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1961 Raleigh Lenton Grand Prix

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2old2race7

Look Ma, No Hands!
I just bought this 1961 Raleigh Lenton Grand Prix. It has a 4 speed Sturmey Archer hub. It came with the never used Bell Bike II helmet, tools, a lamb seat cover and the bill of sale from June 9, 1961. The price then was $89.95. Purchased at Mike Walden's Continental Bike Shop on Livernois in Detroit.

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thanks so much for posting this beauty, what a find! :D

two questions for the heron experts -

a) seems odd for a Raleigh of this time to come with Lyotard model 36 pedals; would have expected something like a set of Apollo

b) Weinmann brake set seems slightly peculiar, would have expected GB. note that pads are all the way up in front and all the way down in the rear, suggesting frame may have been contructed with another model of caliper in mind.

thanks again! ;)

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yes, the bike is a little curious.
The '61 Lenton Grand Prix should be a 10 speed, Cyclo derailleurs and shifters, with 5 rear cogs and a pair of half-step rings in front.
Your photo shows the right-side shifter boss - is there one like it on the left? If not, the frame is older and could go back to '57.
Here are worthwhile photos of Lou's '60 Lenton Grand Prix -
https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/more-raleigh-lenton-gp.105188/
It should have GB brakes.
Paint and decals are in excellent shape.
Of course the bike shop could have delivered it this way to the customer's specs.
Considering derailleur bikes were fairly new, he may have wanted the Lenton without the Grand Prix.
The Raleigh derailleur hubs of this era used 3/8" axles that also match the SA hubs, making them interchangeable on these frames.
Also, what's your serial number? We can compare to my '57

In '62, the Lenton GP was replaced with the Gran Sport
 
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yes, the bike is a little curious.
The '61 Lenton Grand Prix should be a 10 speed, Cyclo derailleurs and shifters, with 5 rear cogs and a pair of half-step rings in front.
Your photo shows the right-side shifter boss - is there one like it on the left? If not, the frame is older and could go back to '57.
Here are worthwhile photos of Lou's '60 Lenton Grand Prix -
https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/more-raleigh-lenton-gp.105188/
It should have GB brakes.
Paint and decals are in excellent shape.
Of course the bike shop could have delivered it this way to the customer's specs.
Considering derailleur bikes were fairly new, he may have wanted the Lenton without the Grand Prix.
The Raleigh derailleur hubs of this era used 3/8" axles that also match the SA hubs, making them interchangeable on these frames.
Also, what's your serial number? We can compare to my '57

In '62, the Lenton GP was replaced with the Gran Sport


There is no shifter boss on the left. The bike has the 4 speed Sturmey-Archer hub. The bike serial number is FH 6767. The '59 Catalog shows the Lenton Grand Prix as an 8 speed. It shows the Lenton Marque II as being available with the 4 speed Sturmey-Archer hub.
 
from 1957 to '59, the Lenton Grand Prix did have 4 cogs in the rear, and a Cyclo "suicide" front derailleur.
Yes, all the Lentons except the Grand Prix were club racers with SA hubs and single-ring chainsets.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/lenton-kohler.html
The Raleigh Record Ace the previous year introduced Cyclo rear derailleurs to Raleigh, still with a single-ring chainset. The Lenton Grand Prix introduced front derailleurs.
The Lenton Grand Prix was introduced in late 1956, and didn't make the catalog before '58.
Your bike looks most like a '57 Lenton Grand Prix frame that may have been altered by the bike shop.
Also worth noting, no one had ridden a derailleur bike before these arrived on our shores.
ANXhwnm.jpg

it's certainly possible the bike was delivered as a Marque III, which would also account for the brakes - but in '58 and '59, the only paint colors cataloged were green and yellow.
But all through the years, Raleigh sneaked in colors that weren't listed in catalogs (My silver '75 International was never cataloged).
Everything about your frame matches ''57 - the only color offered on the first Lenton and never cataloged.

BTW, the 'FH" on the s/n is more likely a soft stamp of "RB"
Kurt Kaminer would say that makes it a '61 frame - http://www.kurtkaminer.com/TH_raleigh_serials.html#55
Though he doesn't actually account for your serial number, because he states all RB serial numbers should also have a suffix letter N (etc.)
When they added lever-operated front derailleurs for 1960, maybe Raleigh took all the remaining single-shifter-boss frames and outfitted them as Marque III.

05lenton-mkiii.jpg

4kGq2vs.jpg


Here's my '57 frame, built from bare frame as a custom to look basically correct, but everything underneath is newer, beginning with custom Phil hubs to fit the 115mm OLD with 3/8" axle. I used a single Huret band clamp to get a left-side shifter, with the proper Cyclo shifter on the right-side boss.
nDwGeHu.jpg

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from 1957 to '59, the Lenton Grand Prix did have 4 cogs in the rear, and a Cyclo "suicide" front derailleur.
Yes, all the Lentons except the Grand Prix were club racers with SA hubs and single-ring chainsets.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/lenton-kohler.html
The Raleigh Record Ace the previous year introduced Cyclo rear derailleurs to Raleigh, still with a single-ring chainset. The Lenton Grand Prix introduced front derailleurs.
The Lenton Grand Prix was introduced in late 1956, and didn't make the catalog before '58.
Your bike looks most like a '57 Lenton Grand Prix frame that may have been altered by the bike shop.
Also worth noting, no one had ridden a derailleur bike before these arrived on our shores.
View attachment 870383
it's certainly possible the bike was delivered as a Marque III, which would also account for the brakes - but in '58 and '59, the only paint colors cataloged were green and yellow.
But all through the years, Raleigh sneaked in colors that weren't listed in catalogs (My silver '75 International was never cataloged).
Everything about your frame matches ''57 - the only color offered on the first Lenton and never cataloged.

BTW, the 'FH" on the s/n is more likely a soft stamp of "RB"
Kurt Kaminer would say that makes it a '61 frame - http://www.kurtkaminer.com/TH_raleigh_serials.html#55
Though he doesn't actually account for your serial number, because he states all RB serial numbers should also have a suffix letter N (etc.)
When they added lever-operated front derailleurs for 1960, maybe Raleigh took all the remaining single-shifter-boss frames and outfitted them as Marque III.

View attachment 870395
View attachment 870384

Here's my '57 frame, built from bare frame as a custom to look basically correct, but everything underneath is newer, beginning with custom Phil hubs to fit the 115mm OLD with 3/8" axle. I used a single Huret band clamp to get a left-side shifter, with the proper Cyclo shifter on the right-side boss.
View attachment 870385
View attachment 870393
View attachment 870394
Bulldog, what model and year is the gold Raleigh?
 
A friend has just purchased a Lenton GP, with suicide shifter. I'll try and get photos of it next week.
 
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