I have written hundreds of posts about the SBDU, their frames and a few other random topics. Have a browse, scroll through the pages, click the links and have a read.
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1975 SBDU SB95 Reynolds 531 with Nervex Professional Lugs
October has been a good month! It has also reinforced something I say a lot; "you cannot guarantee anything with the Specialist Bicycle Development Unit". Just as I published my blog post about the unique SB662 with Nervex Professional lugs, another one has come along. After a decade of research ...
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SBDU Ilkeston SB662 First Look – What Does it Reveal?
Sometimes I buy frames on a whim. In fact most of the frames I buy now are bought with no questions asked. I use my SBDU knowledge to build up enough of a feeling to just go with a hunch. So it's always intriguing to get the frames back onto ...
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TI-Raleigh Team Bike Number Use – Is There a Definitive Truth
Is there a definitive truth about what each numbered bike was used for. Every now and then I dip into social media. I often jump straight back out after reading some comments. The problem can be that lots of statements are made, and worryingly, lots of those statements are believed ...
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Nervex Professional Lugs – A Unique 1976 SBDU Ilkeston Frame Joins my Collection – SB662 New Arrival
Yes, you read that correctly... an SBDU Ilkeston frame with Nervex Professional lugs. I've never seen one before. Even though I've viewed over a 1000 SBDU frames, spanning the entire period of the SBDU, I've not seen a frame with these lugs. That meant I really wanted to add this ...
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Alan Oakley’s Raleigh Dynaflite 753 (No Frame Number) – New Arrival
Sometimes I feel the Raleigh Gods look favourably on me and send cool bikes my way. It's either that, or it's my dedication to a decade of blogging and networking to get my name out there that does it. Whatever it is, pictures of Alan Oakley's Raleigh Dynaflite fell into ...
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1980 SBDU Ilkeston Reynolds 753 SB4005 – New Arrival
This new 1980 SBDU Ilkeston frame takes my collection past 50, and heading fast towards 60 SBDU and Team frames. The collection is supplemented with a few Raleigh/Carlton Worksop frames, together with some Raleigh Special Products frames and even the recent Raleigh UK attempt. But it's the SBDU frames that ...
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1979 TI-Raleigh Team Pro 753 SB3337 – New Arrival
I've had the SBDU blogging blues for the last few months. I've barely posted in 2021. But a rather special recent addition (coming soon...) has kicked me back into it and I'm once again sat in front of the screen with an empty page and images of another TI-Raleigh. This ...
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Specialist Bicycle Development Unit (SBDU) Facebook Group
I can't believe it's 5 years since I started the Facebook Page that accompanies my blog. Now, after some continued demand and arm twisting, I've created a Facebook group. The group is for other SBDU owners, or those going through what can often be a long search, to join in ...
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My 1980 TI-Raleigh 753 SB4039 – A Quick Rebuild (Part One)
I had said during my blog post for the build of my Raleigh UK anniversary edition, that I would use SB3800 in a comparison road test. However, just as the spoon salesman said in Fawlty Towers, when Basil thought he was a Hotel Inspector, "I changed my mind"! Instead, I'm ...
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TI-Raleigh Anniversary Edition Build
The sun has started to shine on 2021 and temperatures have started to rise. The TI-Raleigh anniversary edition frameset I bought last year has been sat patiently since it arrived, and now it's time to build it ...
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1980 Raleigh 753 TI-Raleigh SB4039 – New Arrival
A 1980 Raleigh 753 in TI colours, there is no better way to start the year. 1980 was maybe the pinnacle for this bike and colour combination! It was the height of TI-Raleigh's success following Joop's victory in that year's Tour de France. Some would say the 1980 TI-Raleigh was ...
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2020 – A Review of the Year. Bikes, COVID, Stats and the Positives & Negatives or Running my TI-Raleigh Blog
2020 has been a roller coaster. It has brought some ups and downs, lots of amazing positives and sadly a couple of unexpected negatives too. In a year when the world has been turned on it's head with businesses and families hit very hard by Covid-19, my TI-Raleigh blog has ...
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Raleigh Castorama Reynolds 753 SBW9262 – New Arrival
I know a bit about SBDU frames, all self taught and researched from my own collection and image library. However, I never profess to being knowledgeable about anything "Raleigh" that falls outside of the SBDU. The era before the SBDU at Raleigh's Worksop/Carlton facility, and then the later Raleigh Special ...
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Bob Jackson 753 1975 SB498 From Raleigh SBDU – New Arrival
A Bob Jackson 753 from 1975? Yes, that is how it appears. It's only the presence of an SB frame number that confirms this as a Raleigh SBDU. For many years, the story of this frame was unknown. It is only recently that a clue has been found. However, even ...
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40th Anniversary TI-Raleigh Geometry Check Against SBDU Data
There has been a bit of online chatter about the geometry of the new 40th Anniversary TI-Raleigh Reynolds 753 frame. The speculation relates to the geometry of the frame, and specifically, about Raleigh UK's marketing images showing a sloping top tube. Raleigh UK claim that they have followed the spec ...
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SBDU Time Trial Special SB2476 1978 Reynolds 753 New Arrival
This SBDU Time Trial Special will definately move straight into my featured frames section. My collection is full of significant and special examples of SBDU bikes and frames and SB2476 deserves it's place in this category because it goes right back to my initial search for SBDU information way back ...
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Raleigh UK TI-Raleigh 40th Anniversary Reynolds 753 Frameset
The Raleigh UK TI-Raleigh 40th anniversary frameset has arrived! A few days after placing my order, the courier knocked on the front door and left a large cardboard box. In just a few minutes I had the camera set to record and I started talking ...
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1974 SBDU SB9 Assembly – Part One
1974 SBDU frames are incredibly rare, so SB9, which still has original paint and Campagnolo Super Record 1st generation components is getting a full strip and clean. I don't think it has been cleaned since it was first built. This is the first part of putting SB9 back together. The ...
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Joop Zoetemelk 1980 TI-Raleigh Team Bike Specification from SBDU
Joop Zoetemelk 1980 TI-Raleigh bike specification. I get asked about specification so many times. The most popular search terms I see on my blog stats and the most viewed blog posts relate to 'specifications'. However, the question about specification isn't an easy question to answer by any means! Professional teams, ...
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SBDU Paint Preservation – SB9 1974 Cleaning the Original Paint
SBDU Paint Preservation is step one of the work I need to do following the earlier stripdown of SB9. I don't know if SB9 has ever had a clean since it was built in 1974. Every surface, every scratch and every lug line seems to be ingrained with 46 years ...
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1st Generation Campagnolo Super Record – SB9 Stripdown
1st Gen Super Record components on an original paint 1974 SBDU bike! Not just a 1974 SBDU bike, but also a single digit SBDU bike! This bike has to be preserved. It is suffering, it has 46 years of dirt, built up year on year, layer on top of layer ...
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SBDU SB9 – Sharing Frame Numbers Across the Pond
SBDU SB9 has certainly sparked interest in the Raleigh community since it returned to the UK. And it is set to create more. If SB9 is now settled back in the UK, how can it also still be in the US! ...
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1974 Raleigh SBDU SB9 – New Arrival – Home From America
1974 Raleigh SBDU frames, there aren't too many, believed to be no more than 50. My thoughts on the use of the word 'Rare' are documented in my blog, I think it is used too much to incorrectly describe common SBDU frames. But just like my 753 Dynaflite, I think ...
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Handlebar Wrapping – Putting the Finishing Touches to SB5422 with New Cables and Bar Tape
Handlebar wrapping can be one of those bike building tasks you either love or hate. When it is done badly it will make the best build look terrible. When it is done well it will be the crowning glory. So for this post, I did a video to show my ...
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Specialist Bicycle Development Dept – Original Letter Confirming My Research of SB1995
Specialist Bicycle Development Dept? Yes, more of that in a future post. But for now, it's all about SB1995, and the work I did to establish when this frame was renovated. I've just re-read my own post and still surprise myself that I used nothing more than small details and ...
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Spoke Length Calculation – SB1861 Wheel Rebuild Step One
Spoke length calculation needn't be a black art! So many calculators have been produced meaning all you need are a few basic measurements. So here's a post and a short video explaining the five minute process of finding the length of spoke you need for your hub and rim combination ...
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50th Anniversary Super Record Bits and Pieces – SB5422 Gets a Few More Parts
Bolting a couple of derailleurs and other small parts to a frame is the easy stage of any bike build. Normally I build in three stages. In the previous post, I did the first stage, the frame prep and fitting the BB and Headset. That means all I have to ...
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Campagnolo Super Record Titanium Bottom Bracket and Headset – My SB5422 Build Continues
Campagnolo Super Record 50th Anniversary Group - that's what I'm working with again. But before I get to the shiny gold parts, I need to fit the BB and Headset ...
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Frame Prep – Frame Facing and Fork Crown Race Cutting – My SB5422 Build Starts
Frame Prep! Any task requires prep. Great prep should be the foundation of everything you do, it will give you the best chance of achieving the results you are after. So if you are restoring, renovating, or just servicing some parts, don't skip the fundamentals! SB5422 has been built previously, ...
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Carlton Capella Lugged Raleigh SBDU Ilkeston Reynolds 753 SB1625 – New Arrival
Carlton Capella lugs seem to be everywhere in my SBDU collection at the moment. They are always nice to have, and when they appear on Reynolds 753 frames, it's even better ...
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TI-Raleigh Tour de France Hennie Kuiper HK276
"TI-Raleigh Tour de France!" It only really dawned on me the day after I bought it, but this bike could be something amazing, a special bike for TI-Raleigh and the Tour de France! The day after Nigel and Carol left HK276 with me, I sat at my computer and 'BANG!', ...
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My TI-Raleigh SBDU 2019 Review
2020 is moving fast, it will soon be February. I've already added two frames since the New Year and I'm aware I haven't yet recapped the last year for My TI-Raleigh SBDU. So here is my SBDU 2019 review of new arrivals ...
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Frame Preservation Required. A Bargain New Arrival with Issues and a Missing Fork. An Original SBDU Ilkeston Team Pro Under £100
One of my top collecting aims is to document and preserve the originality of SBDU frames, especially the TI-Raleigh scheme. This scheme is one of the most recognisable in cycling history. But it's also the one that renovators get wrong so often. So frame preservation and securing those details is ...
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Hennie Kuiper (HK276) TI-Raleigh 1976 Team Road Frame – New Arrival
Hennie Kuiper! Yes, HK276 has arrived and sits in my collection right next to other TI-Raleigh riders such as Jan Raas, René Pijnen, Cees Priem and Günter Haritz. Here is a quick story of how that new addition happened ...
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SBDU Nottingham Raleigh Track Champion SB8850 Reynolds 531c – Stripdown
I'm kicking off the New Year with the spanners and getting stuck into SB8850. Every bike I receive comes apart. This is because every bike generally has hidden mechanical issues. What can often look like a well put together bike can surprise you. SB8850 arrived earlier in the year and ...
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SBDU Ilkeston SB1861 TI-Raleigh Team Pro Reynolds 531 – Moving Things On. Rebuild (Part Two)
SB1861, built at SBDU Ilkeston in late 1977 is back in the workstand, I need to get this bike completed. It has sat for too long, and this original SBDU bike deserves more. So I'm picking up where I left off by sorting the bar tape, brake levers, cables and ...
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MK5 Professional – Worksop Carlton Raleigh – 1981 Team Professional New Arrival
MK5 Professional? What's that all about? Yes, this is an unexpected step back into the area of Worksop frame production. This time though, it's not pre SBDU, it is early 1981, before things with Raleigh and Carlton production were set to change ...
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SBDU Frame Number Mystery – Solving a Puzzle
It's time to figure out the correct SBDU frame number for my frame stamped as SB4522. Is that number correct? Is it SB5422, indicated on the fork column? Once again, being able to read the SBDU frame details should give me the answer to this mystery ...
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Worksop Carlton Raleigh – Giro D’Italia? Carlton BMB Team? MK 1 Raleigh Professional?
As if I don't already have enough projects. As if I don't already have enough plans to fulfil and enough mysteries tucked away in my collection to solve. I've now added another frame to keep me busy. C4619 is a 1968 Reynolds 531 frame built at Worksop Carlton Raleigh ...
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My TI-Raleigh Blog – What do I have planned for 2020
What do I have planned next year for My TI-Raleigh Blog? Tricky question as most things with me and my blog and collection just seem to evolve depending on what I find out there. But I do try and influence the direction my blog and collection go in. So there ...
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Campagnolo 50th Anniversary Super Record Raleigh Ilkeston SBDU Reynolds 753 Bike – New Arrival
This is probably the only bike that has had a pre-new arrival post. I wrote about this Campagnolo 50th Anniversary bike a short while ago when I had it 'on approval'. A kind of try before you buy deal. I had only spoken to the seller online but he trusted ...
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Raleigh SBDU Track Bike SB8850 (Nottingham) Reynolds 531c – New Arrival
This was a quick decision, a moment of thought before pressing the button. It was a lovely Raleigh SBDU track bike. I knew this bike before seeing it for sale online. I saw details and images of it last year, so when it appeared, I recognised it straight away and ...
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Iscaselle Tornado – The Last Piece of the Puzzle for my Ilkeston SBDU Reynolds 753 TI-Raleigh Team Pro SB4059?
I often ask myself if this bike will ever be finished. Is it good that I think there is always more to do? Will fitting a new Iscaselle Tornado eventually complete this bike? ...
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Raleigh SBDU Frame Identification – Knowing Your Details and Identifying Frames
What happens when a frame looks like an SBDU build but you aren't too sure? A frame may have several features that match an SBDU build, it might look right, but you have doubts. There might not be a frame number, what do you do? How can you be more ...
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A Reynolds 753 Ilkeston Raleigh SBDU with Campagnolo Super Record 50th Anniversary Group – Built for Denton Cycles, But What’s the Frame Number
There is no doubt that this bike is fitted with a Campagnolo Super Record 50th Anniversary Group. There is also no doubt that this is a Reynolds 753 Ilkeston Raleigh SBDU frame. And there is indeed no doubt that this frame does have an SB frame number. So why am ...
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A MAVIC Build Update – SB7393 Raleigh SBDU Ilkeston 1985 Reynolds 531 Professional
SB7393 is a 1985 Reynolds 531 Professional SBDU bike that I picked up last year. Since then I've slowly been putting together the missing pieces of the MAVIC puzzle to get this striking red and anthracite coloured Ilkeston bike back on the road ...
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TI Raleigh UK Team Bike G4582 ‘D R’ Dave Rollinson 1972 MKIV Professional – New Arrival
I'm definately dipping my toes into the unknown with this one. This MK. IV Raleigh Professional frame is a break from the norm for me. After seeing it pop up on Hilary's Facebook feed, the part of my head that normally tells me to hit the button and buy stalled ...
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The SBDU Fast Back
Although an SBDU frame may be best known for the oversize seat stay cap design, it was the SBDU fast back that landed with a bang towards the end of 1982 that almost took the top slot. These are my thoughts, backed up with some data, about the SBDU fast ...
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Featured Frames – The Pick of my TI-Raleigh SBDU Collection
Did you know I have a "Premier League" of frames within my SBDU collection? I call the lucky ones that make it into this league my 'Featured Frames'. I have a full list here. The competition is real and it's always a tough call about what I feature in this ...
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TI-Raleigh Team Cees Priem (CP.1.79) Reynolds 753 Road Frame – New Arrival
It's amazing what can happen in a matter of minutes. I had my feet up, relaxing on a Sunday morning, doing nothing much at all other than trying to figure out what to watch on television. Then an email containing a link to a frame dropped into my inbox. I ...
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