My Own Super Course!!!

 

I remember, about 5 years ago, when my dream bike was a 1970s Raleigh Super Course built up with some modern components. That soon changed, and my so-far-unattained dream bike became a 1974-75 Raleigh International, copper orange with chrome lugs. 

Earlier this summer, my friend's dad brought me this 1986 Raleigh Super Course. I was to help him sell a few bikes that he had held onto for a few years as an ex-dealer. This was one of the two that I immediately paid for. Not knowing much about Raleigh's US-market bikes from after 1982, this bike still had a strong appeal to me. After all, it had a 58 cm seat tube and a 55 cm top tube: perfect for me. 

Around the time I got the bike, I was thinking of building another single speed/fixed gear. I had decided that I wanted to buy a Wabi Special, after much research. I was hoping that Wabi came out with the purple color on their stock bikes, which they haven't yet. When I got this bike, I thought it was a great candidate for a single speed build with its nice Reynolds 531 steel frame and horizontal dropouts. Not to mention, purple! However, I soon fell in love with the bike's stock Suntour Cyclone drivetrain with 52/42-tooth chainrings and a 14-24-tooth 6-speed freewheel. It felt great and I haven't yet fallen out of habit with friction downtube shifting, so I decided to keep it the way it was. I soon gave it some Shimano PD-M324 flip-flop clipess/platform pedals to fit my usage and preferences. 

The bike came to me with a Selle Italia Flite Evolution carbon saddle with titanium rails. Insane! So light! I rode it around to try out the saddle and surprisingly enough, it seemed to fit me pretty well. However, it did seem like something that I would want to wear padded shorts with for a ride of any appreciable distance. I ended up selling the Selle Italia to fund the rest of the build, since I already had a more rugged saddle that I wanted to use. 

Other than that, the only significant changes I ended up making to the bike are the Dimension/Origin8 handlebars, Nitto Technomic 100mm x 26.0 clamp stem, Tektro RL340 brake levers, Brooks Cambium Microfiber tape ...

and the Brooks Cambium C15 saddle.  

These Continental Grand Prix 4-season 700x25c tires replaced the old Panaracer Pasela 23mm tires that were on it. I initially wanted to fit 28mm tires, but they were just a hair too big and rubbed the rear seat stay bridge. I was able to put those on the other bike that I had bought with this one, a 2007 LeMond Etape, which has since been sold. 

The origins of these 1980s Raleigh USA frames is sometimes disputed. From 1982-86, Raleigh USA was managed by Huffy. The frames were made in Asia (whether from Giant or Panasonic or someone else, nobody who wants to speak up seems to truly know), and they still are today. In the 1980s, the quality control and production costs of bikes made in Asia were very favorable for the market. Retrogrouch outlines the process very well here, here, here, and here. By 1987, Raleigh USA had been bought by Derby, who still owns them today. Also by 1987, the road bike market nearly underwent a full conversion to indexed shifters and aero brake levers. With this bike being a 1986 model, it still has friction shifters even though the aero brake levers (which do not look like the original levers from the catalog) were present. 

This bike doesn't have rack and fender eyelets, which seems to be in conflict with my preferences for steel road bikes. However, with the bike weighing only 23 lbs and feeling so nice the way it is, I find it hard to be critical. At this point, I have so many other bikes that I can choose to ride on a rainy day that I don't necessarily have to worry about this one. I remember when I didn't ride the Lenton very much because it didn't have a rack and fenders and was set up very similarly to this one, but I don't know, I guess preferences and situations change. 

I took these photos in McKeesport, on a nice Saturday when I felt like bombing the GAP trail from Pittsburgh. It felt great. As soon as I came upon this yellow/beige warehouse and started taking photos, a freight train drove across the bike trail and stopped. I figured that was a good place to turn around and head back home. 

Very much like my first Raleigh, this is a bike that I never knew I wanted, but I am very glad to have ended up with.