Was there a cut off date where Carlton ceased making complete frame sets and bikes under their own name and became the frame shop for Raleigh? If memory serves I thought I read very early 70s somewhere...I had the white with lagoon blue panel and head tube paint scheme (Gran Sport) version of the Raleigh Competition up until a few years ago and I placed the age at around 1971 IIRC. The top tube script decal shown on the OP's bike was a dead-match for the ones that appeared on my bike's chain stays. The bike was set up pretty stock if I remember, and it had simplex drivetrain, nervar crank with guard, mainline Normandy hubs laced to alloy tubular rims, weinmann centerpulls with Carlton hood levers, a brooks B-15 saddle, GB stem and standard drop bend bars (not rando like the GS), I also recall that the frame geometry as measured by the fork bend and chain stay length was tighter than the GS. The closest Competition model to the one I had was that early 70s lilac-colored one. All that said, the Carlton looks too similar to the mine not to think it was also an early 70s build. The only thing that places it later than 1973 is the block-style of the downtube CARLTON decal as I think that's the year the script-to-block style transition occurred on the Raleigh lightweights and I would assume Carlton followed the same convention, very cool bike, deserves some love this winter, Todd
PS I also seem to recall that in many instances, Carltons in the 1970s on a model to model basis were a slightly poorer cousin to the corresponding Raleigh model. It that really is the case, perhaps the Huret down tube shifters shown here actuated the Alvit group derailleurs, remember, even as late as around 1970-71, the infamous and rare chromed GS and the early Super Course sported "Huret "Luxe" stuff, Todd