Late-'70s vintage wafters - Raleigh Routier and export-spec Superbe..

[wafter]

Some months ago I fell in love with this seemingly Dutch-spec, Swiss-located Raleigh Superbe on ebay:

It's utterly silly money, but then IMO an absolutely beautiful bike for a man of a certain age to waft around town in a tweed jacket..

It seems that Raleigh have released a lot of bikes under the Superbe name over the years; with apparently the best ones being the higher-spec, better quality items intended for the more descerning Dutch market; where bikes of this spec were still valued and used daily, compared to over here where the utility bike continued to die and everyone wanted trendy, sporty offerings... with the Superbe being more of a niche novelty rather than a serious workhorse.



Following from that, I recently noticed this Raleigh Routier for sale on FB Muppetplace:

Being only familiar with the Routier name as applied to the low-end / pseudo-touring town bikes of the late '80s (as per my own resurrected stolen/recovered utility hack) , I was intrigued to see it used on something more wafty..


Granted the Routier is different to the dutch-spec Superbe above, but not massively-so and on passing inspection looks remarkably similar; with the lockable fork, chain case, skirt guard, hub gears, heavily sprung Brookes saddle, dynamo, front hub-brake and swept-back bars with turd-brown grips.

Can anyone shed any light on Raleigh's glorious old town bikes please?

 

[midlife]

That Routier has a Tru-Wel frame with the usual Crespera Lugs / warpower seat stays so is a Carlton in Raleigh Clothing. Forks are 100% Raleigh with lock...

I don't remember then at all so quite possibly a bike for the non-UK market.

 

[raleighnut]

Nice

 

[wafter]

That Routier has a Tru-Wel frame with the usual Crespera Lugs / warpower seat stays so is a Carlton in Raleigh Clothing. Forks are 100% Raleigh with lock...

I don't remember then at all so quite possibly a bike for the non-UK market.

Thanks - not familiar with either of them tbh; although the tube spec seems budget and the link with Carlton somewhat suspicious since IIRC they didn't make anything much in the way of town bikes. So are we thinking it's a pretty generic gaspipe frame with appropriate bits to give a town bike aesthetic / functionality?

All that said I guess mass and springyness aren't high on the agenda of those seeking a traditional town bike, so maybe the tubing's less siginificant than I'm suggesting..

 

[raleighnut]

Thanks - not familiar with either of them tbh; although the tube spec seems budget and the link with Carlton somewhat suspicious since IIRC they didn't make anything much in the way of town bikes. So are we thinking it's a pretty generic gaspipe frame with appropriate bits to give a town bike aesthetic / functionality?

All that said I guess mass and springyness aren't high on the agenda of those seeking a traditional town bike, so maybe the tubing's less siginificant than I'm suggesting..

This is summat that gets to me, The term 'gaspipe' has been totally turned on it's head, Originally bike frames were advertised as made with 'Best Quality Gas Specification tubing' which was a mark of quality as the best tubing.
BTW Carlton frames in 'Truwell' tubing ride lovely (had one myself for 40 years) but the Carlton framed one may well be a resprayed 'bitsa' converting a low range Carlton 'Clubman' like mine with Raleigh parts to be a 'Dutch' bike but really there is something about those Carlton frames, a kind of loping smooth ride quality......................really they were an Audax bike before the term was invented, a ride all day kind of bike

 

[wafter]

This is summat that gets to me, The term 'gaspipe' has been totally turned on it's head, Originally bike frames were advertised as made with 'Best Quality Gas Specification tubing' which was a mark of quality as the best tubing.
BTW Carlton frames in 'Truwell' tubing ride lovely (had one myself for 40 years) but the Carlton framed one may well be a resprayed 'bitsa' converting a low range Carlton 'Clubman' like mine with Raleigh parts to be a 'Dutch' bike but really there is something about those Carlton frames, a kind of loping smooth ride quality......................really they were an Audax bike before the term was invented, a ride all day kind of bike

lol - didn't know that; always thought it was a flippant derogatory term for generic thick, heavy tubing.

Would love to try one of these out