Re: [CR]Original Derailleurs on a Raleigh Grand Sport(s)

(Example: Production Builders:Cinelli)

Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 13:36:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Original Derailleurs on a Raleigh Grand Sport(s)
To: John Barry <usazorro@yahoo.com>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <509110.44570.qm@web50203.mail.re2.yahoo.com>


The serial # is 265793, stamped on the outside of the left rear DO. This has nothing in common with any numbering system shown on RetroRaleighs. They do have a note there that early 70's 531DB Grand Sports did not have letters in their serial numbers, but they don't say how to decode the numbers.

While checking the number, I was reminded that this bike has Zeus DO's. I believe maybe the late 60's/ very early 70's Competition had Zeus DO's, as it had several Zeus components. The mid-70's Competition Mk II switched to to Huret DO's. So I suspect that the Zeus DO's on the Grand Sports may indicate early 70's rather than mid 70's. The 531DB throughout as indicated on the decals also seems to narrow down the age. According to the catalogs on RetroRaleighs, although Raleigh catalogs should always be viewed with some skepticism, the Grand Sport was 531 DB main tubes only in 1972, and didn't go to full 531DB throughout until 1973. Meantime, list member have reported the Grand Sport was downgraded to gaspipe tubing by 1980, and possibly as early as 1977. So the Grand Sport may have been 531DB throughout for as few as four years, 1973-1976. Given that, the 531DB frame decal on my Grand Sports may nail the year down pretty closely, as it is the old style used in the 60's and early 70's. I have I think at least three other Raleighs of various models for which the serial number indicates 1974, and they all use the more recent Reynolds Tube Co. decal. So if the Grand Sport went to full 531DB in 1973 and switched to the Reynolds Tube Co. decal in 1974 like other models, then my Grand Sports would have to be 1973. Of course this is only as certain as one can ever be when talking about Raleigh, which isn't very certain.

Regards,

Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX

John Barry <usazorro@yahoo.com> wrote: Jerry,

I know you have doubts, but what is the serial number? I believe that in some years, the Gran Sport was offered as a frameset only.

Thanks,

John Barry Mechanicsburg, PA, USA

--- Jerome & Elizabeth Moos wrote:
> Having finally completed one Raleigh project, a 1974
> Competition, I'm faced with another, a 70's Grand
> Sport(s). It is the classic white and blue paint
> scheme. This particular bike has the Grand Sports
> decal (plural), but many, probably most, are
> decaled Grand Sport (singular). The serial number
> doesn't conform to any system I've found on
> RetroRaleighs, and I'm told that Grand Sport(s) did
> not use the same numbering scheme as other 531
> Raleighs, at least not consistently. Anyone know
> the Grand Sport(s) serial # code? Does the spelling
> of the model name give any clue as to the year?
>
> So far, I'm guessing this bike is somewhere
> between 1973 and 1979. My primary question for the
> list is if the SunTour derailleurs are original. It
> has a VGT, or maybe VxGT RD with a matching SunTour
> FD and the ratcheted SunTour DT shift levers. The
> most recent catalog on RetroRaleigh to show the
> Grand Sport is 1976, which shows a long cage
> Criterium-quality Simplex plastic RD (called the
> Simplex "Maxi"), a pushrod plastic Simplex front,
> and the truly dreadful plastic Simplex Prestige DT
> shift levers. The same setup is shown in the 1973
> catalog on RetroRaleigh. A couple of Raleigh gurus
> on the list believe the derailleurs are not
> original. However, if the bike is late 70's, maybe
> 1977-1979, I think it is possible it might have come
> with SunTour, as Raleigh did use a lot of SunTour
> stuff in the late 70's, including the original
> derailleurs on a Grand Prix I bought my wife in that
> period.
>
> Anyone know of a blue and white Grand Sport(s)
> with original SunTour derailleurs?
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Big Spring, TX
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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