Re:
or
I saw this bike on ebay and figured it was a repaint because the head-tube is out of character for a carlton head tube. I have never seen a Carlton head tube with more than 1 color on it, and this bike repeats the seat-tube pattern (Orange, Black, Red) on the head tube.
I haven't seen the 1967 catalog, and I don't think there is a scanned copy anywhere online.
The paint is ratty enough to be original, and the reynolds 531 remnants look correct for a 1968 bicycle (The 'C' serial number places this as a 1968 bike, and the rear centerpull brake bridge is very much like a 1968 bike - I have the same flat bridge on my 1967 Raleigh Competition.)
The world champion decals look wrong, as Carlton was using transfers in the mid-1960's and that's not how Carlton was placing such decals in that era. They are probably covering up bad bits of paint or bondo or whatnot. I make world-champion decals for mid-1960's Carltons and I can show you what they should look like if you are interested.
Your bike has braze-ons because your bike probably came with a campagnolo front derailleur that had a built-in cable-stop. That derailleur was discontinued in 1968 or 1969, I'm not certain. So I'm afraid that your front derailleur really isn't original to the bike - it's a later derailleur. Also, a 151 bcd crank goes together with the cable-stop front derailleur, so I'm afraid that the whole drivetrain is later on your Raleigh Pro.
Having the head tube badge and the seat-tube badge mismatch suggests that the head-tube badge has been removed (and possibly lost) and then replaced. This often happens when a bike is repainted.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA