My TI-Raleigh SBDU Blog

It was a Thursday evening a couple of weeks ago, and as usual I was sitting in front of the laptop, half watching TV half browsing the internet, when a flashing notification from a new email caught my eye. A quick scan of the first line and reading the words ...
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I've been collecting for years. I can go for what seems like a lifetime without a new addition while at other times I seem to have new frames coming through the door every week! But while I've been busily collecting, I've never actually done much with these beautiful bikes and ...
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A lot has happened since this bike last graced my workstand. I've just checked through my posts and I last mentioned it in July 2017. Lots of frames have come since then and life itself has generally been busy, so SB1861 was moved to a spare room to wait patiently ...
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I guess it's a passion... it didn't start out like this and I never intended it to be like this, the blog just grew quietly, and then it gathered pace, and then it snowballed and before I knew it I was helping people around the globe. I was learning stuff ...
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SB518 is the third frame I have lined up this year to be painted in the TI-Raleigh colours (it's nice to start the year with a plan). This is a solid frame and has no issues or rust, it needs no frame work and is perfect for a renovation. By ...
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I have a few 2019 projects to complete and this is the second such project that happens to be a track frame and the second that needs to be brought back to it's original TI-Raleigh appearance. The first project I mentioned for 2019 was to repaint JR178T, my Jan Raas ...
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Back in March 2018, a short but interesting email dropped into my Inbox... I am the son off Roy Schuiten. I recently found a time trial bike off my fathers. I want to share some pictures and thoughts with you. Rob Schuiten 24th March 2018 That was it, short and ...
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This frame has eventually made it to the top of my list of projects. This is a Jan Raas frame and it has waited too long; the yellow Chesini paint and transfers have to go and the classic TI-Raleigh colours with detailed Fischer fork crown and Carlton Capella lugs have ...
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Last year took a very different direction to 2017; that year was all about snapping up everything I could find, and 14 frames was clear evidence of that eagerness. All I remember from 2017 was the expense and the amount of blogging required. But from the outset of 2018, it ...
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I'm going to make a bold statement right at the beginning of this blog post... my theory is that this Stayer frame could be a frame built by Jan le Grand for TI-Raleigh team rider René Pijnen - now all I have to do is use the rest of this ...
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Every now and then I spot something slightly different, something that I struggle to identify but which has the potential to be something nice, maybe even special. Usually I might be the only one to spot it which normally gives me the luxury of a little time to do some ...
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When I add a traditional horizontal top tube SBDU bike to my collection it can sometimes take a few careful measurements and a little bit of knowledge of the bike's history to figure out something as subtle as whether it was built for road racing or time trials. The obvious ...
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While I'm patiently waiting for the final few Dura-Ace 7400 series 6 speed components to arrive, I'm going to begin the paintwork restore on SB6560, starting with the fork. The fork on SB6560 isn't too bad at all but it has a few marks and scratches that would look better ...
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I haven't written many 'New Arrival' posts this year after slowing down my collecting habit and being a bit more picky, so it really is nice to get a new frame on the workbench. An astute eBay bid, a couple of messages followed by a few hours drive and SB8200 ...
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Over the years since bike number one arrived (SB4059), I've continued to look at what I'm collecting and I've tried to add frames that plug any gaps that my collection has. It's been nearly three years since I last wrote about my "wanted list", so as 2018 is coming to ...
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I always find this topic a sad one to write about. I get sad when I know that someone is spending money on a bike that may not be what they think it is and I could have helped to provide some info if only I was asked. That sad ...
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I always get nice comments about my work space. It is often commented on when I post bike images. So I thought I'd write quite a self indulgent post and show a few images of my tools and work space for a change instead of the bikes ...
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Frame weight... it's often talked about, requested and used as a measure to try and determine tubing type. From my own experience I can see several factors that affect final weight and I frequently see through my own documentation process that frame weight can be very random and time and ...
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SB6560 arrived in terrible condition with missing gear lever bosses and poorly applied transfers. It is a frame that has always been overlooked and put on the back burner while other projects came in and took over. Underneath the skin however, it is a lovely 531c SBDU Services des Courses ...
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What do you call it? Do you say Rear Derailleur, Rear Mech, Rear Mechanism, 'Mech' or just 'Gears'... they are all names to describe the mechanism typically controlled by a spring and cable that derails the chain and moves that chain out of one gear and into the next. I'm ...
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This isn't intended to be an Internet resource of Raleigh frame numbers! If you are reading this for anything other than SB number sequences from the SBDU then please make sure you corroborate my information with other resources. This blog post covers a basic background of things I've learnt about ...
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Emails dropping into my Inbox on a lazy Saturday afternoon are quickly becoming the best kind of email! The one I received last Saturday offered a mint condition frame together with it's original Raleigh box and some documentation! Now that is an offer that needs serious consideration. The images came ...
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Time Trial frame? Road frame? Or a bit of both? What exactly is it? SB7393 came with a story that it was built and used for time trials and ridden by a junior. I was also told by Rob, the previous owner, that it was a "lively" ride! It looks ...
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I'm gradually working my way through the snagging list on SB4059, all those little jobs that I know about and that require attention are slowly getting done. Not so long ago I swapped the original Campagnolo grey outer brake cables for original Campagnolo black alternatives, and I also updated some ...
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When you have a get a good look at the paint on SB7393 you can see that it isn't the best. Although it is all there and from a distance it looks ok, there are one or two areas of rust, the paint is dirty, flat and covered in previous ...
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Now that Eroica Britannia is out of the way and work on SB4059 is complete (for now), I can turn my attention to looking at SB7393. This is a complete Reynolds 531 Professional SBDU bike that I bought a couple of weeks ago. Each part of this bike could cause ...
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I've planned before and never got there, I've bought a ticket before and never got there, but this year I actually did get there. Karen and I booked up, bought tickets, sorted parking, arranged an Airbnb nearby in Buxton, packed the van and headed out on the three hour trip ...
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It has been a long couple of days but I've finally completed this small and difficult project to bring SB4059 up to spec in terms of a 1980 period SBDU TI-Raleigh transfer scheme. Deciding to go for it and wreck the paint on a perfectly good frame meant that there ...
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I think I must have been slightly bonkers to start this project but the desire to get SB4059 looking correct was too much! That morning when I took a knife to the clear coated transfers left me with a lot of work and once started, I had no option but ...
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Another email, another road trip, another bike. I was sitting with my feet up on holiday at the end of May, just relaxing and watching the boats go by on the Norfolk Broads, when I received an email asking for a valuation on a bike. After a few more emails ...
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I've recorded and blogged what seems like an amazing amount of detail relating to SBDU frames over the years and I've always strived to make everything I publish as accurate as I can. It has been a goal of mine to keep assumptions, unchecked facts and internet myths off the ...
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Following on from my previous blog posts about SBDU fork ends and seat stay caps, here is another short post in a series I'm writing about individual areas of SBDU frame design. This time I've chosen to write about gear levers, or more precisely, where they are positioned on the downtube ...
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Sometimes when I see a bike that someone else owns I feel a little pang of jealousy, I can't help it. And that is exactly how I felt nearly two years ago when I was first sent images of SB6827. The images were of a beautiful SB bike, it was ...
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You probably think seat stays are quite boring, why on earth would I devote a blog post to the two narrow tapering tubes on the back of a frame? Well as you hopefully all know by now, I do like my details, especially the small details! The various designs and ...
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I currently have six or seven or maybe even eight or more projects and builds happening at the moment. But lots of projects means lots of money, and that is something that is thin on the ground at the moment. Shhh... I've been saving for something rather nice so my ...
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I wasn't planning to do this job today, it just happened. I'd been thinking for the past week about how to tackle the task of removing the transfers from SB4059... the problem is that they are sealed under a good layer of thick glossy clearcoat. While I was standing in ...
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It's just over six years since I fastened the first component to this frame and four or five years since I completed the first build on a long road to making this the best example of a restored TI-Raleigh Team Pro 753 that I could make, and now the time ...
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Having a large collection of SBDU frames means that I've accumulated most of the various features that they built with. Fork ends are one such area of the frame design where I have an almost complete set, ranging from the earliest 531 frames produced at Ilkeston using Campagnolo 1010/A, through ...
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eBay! Love it or loathe it, every now and then it does serve a purpose. Personally I loathe it and while I'm definately not a fan, it has actually accounted for a small amount of my new arrivals. I do prefer to collect frames that fly under the radar but ...
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What an amazing year! MORE frames, MORE posts, MORE visitors, MORE views, MORE comments, MORE questions and MORE people helped! In a year where the size of my collection doubled, I was able to use all the frames at my disposal to add so much more information to the content ...
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SBDU frames and the TI colours have become hugely popular. More people are seeking to buy an SBDU frame and recreate the red black and yellow TI-Raleigh scheme. With this recent resurgence, sellers are looking to sell and buyers are readily buying. The demand for these frames is producing a ...
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I've always kept an eye out for anything interesting and different with an SB frame number, something that might expand my collection and add a new dimension, even if that means moving outside my comfort zone of the Specialist Bicycle Development Unit (SBDU) at Ilkeston. My initial interest, and basis ...
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The year was 1984. I was only 14 and riding a beat up Raleigh Grifter around the estate. My parent's shed was my workshop and I was kept busy fixing the bikes for all the local kids. My own bikes were fitted with names such as Sturmey Archer, Simplex, Huret ...
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It was just another night in front of the television when an email dropped into my Inbox regarding an SBDU frame, this is a situation I've been in a few times now. Another frame with a case of mistaken identity came up on my screen, actually, this time it was ...
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Following the change of cables on SB4059 there is now only one thing that I need to do, one more thing to sort out, one more thing that has bugged me the most about this build over the last couple of years. The one thing I'm talking about just happens ...
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It's been a while since I've written anything about this bike. SB4059 is my original bike, number #1 in the collection, the bike that started the blog and the search for SBDU knowledge! One day I hope to say SB4059 is finally finished and today, it takes one step closer ...
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Every new addition gets a good clean and although it was already looking quite good, SH377T still needed a bit of work. Wet oil and grease on the surface of a tube will attract dirt and dust, and that is all that was covering this frame. When a frame is ...
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It's been a busy week! First came SB4933, an SBDU 531SL frame with beautiful chrome and exquisite new paint. Following on quickly came SH377T, Steve Heffernan's Reynolds 753 pursuit frame. And finally, to end the week, GH6175 has just arrived on the workbench, the second Raleigh frame of the week ...
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eBay... it is a place I try to avoid. I like to find bikes and frames that haven't had much exposure to the internet. eBay links containing interesting vintage bikes are shared across social media, and before you know it, the item has been seen by thousands and hyped up ...
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I've started a few blog posts recently with the words "I received an email..."; and this story is the same. Late on a Sunday evening I received a couple of emails with several images attached and then an email summarising very clearly what the frame was and what seemed like ...
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