So how many different types of bikes did Raleigh badge as Gran(d) Sport? I 'm really not a Raleigh aficionado/expert of any degree at all, but I have a very strong recollection of a Raleigh Gran(d) Sport that was on display i n my local bike shop, circa 1968. (I will not bore you with the details of why I remember the bike so distinctly.)
Perhaps I have the model wrong, but I really think that is not the case. A nyway, this Raleigh used Reynolds tubing and was painted a dark shade of fl amboyant blue. The derailleurs were Campagnolo Gran Sport; the bike came e quipped with fenders (or should I say mudguards?) and a large Brooks saddle bag.
Does anyone else recall this version of the Raleigh Gran(d) Sport, or do I
have the model name wrong?
Cheers,
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)
> That is indeed Lagoon Blue or Laguna Blue, and is more
> associated with Carl
> ton than Raleigh. Raleigh built a Carlton version of the
> Raleigh Profess
> ional and sponsored a Carlton team that was suppiled with
> Carlton Pros in t
> he Lagoon Blue and White scheme.
>
> The Gran Sport is an unusual bike. It was (at least in
> that era) 531 DB
> throughout, probably one of the least expensive bikes ever
> to use that top
> quality tubeset. I'm not sure whether it was built at
> Nottingham or Work
> sup. The early/mid 70's Gran Sports used a different
> serial number code
> from the rest of the Raleigh lightweights. Also, the
> spelling of the mod
> el name varied from year to year. Some are marked
> "Gran Sport", other "G
> ran Sports" and some may have even been
> "Grand" rather than "Gran".
>
> OE would have been a long cage Simplex Criterium RD and
> pushrod FD with pla
> stic Prestige DT shifters. Actually the plastic Criterium
> derailleurs were
> very good, although they got a bad reputation due to
> resembling the much w
> orst plastic Prestige model. But the plastic Simplex
> Prestige DT shifters
> were absolute crap. So the VGT with SunTour levers you are
> contemplating w
> ound up on probably as many 70's Gran Sports as the OE
> did. I have a circa
> 1970 Gran Sports with exactly that setup.
>
> For a long time the the Gran Sport didn't get any
> respect, as it was well b
> elow the top of the line despite being 531 DB throughout.
> For years you co
> uld scarcely give them away. But lately, they seem to have
> gained some pop
> ularity, especially the mostly blue with white panels,
> which is rarer than
> white with blue panels. I got my mostly white circa 1970
> Grand Sports dirt
> cheap, but actually had to pay something resembling a fair
> price for a mos
> tly blue circa 1974 one a few months ago.
>
> Merry Christmas,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Big Spring, Texas, USA
>
>
>
> --- On Thu, 12/25/08, Rich Pinder <rpinder@usc.edu>
> wrote:
>
> From: Rich Pinder <rpinder@usc.edu>
> Subject: [CR]My mid 70's Gran Sport
> To: "classic"
> <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Date: Thursday, December 25, 2008, 1:56 PM
>
> I'm on a tear here, with mid level bikes! This one
> is a Gran Sport,
> the model DL 160 I think. I rescued it because I liked the
> color.
> Someone said it is 'Periwinkle' blue ? But I
> found up on Sheldons
> site the catalog picture (linked on my page - click the
> Heron logo)
> calls a reverse imaged scheme 'Lagoon Blue /
> White'.
>
> In addition to being totally gucked up with years of grime,
> this bike
> came with an assortment of broken, plastic, simplex
> shifters and
> derailleurs. In another fit of Irreverance, I opted for a
> VGT and some
> allow suntour levers. (hey, I figured it was like droppin
> a 283 in an
> early Jaguar - no harm, no foul ??). I took it for a
> Christmas Eve ride
> - LOVE the ride. From the catalog: "...a more
> comfortable yet
> efficient riding position than an all out racing
> bike..." - So that
> translates into what... a 2 degree difference in the
> head/seat tube
> angles ??
>
> Seat tube has the 'Carlton' decal, and the
> heronHeadbadge says
> 'Nottingham'. Hmmm. Do I recall someone saying
> all the 531 frames
> were
> done at Carlton (the Worksop shop) ??
>
> The seat is one worn Brooks... with a swap out, I think
> this bike will
> see a LOT of riding !!
>
> Pics at: http://www-hsc.usc.edu/
> > I came up with a plan - I'm working on my
> "Twelve Days of
> Bicycle
> > Christmas". Do any of you have those bike
> projects, that are JUST
> > about completed.... or you've got the bike
> riding, but SOMETHING is
> > not quite right ? We'll, my goal in this two
> week vacation is to
> > work on, and complete, TWELVE of these things (above
> Trek is one
> > !).... It'll be a GREAT feeling if I pull it
> off.
> Rich Pinder
> Van Nuys, CA