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

 

[wafter]

Having revisited this rabbithole I've learned a bit more; largely thanks to the excellent Velocipedium channel on Youtube.

Model overview:




Late-Dutch-spec model overview:




... and a bit more on this model:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-bH9Oxv_Uk



If my memory serves me correctly it seems that the original-spec models ran from the late '40s to the early '70s, in various formats under a range of names including the basic "All Steel Bicycle", "Dawn Tourist", "Sports Tourist","Sports" and various model numbers.. with the Superbe being a higher-spec level of each that wasn't marked anywhere on the bike.

Apparently the Superbes were differentiated by various nicer bits; often including stainless rims (instead of chromed steel), different paint (typically green but sometimes Burgundy or the usual black), four-speed hubs and a fork lock.

It seems that lower-spec models ("Popular, "Dawn Tourist") came with rod brakes, while higher-spec "Sports" models had cable-operated caliper brakes.


In the late '70s the utility bike range was revised / modernised with a range of new models (like the Courier and Wayfairer) which, while nice bikes in their own right lost some of the iconic bits of the older bikes - such as the full chaincase and green paint. I suspect they were probably cheapened a bit to reflect the fact that more people were turning away from bikes towards cars as their main form of utility transport.

As a nostalgia-courting exercise Raleigh introduced the "Superbe" as a model in its own right in 1978; with many features and visual cues to the earlier bikes including the full chaincase, rod brakes and chrome rims. They're easy to differentiate from earlier ones from the "Superbe" badging on the chaincase and square (as opposed to round) headlamp. Since times had evidently moved on however, it seems that the main focus of these bikes was novelty rather than the true-utility of the earlier bikes.


Finally right at the end of the "new" Superbe in 1983, Raleigh revised the model in an effort to make the bike more legitimately practical to target the Dutch market. These bikes look superficially similar but are technically superior - crucially having cable / caliper brakes, a square-taper BB (as opposed to the cotter-pin effort on earlier models), stainless rims and a nice continental skirt / coat guard on the rear wheel.


For those wanting an example of these lovely old bikes it seems that unsurprisingly the most coveted are the higher end - Superbe - variants of the original bikes produced until the early '70s; with prices reflecting their increased desirability and growing rarity in decent nick.

Next up are the last-of-the-line Dutch-spec "new models" from the early '80s thanks to their legitimately practical refinements over the basic re-issue - the better braking afforded by the stainless rims and caliper brakes making them a much more practical proposition; while they're apparently built a bit better.

Finally the least-desirable are the early re-issue bikes from the ;ate '70s / early '80s due to their lower quality and inferior spec. Probably still not bad bikes, bit not as capable as the alternatives..


There are of course a raft of oddities not covered above (the original subject of this thread for example) however I hope this broad-strokes overview gives those unfamiliar with these bikes a bit of basic knowledge to build upon

 

[biggs682]

Thanks for sharing that @wafter I like the idea of something similar for my early morning miles occasionally. I need to dig out my Old Lenton and get it mobile again.