Re: [CR] Intro & comp GS country of manufacture question

(Example: History:Norris Lockley)

From: "Tim Fricker" <tymncycle@gmail.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:08:50 -0500
Subject: Re: [CR] Intro & comp GS country of manufacture question


I'll jump in here...

I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but I have owned at least my share of Japanese built bikes, including a World Voyageur for a short while. And in terms of overall build quality and consistency, they generally were very good. Even the most basic bikes tended have better quality control than similarly priced Raleighs or Peugeots of the era.

Having owned both a 73 World Voyageur and a 73 P15 Paramount, I don't know that there was much to worry about as far as the former making the latter look bad, but it's possible, even likely, that folks looking at "bang for the buck" would choose the $275 WV over the $450 Paramount. The build quality of the WV wasn't on par with the Paramount, but it was certainly good enough, and better than many bikes of that era.

As for the Competition GS (etc), I've found it fascinating to learn about the Japanese built versions. I really wasn't that aware of those, since my interest in Raleighs faded about the time manufacture shifted East. But I was long a fan of the Competition series... it was one of the very first bikes I admired in catalogs and showrooms and dreamt of one day owning. I remember as far back as the '73 version, the Mark II, which I believe was the beginning of black Competitions in the US. Those had mostly French parts, with TA three pin cranks and Huret Jubilee derailleurs. The interesting thing for me is that they "officially" had Capella lugs, but I've seen them with several other types of lugs as well.. my '73 has Nervex Pro lugs, in fact. Anyway, the black motif, as I recall, was carried on into the late 70s, as the only available color, until the '77 intro of the GS model, which was offered in both black and silver. I don't know if they eventually dropped black as an option or not... I've seen both silver and black GS models on ebay and elsewhere. I always liked the GS for the simpler lines and Campy bits, but the Mark II will always be my favorite variant. I bought a used one in high school, and loved it, even though it was too small for me. I ended up selling it because of that, but always hoped I'd get my hands on another in my size. A couple of years ago, I did, and it's now a happy part of my little squadron, one of four old Raleighs I'm very happy to have.

Now if I could just get my hands on an International for a song! :-)

Tim Fricker Vienna, VA USA

Re: [CR] Intro & comp GS country of manufacture question

Yeah, Japanese frames are really underrated. Their quality control was much better than English Raleighs, not that that was difficult. And the Japanese Schwinns, including World Voyageur and Volare are cleaner than US-made Schwinns at similar price points. The rumor has long been that Schwinn killed the World Voyageur (or actually renamed it and downgraded the components) after only one year because it was a threat to touring Paramount sales. They may not have had as many full custom builders as Italy, but Japan has had a few with 3Rensho, Zunow, Toei, Cherubim, Nagasawa and others. Maybe the only valid criticism one might make of Japanese frames is that they followed design patterns previously established by European builders and maybe weren't all that innovative in terms of major design elements. But Raleigh quality certainly did not suffer from being made in Japan.

BTW, I think it was mentioned that the Campetition GS that started this thread is black. Weren't the blacks one made in the first couple of years, with the color later changing to silver?

Regards,

Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA