bauldbairn
New Member
- Location
- Falkirk
just jim said:
Yip! That's one nice bike, well used and well looked after.
Randonneur ??
- Thread starter waynec
- Start date
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Yip! That's one nice bike, well used and well looked after.
threebikesmcginty
Corn Fed Hick...
- Location
- ...on the slake
just jim said:
It's the right size and everything ... must resist ... gggnnnnnnn
Steve Austin
The Marmalade Kid
- Location
- Mlehworld
Bandini said:
i would agree with that, he has admitted its not a randoneuur! so its worth opening a dispute. you did pay by paypal, didn't you?
bauldbairn
New Member
- Location
- Falkirk
Bandini said:
+1, I agree 100% it's not the bike he made out it was.
threebikesmcginty said:
I think you'll find it's also in your colour - go on you know you want to!
Having challenged the vendor I have received a comprehensive response which does reassure me somewhat ......below is what he said....
NO, it's not an RRA. You misunderstand. Raleigh NEVER made an RRA with cantilever brakes. The only bike they made with cantilever brakes was the Randonneur and the Randonneur frame sets.
Your bike is a genuine Raleigh Randonneur. it has the Randonneur frame with geometry appropriate to fast touring, the correct equipment to allow it to do fast touring and high quality components to assist it in that job while providing good longevity.
The stickers are a red herring. They are freely available and were applied over the factory paint, probably by the frame's first owner . The RRA was always the glamour bike of the Raleigh range and perhaps it was originally built as a racer.
On the original Raleighs including the RRA (and I had a mint '81) the decals were waterslide, not vinyl stickers and were under clear lacquer. yours are vinyl and are over the paint. In fact, they are the type available from H LLoyd who do loads of bicycle decals.
If the RRA stickers concern you, peel them off and apply some Randonneur stickers because as I have emphasized already, that is not and never has been a RRA and anyone who tells you different is ignorant. You can't 'add' cantilever brakes to a non-cantilever brake frame and the RRA used sidepull calipers like all racers, up to it's demise.
Your bike started life as a frame-set which was the SAME frame-set used by the 531 framed factory Randonneur. If you are interested, the version of that frame that DIDN'T have cantilever brakes was the Raleigh Granada.
When you buy a Dawes Galaxy for instance, the machine is offered to you as a 'build'. You specify what components you want and pay accordingly.
I built that frame set up into a Randonneur bicycle using in most cases. better components than the original. For instance, the later Randonneur had Shimano Acera rear mechanism, a lower mid range mountain bike derived device, whereas yours has a Shimano 105 rear mech, third from the top of the entire Shimano range and typically found on machines costing in excess of £1000.
That's why I listed the components and that's why it went for the money. Remember, lots of other road bike aware riders wanted and bid on it.
The bike you bought is a Raleigh Randonneur. It has a Raleigh Randonneur frame , the early type made from Reynolds 531, and has had components fitted that are in almost every case, improvements on the originals. I think you should start to ride what is a very fine machine and before you ask anyone in a bike shop, first ask them if they have any knowledge of Raleighs from 20 years ago before taking their 'advice'. I will GUARANTEE you that non of them would know ANYTHING about anything from that era.
As for value, the value of any machine is determined by the market. Plenty of people valued that bike at or near your price. I start my bikes at 99p. At the same time the Randonneur sold, I sold a bog stock entry lever Dawes tourer for over £250. The Shimano Dura Ace bar-end shifters alone on your bike are fetching over £100 a set. The frame is worth about £150 and that's before it's built-up
If you want to re-sell it, you are more than welcome to use my pictures and script. I am not misrepresenting the machine at all, in fact I actually corrected myself in that writing as I learned more about it. You would get at least what you paid for it.
And then followed with this......
OK Wayne. I am an enthusiastic cyclist and have taken the time to learn about my subject. I probably spend 20 hours a week researching different machines. Classic lightweight Raleighs are a particularly interesting subject as they were originally built by Raleigh in the '50's, then by Carlton in Worksop and finally by Raleigh Special Products headed up by Gerald O' Donovan (known as 'God' by many) your frame was the last of 'Gods' designs and as such is a landmark classic in it's own right.
Nuff said..............................
Your bike also has a tall front chain ring from a Triathlon racer to give it speed...The Miche Monolith crank set and bottom bracket came from a hand-built JE James Triathlon bike...That's why it has that really low bottom gear...So you've still got a default ultra low ratio for serious load lugging.
people get a bit caught up with gearing but truthfully, If you are fit and strong, you are far better off with tall fast gears because you can power up hills anyway...The smallest of the triple rings of a Galaxy is basically useless on road and unless you were planning to literally ride up a mountain, pointless!
It's better to have a fast light bike than lots of gears...look at this one I built...http://www.flickr.com/photos/30956457@N07/sets/72157614632292004/
3 speed and did every Wiltshire hill like they weren't there...Better than all my derailleur bikes....
NO, it's not an RRA. You misunderstand. Raleigh NEVER made an RRA with cantilever brakes. The only bike they made with cantilever brakes was the Randonneur and the Randonneur frame sets.
Your bike is a genuine Raleigh Randonneur. it has the Randonneur frame with geometry appropriate to fast touring, the correct equipment to allow it to do fast touring and high quality components to assist it in that job while providing good longevity.
The stickers are a red herring. They are freely available and were applied over the factory paint, probably by the frame's first owner . The RRA was always the glamour bike of the Raleigh range and perhaps it was originally built as a racer.
On the original Raleighs including the RRA (and I had a mint '81) the decals were waterslide, not vinyl stickers and were under clear lacquer. yours are vinyl and are over the paint. In fact, they are the type available from H LLoyd who do loads of bicycle decals.
If the RRA stickers concern you, peel them off and apply some Randonneur stickers because as I have emphasized already, that is not and never has been a RRA and anyone who tells you different is ignorant. You can't 'add' cantilever brakes to a non-cantilever brake frame and the RRA used sidepull calipers like all racers, up to it's demise.
Your bike started life as a frame-set which was the SAME frame-set used by the 531 framed factory Randonneur. If you are interested, the version of that frame that DIDN'T have cantilever brakes was the Raleigh Granada.
When you buy a Dawes Galaxy for instance, the machine is offered to you as a 'build'. You specify what components you want and pay accordingly.
I built that frame set up into a Randonneur bicycle using in most cases. better components than the original. For instance, the later Randonneur had Shimano Acera rear mechanism, a lower mid range mountain bike derived device, whereas yours has a Shimano 105 rear mech, third from the top of the entire Shimano range and typically found on machines costing in excess of £1000.
That's why I listed the components and that's why it went for the money. Remember, lots of other road bike aware riders wanted and bid on it.
The bike you bought is a Raleigh Randonneur. It has a Raleigh Randonneur frame , the early type made from Reynolds 531, and has had components fitted that are in almost every case, improvements on the originals. I think you should start to ride what is a very fine machine and before you ask anyone in a bike shop, first ask them if they have any knowledge of Raleighs from 20 years ago before taking their 'advice'. I will GUARANTEE you that non of them would know ANYTHING about anything from that era.
As for value, the value of any machine is determined by the market. Plenty of people valued that bike at or near your price. I start my bikes at 99p. At the same time the Randonneur sold, I sold a bog stock entry lever Dawes tourer for over £250. The Shimano Dura Ace bar-end shifters alone on your bike are fetching over £100 a set. The frame is worth about £150 and that's before it's built-up
If you want to re-sell it, you are more than welcome to use my pictures and script. I am not misrepresenting the machine at all, in fact I actually corrected myself in that writing as I learned more about it. You would get at least what you paid for it.
And then followed with this......
OK Wayne. I am an enthusiastic cyclist and have taken the time to learn about my subject. I probably spend 20 hours a week researching different machines. Classic lightweight Raleighs are a particularly interesting subject as they were originally built by Raleigh in the '50's, then by Carlton in Worksop and finally by Raleigh Special Products headed up by Gerald O' Donovan (known as 'God' by many) your frame was the last of 'Gods' designs and as such is a landmark classic in it's own right.
Nuff said..............................
Your bike also has a tall front chain ring from a Triathlon racer to give it speed...The Miche Monolith crank set and bottom bracket came from a hand-built JE James Triathlon bike...That's why it has that really low bottom gear...So you've still got a default ultra low ratio for serious load lugging.
people get a bit caught up with gearing but truthfully, If you are fit and strong, you are far better off with tall fast gears because you can power up hills anyway...The smallest of the triple rings of a Galaxy is basically useless on road and unless you were planning to literally ride up a mountain, pointless!
It's better to have a fast light bike than lots of gears...look at this one I built...http://www.flickr.com/photos/30956457@N07/sets/72157614632292004/
3 speed and did every Wiltshire hill like they weren't there...Better than all my derailleur bikes....
just jim
Guest
"It's better to have a fast light bike than lots of gears"
It's better to have the bicycle you thought you'd bid on, more like.
He's doing a good job of sounding authoritative, but, there really is no way of knowing what you've bought because it doesn't say. What it does say is "Record Ace".
"When you buy a Dawes Galaxy for instance, the machine is offered to you as a 'build'. You specify what components you want and pay accordingly."
Not sure about what he means here, there are several Galaxy models with different frame types.
Any Randy I've seen, including the one I own are workhorses capable of loaded touring just like the Galaxy which isn't marketed as a fast audaxy type machine, though of course it can do a decent job in that role too. For instance mine has fixings on the forks for a front rack. The Randy is also known for it's spare spoke holder ( a nice wee feature) on the non-drive side chainstay.
If you take the Ronseal approach, that the bike does what it says on the tin, then you've been mis-sold.
It's better to have the bicycle you thought you'd bid on, more like.
He's doing a good job of sounding authoritative, but, there really is no way of knowing what you've bought because it doesn't say. What it does say is "Record Ace".
"When you buy a Dawes Galaxy for instance, the machine is offered to you as a 'build'. You specify what components you want and pay accordingly."
Not sure about what he means here, there are several Galaxy models with different frame types.
Any Randy I've seen, including the one I own are workhorses capable of loaded touring just like the Galaxy which isn't marketed as a fast audaxy type machine, though of course it can do a decent job in that role too. For instance mine has fixings on the forks for a front rack. The Randy is also known for it's spare spoke holder ( a nice wee feature) on the non-drive side chainstay.
If you take the Ronseal approach, that the bike does what it says on the tin, then you've been mis-sold.
just jim
Guest
I noticed that there is no brazed-on rear cantilever hanger on your "Randonneur". The cable runs off a hanger on the seat stay bolt.
Take a look at this other Randonneur up for bidding on ebay. It's almost the same model as mine. Notice it has cantilever brakes. On the rear the brake cable is fed through a brazed- on hanger. Nice and sturdy innit?
You can also see the spoke holder on this model.
Take a look at this other Randonneur up for bidding on ebay. It's almost the same model as mine. Notice it has cantilever brakes. On the rear the brake cable is fed through a brazed- on hanger. Nice and sturdy innit?
You can also see the spoke holder on this model.
Banjo
Fuelled with Jelly Babies
- Location
- South Wales
waynec said:
Sounds like a lot of waffle in response to a very simple question ie is it a Randonneur or not?
If not its been mis sold.
bauldbairn
New Member
- Location
- Falkirk
just jim said:
That's some good advice/info there JJ - I think waynec has a lot to think about.
Off Topic! Liking that Mercian Cycles link.
Paul Smith went into fashion when his cycling career ended after an injury - and Mercian do a PS range of bikes.
That's some good advice/info there JJ - I think waynec has a lot to think about.
Off Topic! Liking that Mercian Cycles link.
Paul Smith went into fashion when his cycling career ended after an injury - and Mercian do a PS range of bikes.
