1973 Raleigh International.

[rickpaulos]

My 1973 Raleigh International.

bought it new in 1974, left over stock from the previous season. The only bike of 300 that didn't sell in 1973.  The lbs owner made me a deal and told me to get rid of that Schwinn I was riding to work.  Kinda like driving a Toyota to work at a Detroit auto factory.
Numerous parts upgrades since:
clincher wheels (27") instead of the stock sewups. Traded in at purchase.
Campagnolo Record brakes to replace the stock Weinman center pulls.
Raleigh branded bars & stem from 1990s era.
Raleigh heron logo imprinted bar wrap
Brooks Cambium saddle. (I gave up on the Pro & B17 models decades ago).
Spuds for Ragbrai.

In 1974, I rode it on SAGBRAI, Second Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, aka RAGBRAI 2. Council Bluffs to Dubuque. One of my friends was giving me $hit for having a beer in Dubuque because I was under age.  And then rode it home to Davenport with the local bike club that made all our travel arrangements to Council Bluffs but not back home. The "leader" didn't have a map so we rode the river road all the way home, a good 30 miles longer than needed.

50 years later I rode in on Ragbrai 51 in 2024.

I probably put 10,000 miles on it in 1974 & 1975 but only about 50 miles since.  500 this year.  I went from a Varsity to this International to a Masi Gran Criterium in 3 years. Oh, and a few hundred bikes since.

[FICHT150]

I believe I have met that bike.

My 1974 was the same color when I got the frame and fork, but, little else. The brakes were there. That was it.

Good to see you posting, Ric.

Ted

[JeffC]

Nice looking bike. Raleigh made some very nice frames but sometimes I wonder who was choosing some of the components they attached to them. I just got done rehabbing a '78 Raleigh Super Grand Prix. They made a big deal about having 700c wheels but it turns out they didn't have hooked bead seats, they were straight wall. It also came stock with Sun Tour Barcons and I found they work great with the modern compressionless linear shift cables.

[rickpaulos]

I worked in a Raleigh dealer 72 to 84. Well it was mainly Raleighs, plus 30 other brands, until the Huffy licensing deal in 1978 or so. 

The Super Grand Prix was the same frame as the Gran(d) Prix but with more aluminum parts.  Aluminum rims vs steel, aluminum cotterless crank vs cottered steel, etc.  And the barcons.  And different color schemes.

The Gran(d) Prix was by far the best selling Raleigh.  Noticeably better than the entry level Record.  They were making them in I think 7 factories around the world at the same time.  All were supposed to be identical but we could tell them apart. The Nottingham bikes had the Made in England decal and Nottingham across the bottom of the head badge. The rest didn't have Nottingham on them. The finish on the Nottingham bikes were a little better.  Some had decals that were Grand Prix vs Gran Prix on others.

I bought a new Mixti Gran Prix for my mom in 1975 and she is still riding it. It's had a few upgrades like alloy wheels and a crank with lower gears.  Most of the paint is gone.  I bought 3 new Peugeot UO8 Mixtis for my 3 oldest sisters. Oh la la.  None of those lasted more than few years.  Another testament to the long life of English bikes.  We see that over and over with the old English Racer 3 speeds. Pull one out of the shed or garage after it's been sitting for decades, pump up the tires, a few drops of oil in the hub and it's ready to go.

In the early 1970s the majority of 10 speed bikes came with Simplex derailleurs and cottered cranks.  Then the Japanese started making Suntour derailleurs and SR cranks.  Most manufacturers switched to Japanese parts by 1975. Even the big 3 French bike companies gave up on Simplex, Mafac brakes and cottered cranks and went with Japanese parts.


I spent a few hours last night trying to id a Cannondale.  Over 100 variants of one model in just 5 years. Modern bike companies have gone overboard trying to cover every possible want in their product lines.  500 to 1000 models in their catalogs.  In the 1970s, Raleigh was out selling them today with just seven 10-speed models.  Pro, International, Competition, Gran Sport, Super Course, Grand Prix and Record with a few variants added in during the bike boom.  When you don't have to set up a factory and a production line for each model, it's far easier to email specs to some anonymous factory on the other side of the world. 

[JeffC]

I have to take some pictures of my newly refurbished Raleighs. I have a '73 Super Course, and the '78 Super Grand Prix. I ditched the cottered crank on the Super Course for a Sugino crank and used 80's Suntour SVX derailleurs.