26, 1973 were:
Competition MK III $245
RRA $325
Int $350
Pro $460
All prices subject to change without notice. And in some cases, at the whim of the dealer. Prices for bikes and components were all going up rapidly at that time, so I'm not going to try to make anything out of the similarity in price between the RRA and the almost full Campy Int. No, that's not a typo (or I can more safely say, that's not MY typo.). Prices really were listed as $325 and $350 respectively. By April 1974, the Pro MK IV was $575, Int $425, and Competition was $290. Even higher the following year.
The entire description of the bike on the price list, the only written mention I have ever found for the RRA is as follows:
DL-190 Raleigh RRA Available in 21-1/2", 22-1/2", 23-1/2", and 24-1/2" frames with Simplex Alloy Super LJ 12 speed gear in White/Yellow combination.
Dat's all folks. Leaves a lot of room in there for component substitutions at the factory. And I have never seen, nor even talked to anybody who has actually seen a 23 1/2" or 24 1/2" RRA.
From the underground bunker that serves as 73 RRA subcult headquarters Larry "Really Really Annoying" Osborn at a secret location near Morgantown WV