# Raleigh Oddity "Regional"  Brand Sports Special Flier



## jhook (Aug 19, 2019)

Any back story on this Raleigh oddball. The SA hub date is 69 16. Serial is S1854. Must have been a short lived Brand labeling.  Couldn’t find any info at all anywhere on the web even mentioning this off brand Raleigh made bicycle.


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## juvela (Aug 19, 2019)

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Thanks very much for sharing this find!

Had not heard tell of such a model afore.

One odd feature noticed is that frame is constructed with a bulge-formed head.

Cannot recall ever seeing another Releigh (England) bicycle with such a feature.

Do other readers know of any?

What information is contained in the star-shaped gold transfer on the seat tube?

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## jhook (Aug 19, 2019)

Thanks for the input. The decal has an R in a triangle logo and below that reads High-Quality Steel Tubing. Maybe it's a Brand Raleigh came up with to use up parts from the other builders they bought out .


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## juvela (Aug 19, 2019)

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Thank you!

Waiting for @SirMike1983 to speak to us regarding the bulge-formed head...


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## SirMike1983 (Aug 20, 2019)

The frame looks too crudely finished to be an English-made Raleigh product. That style of graphic is a knock-off of the 1960s-era Raleigh export models. I've never heard of Raleighs being sold under this name or with this kind of lower level finish. It's absolutely true they had budget-level 3-speed bikes, but the roughly pinched-off seat stays, the head tube formation (it's hard to tell exactly how it's formed from these pictures, but I agree something about it looks off), bottom bracket parts (they're roughly shaped like Heron heads but are also not well stamped), and maybe the front fork blade ends (they looked to be pinched rather than cut and brazed). The fenders look to be mounted using the older style screw/plate mount rather than the single-screw wire loop style. It looks as if the insides of the fenders are painted with red primer still - almost like they didn't finish them?

I wonder if this might be a knock-off made in Asia somewhere. There's a  possibility it's a foreign Raleigh subsidiary product as well, but it looks pretty roughly built to be a Nottingham product. But everything about this bike is made to "seem like" a Raleigh, but a lot of stuff seems off from an actual Raleigh product. If I had to guess at it, I'd say it's a Raleigh-look-alike type lower-end bike. At least that's how I see it.


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## juvela (Aug 20, 2019)

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Thanks so much for these observations! 

Certainly had me puzzled. 

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Note on bulge-formed head -

there were not a lot of companies which offered these

most european machines which used them up until the ~1983-85 time employed heads from Agrati

these were most commonly found on Italian, German and Austrian machines but also some in the low countries

for Asian production the primary supplier was Nikko Sangkyo of Japan

the pattern seen on our subject machine is one I have never encountered previously

have not heard tell of a British maker of these parts


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## jhook (Aug 20, 2019)

SirMike1983 said:


> The frame looks too crudely finished to be an English-made Raleigh product. That style of graphic is a knock-off of the 1960s-era Raleigh export models. I've never heard of Raleighs being sold under this name or with this kind of lower level finish. It's absolutely true they had budget-level 3-speed bikes, but the roughly pinched-off seat stays, the head tube formation (it's hard to tell exactly how it's formed from these pictures, but I agree something about it looks off), bottom bracket parts (they're roughly shaped like Heron heads but are also not well stamped), and maybe the front fork blade ends (they looked to be pinched rather than cut and brazed). The fenders look to be mounted using the older style screw/plate mount rather than the single-screw wire loop style. It looks as if the insides of the fenders are painted with red primer still - almost like they didn't finish them?
> 
> I wonder if this might be a knock-off made in Asia somewhere. There's a  possibility it's a foreign Raleigh subsidiary product as well, but it looks pretty roughly built to be a Nottingham product. But everything about this bike is made to "seem like" a Raleigh, but a lot of stuff seems off from an actual Raleigh product. If I had to guess at it, I'd say it's a Raleigh-look-alike type lower-end bike. At least that's how I see it.




I can show more closeup detail of parts if that helps any.


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## juvela (Aug 20, 2019)

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Have you discovered any markings on wheel rims or front hub?

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Note closely the contour of the headset locknut and adjustable race.

Does not look quite right for one of the Raleigh-TDC sets.

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Note contour of head of brake pivot bolt on front caliper.

Differs slightly from a John Bull one; at least to my eye.

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Seat binder and wedgebolts do not resemble anything from Gripfast, the usual RI supplier for these items.

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One simple check you could make is width of shell.  A genuine cloak tosser would be 71mm.  71 does not guarantee Raleigh but non-71 certainly means non-Raleigh.

You might try getting closeup image(s) of bottom bracket fittings.  @SirMike1983  will quickly be able to tell if they have the correct look...

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Despite the machine's many transfers there is not a "MADE IN _____" one as we would see on a machine from the UK, or IE, or NL, or CN.

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[not at all in SirMike's league so may be mishtooken ]

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## jhook (Aug 21, 2019)

Looks like it must be a Japan export from the Dark Ages, either a subsidiary or a blatant Heron head theme Raleigh copy attempt. Both rims are Ukai. No info on the front hub.


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## juvela (Aug 22, 2019)

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Thank you for the additional information and imagery!  

A Honshu origin would explain the bulge-formed head - Nikko Sankyo.

The cycle's imitation John Bull brakes may be from Yoshikawa.  If you were to disassemble them you might discover the Yoshikawa logo of a small fish making a tight turn.

Should you have occasion to service bottom bracket you could check centre section of spindle for markings.

Is there any marking on the backside of the machine's crank arms?  One possible perpetrator might be Takagi. Their logo is a bundle of three arrows.

Front hub may be a brand such as Chair.

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