Welcome, Patrick, that Raleigh looks pretty darn nice to me. I presume this was one of the Huffy-made Raleigh USA models. They really did make some nice bikes, even several models down from the top. This Grand Prix with 531 DB maintubes is an infinitely nicer bike than an English made gaspipe Grand Prix I bought my wife in the 70's. The Raleigh USA era is not much discussed or understood, mostly because most or all of it is outside the CR timeline, but I think most of these bikes would qualify as KOF - Keepers of the Flame. I'd personally like to hear a lot more about Raleigh USA and their models, of which I believe the vast majority were lugged steel and therefore appropriate to discuss despite being beyond 1983. It seems that with Raleigh USA and supplying bikes to 7-11 and USA national and Olympic teams, Huffy finally achieved the status of a producer, or in the case of the team bikes, at least the provider, of quality lightweights, which evidently had long been the aspiration of the Huffman family. I really don't know what happened to end all that, as after a few years they evidently just chucked it all and returned to making the same uninteresting stuff they had done before. No doubt several people here know that story, and I personally think it would be worth hearig.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, Texas, USA
Patrick Doody <patrick.doody@gmail.com> wrote:
Hey Steve,
Nice to meet you. I guess I'll piggyback on your email, because I am
also new to the list. and while I don't own anything super old and cool, I
do have what I consider a pretty nice mid 80's Raleigh(not top of the line
by any means but nice).
http://www.flickr.com/
I am also working on a old Mercier Mixte for my wife, nothing high end, but it's a cheap thrill. I'm 33 years old, and last year got back into biking. With the late, great Sheldon Brown's help I was able to learn a bit about how bikes work and how to keep them working. anyways, This is a really cool group of people, and hopefully I can contribute in some small way.
Thanks!
Patrick Doody
St. Paul, MN