One clarification - The Mototbecane Grand record was definately available in silver with black. My 1974 brochure lists black/red or silver/black as the colors available and I also recall that Sheldon Brown had an article on his site with a picture of a large framed silver one which he purchased at a tag sale. A local bike shop owner also uses his silver/black 70's Grand Record, with fenders etc. as his daily winter bike.
Final note - Recycles Cycles - has a NOS Raleigh Pro fork (in mink blue) for sale. It would need a repaint to match but would complete your frameset.
Enjoy your new find,
Eric Elman
> Just one correction - I think. All the Motobecane Grand Records I have
seen,
> including mine, have black forks with a red epaulet and gold lining. The
> silver/black/gold color scheme appeared on the Grand Jubilee, but I'm not
sure
> whether the Grand Jubilee had 531 forks (may have been only main tubes).
If the
> GJ didn't have Reynolds forks, you may have a fork from a LeChampion,
which very
> definitely was 531. I have a LeChampion frame and fork with exactly that
color
> scheme. Of course, I was surprised last year to find a LeChampion in the
Grand
> Record black/red/gold scheme, so who knows, maybe there are Grand Records
out
> there in the colors typically used on Grand Jubilee.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
>
> Mark Bulgier wrote:
>
> > I bought a '74 or so Raleigh Pro frame and fork - or is it? Those who
want
> > to see the picture before you hear the answer to the mystery, go to
> > http://bulgier.net/
> > with this picture?"
> >
> > I'm a bit embarrassed that I didn't spot it in the store, but y'all will
> > surely remember that Raleigh Pro frames of that vintage have
> > internally-lugged fully-sloping crowns. I didn't notice the wrong crown
> > 'til I got it home - then I quickly noticed the Reynolds fork decal was
in
> > French - then I noticed that dumb oversized, swaged-down steerer that
came
> > on Motobecane Gran Records of the same era.
> >
> > In my defense, the color match is uncanny. Silver metallic with black
> > accents and gold pinstriping, chrome dropouts and halfway up the
blades -
> > and an externally lugged crown, which in a way matches the frame better
than
> > the original did. This is the original paint on both the frame and the
> > fork; neither is resprayed to match the other. Motobecane and Raleigh
just
> > used the exact same color scheme!
> >
> > I got the F/F so cheaply that I'm not going to return it. I had a
French
> > stem and NR headset so I'll just put it together and ride it, and see if
> > anyone spots the mismatch.
> >
> > Cutting the crown race seat to Campy dimension was made more difficult
by
> > aforementioned stupid swaged steerer. It's bigger than 1", so the pilot
on
> > Campy-style crown race mills (incl VAR, Park, etc) won't fit over it.
Of
> > course it's 25.0mm where it's threaded, and where it's inserted into the
> > crown, the only places a fork might break, so the larger diameter part
in
> > the middle is just extra weight. The bottom isn't even butted; rather
> > there's a cheezy extra piece of metal rammed up in there, which isn't
even a
> > tube - it's a "C"-shaped piece of bent-around sheetmetal that doesn't
even
> > reach all the way around to make an "O". I wonder how they justified
> > putting the all Reynolds 531 decals on those Grand Records and Jubilees,
> > with the obviously inferior steerer?
> >
> > As I said though, I'll just ride it anyway. I rode across the continent
> > fully loaded in '76 on a '74 Grand Record, and lots of people have
ridden
> > them many miles without braking the steerer; but I needed to vent.
There, I
> > feel better now.
> >
> > Mark Bulgier