Nostalgia for the Raleigh RRA

[johned]

Reading the thread on MikeyMustard's beautifully turned out Raleigh Record Ace prompts me to regale a tale of woe which might provoke a feeling of "what might have been" in some readers. When I was at school in 1951, there was a stunning Record Ace in the local Raleigh dealers window priced at an unbelievable amount of cash to whit £39-19-6d. My mates used to gaze in awe after school at this wondrous piece of machinery knowing there was no way we would ever possess such an amount of cash as would cover it's astronomical cost. Jumping forward to the early eighties and I bought my younger son a large frame sports model to suit his 6' 2" height with long legs to suit from the Great Universal Stores via our neighbour's club book. This surprisingly lightweight machine was termed the Eddy Myrx Special and was turned out in an orange finish. After some years of use, it hung on my garage wall for many years until it's disposal in a skip. Imagine my chagrin and horror when browsing the web I found that, in fact, my GUS Eddy Myrx Special was none other than a Raleigh Record Ace purchased unsold in bulk on the cheap by GUS during one of Raleigh's business machinations! To this day I think of all the years that went by and one of the objects of my boyhood dreams was hanging all the time on my garage wall! Oh the shame and stupidity of it all.

 

[rrarider]

I hadn't seen MikeyMustard's thread until you pointed it out, so thank you. The RRA went through a few changes of colour scheme throughout its life, although I think it was always a good quality bike in the UK. American versions varied a lot in quality. Anyway, here's a photo of my 1984 Ace which I bought in early '85 at Whisker's in Kilburn. The photo is only a couple of years old.




It's still going strong. I changed the wheels and the rear mech not long after I bought it and I was fortunate enough to find some 'new old stock' gumwall tyres quite recently to replace those in the photo. The sidewalls had perished after a few years lying idle. It's coped well with my return to Liverpool after so many years in London and now gets ridden more regularly. Here it is down by the Pier Head in the sunshine. I hope my post doesn't make you too nostalgic.



RRA At Canning Dock

 

[mikeymustard]

It's great to hear stories of classic bikes in "their natural environment", I wasn't aware that any rebadged Raleighs had become merckx's, you learn something every day!
@rrarider I really like the colour scheme of your era's machine, it's nice to know you're using it more, my bike's new owner has just completed a 260 mile ride from Cheltenham to Helston in Cornwall on it; they slept rough to keep weight down!

 

[fossyant]

I had an 1986 Road Ace - the white and blue one with Shimano 600.

 

[midlife]

That's interesting, have you got a link to the info about the rebadged Raleigh to Merckx bikes. AFAIK Falcon held the UK rights to the Merckx name.

Cheers

Shaun

 

[GuyBoden]

rrarider, thats a very nice looking Raleigh.

 

[johned]

I must see if I can rediscover the link Shaun where I learned to my chagrin of the metamorphosis from a RRA to a GUS Eddy Mercks Special. Incidentally I related this story years ago to a charming French girl who was an old friend of my elder daughter. When I mentioned Eddy's name, her eyes literally misted over and in a hushed voice she said "He is like a God!"