Tom Forhan's Periodic Table of the Raleigh Super Course
Year | 1971 | 1971 (?) | Early 70s | 1973/74 |
Model | Super Course | Super Course | Super Course | Super Course |
Color | Bronze Green | Bronze Green | Coffee or Bronze Green | Coffee or Bronze Green |
Model # | DL100 | DL100 | ||
Frame | 531 Main Tubes | Decal says 531 Double-Butted | 531 Main Tubes, Plain Guage | 531 Main Tubes |
Full Answer
It is an iconic bike brand that has been in the business since 1885. The brand introduced to the world the Chopper, Grifter, and Burner BMX bike.
The serial number is the easiest way to determine the age of your Raleigh bike and the vintage Raleigh bike value.
You can see the serial numbers on the side of the seat lug, front of the seat lug, or even in the bottom bracket.
With its long and enduring presence in the bike industry, you will lose track of the number of models and bicycles produced by Raleigh. Thus, it is important to take note of the following to help you identify the age of your bicycle:
In this way, you will be able to know to which decade your bike belongs. Since it is a UK brand, you can refer to bike organizations like National Cycle Club that can provide information about Raleigh bicycles.
Raleigh has specific periodization on marking and putting Raleigh serial numbers on its products. In this way, you will be able to determine which decade or year your bicycle belongs. It includes the following:
Most models used the chainguard decal shown at top left, though the Sprite used the variant shown below, which was lifted from earlier road models such as the Grand Sport.
1966-1972, upright-bar (excludes some models) Most 1966 upright-bar models are given new, chunky, serifed downtube lettering. Unlike previous years, most models now feature their respective model name on the downtube, as listed below (list may be incomplete): Sports. Superbe (same as 1965; revised in 1971)
Road/drop-bar frames wore completely different decal kits than the rest of the Raleigh lineup. All used an understated cursive script font on the downtube, with exception to the Record, which utilized the same decal format from the early 1960's road frames. The cursive "Raleigh" lettering is the most definite method of seperating all 1972 and earlier models from 1973 examples.