This is my main commuter bike, Gentle Reader. I noticed quite a few hits on my Raleigh Marathon. And then a few on my earlier Raleigh Super Grand Prix post--you can read the bike's colorful history there, should you have time to kill. I thought it would be nice to post some better images of this bike, which my father bought for me new in 1977, at Vendables Bicycles in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when I was still in High School.
The bike is all original except for the saddle--which is now a Brooks B-17. I still have the original saddle but it was just tourture as it was so freakin' hard! The back wheel I had to replace after a crash years ago. I put the fenders back on recently as the rains will be here soon. They're the very light German-made -- and kind of tricky to get right without rubbing.
SPD pedals replaced the old stirrup clips--and those Italian shoes. They had little clips in them, more like slots--since the intructions were not in English, I'm not sure I ever figured out if I had them on right, They were dangerous to wear on the pavement as the soles and the cleat were like walking on ice. I recall several times back in the day when I stopped at a light, put my foot down only to have my foot slip out from under me--and I'd smack down on the road with a thud...
Better view of the Dragon emblem.
Made in Japan, not England.
30 year old componets have worked perfectly.
Decals are a bit faded. All the components are Sun Tour.
An awesome bike. Right now she's the main commuter bike, and had been my back up bike for brevets. I rode a 300 Km brevet in pouring rain on this bike because it had fenders--and I stayed a lot dryer and more comfortable than my mates. This is a perfect brevet bike--if only I was the perfect randonneur!
1977 Raleigh Super Grand Prix. My attempt as making things look a bit more interesting. This is a sturdy bike and I have the thicker tires on the wheels. Part of my commute home was at one time about six miles of jeep road through the desert.
6 comments:
Hi. Hope this doesn't come across as snarky but the animal in the headbadge isn't a dragon, it's a heron.
http://velobase.com/HeadBadgeGallery.aspx?SearchId=0fca21c4-181c-4e1b-9aa4-6a42457ce125
Hi David--Thanks for reading my blog. You know, I always thought it looked something like a heron, and somewhere I heard/read it was a dragon--so I wrote that. I need to get around to correcting this, and I will! This is great bike, by the way--do you have one like it?
Cheers! Bruce
Hello Bruce,
Delighted to find this post. I have a 1978 Super Grand Prix. It's awesome. It's my primary commuter as well.
Last year I was stoked to find a mint condition 1978 Raleigh Super Grand Prix (Champaign green) in Bakersfield CA on eBay. The SGP I found was the very same make, model and color that I bought in high school - a quality UK built, great riding and touring machine then, and now.
I bussed a lot of tables to be able to afford that bike in '78, so when it was stolen in Washington DC while I was in Grad School, I was crushed to say the least. Unpacking the SGP was like meeting a long lost friend at the airport and picking up a thirty-three year old conversation right where we left off.
Incidentally, I Just started a bicycle commuter blog at my work. I look forward to reading some of your earlier posts.
Sincerely,
o/o' Nelson
Hello Nelson-- Thanks for stopping by my blog. I've had my SGP since 1977--my father bought it for me new when I was still in high school. It is by far the best bike I've ever ridden. When I lived in Tucson, AZ, it was my main commuter bike to work--about a 25 mile round-trip commute. I ride it often now here in KS and I receive a lot of great comments when riders see it. My SGP was made in Japan, not the UK--so really I don't know much about what Raleigh was doing and who owned and ran the company--Japan or UK aside, my Super Grand Prix is an awesome road bike. I look forward to seeing your blog too--send me the link soon. Good Luck! Cheers! Bruce
Hello, Bruce. Nice to find your blog. I just picked up a nice 1978 Super Grand Prix, rideable condition, that's been sitting in the back of a local bike shop in Idaho for about 20 years. It's a made-in-England model. My LBS is looking it over now, and I'm looking forward to putting a Brooks saddle on it and taking it for a spin. It's my first "10-speed" since a 1975 Vista that I bought at ... Venable's in Tulsa. How about that? Nice blog. I'll keep checking in.
Like others' experience, I found that the Japanese Raleigh Super Grand Prix is not well documented. So I was happy to just find your site because mine is very similar. I'm adding a little info here in case it helps anyone else. I bought my SGP new 1981 or 82. Serial#N1B2024. 12 speed. The aluminum rims are stamped "Araya 27x11/4 W/O Japan". All other components are labeled or stamped "Raleigh" even the wide-flange hubs. Head badge and seat tube decals have the "////" bars. Top and down tubes are written in cursive script. It has down-tube shifters. Comparing to your pics(thank you!!), where I might expect to find a Made in Japan sticker, instead I have a sticker applied by the LBS. (As the shop was in the Akron-Cleveland rust belt my guess is he didn't want to advertise the bike as being from Japan.)
Long ago, I wore out and replaced the original drive train, BB and rear wheel. A couple times, in fact. I began riding the bike again recently after a few decades off and still enjoy it. But I must admit to lusting after some of those spiffy index shifters!
Cheers,
-jim
Post a Comment