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Raleigh Grand Prix...with Carlton Shop decals??

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HARPO

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
I haven't had one of these in probably 20 years, and since it was still with the original owner who was moving, I bought it. Another project so I won't be bored!

Owner was my height, 6', and a very nice gentleman who kept the bike in a nice dry basement. This is probably the reason that the Simplex front derailleur hadn't cracked open like so many I've had. Bike needs a good cleaning and detailing, but all functions as it should and smoothly.

What got me were the decals on the forks and down tube..."Made In Workshop, Carlton Race Approved. Made In England". I thought those only went on the high end bikes with 531 Reynolds? And the nut on the rear derailleur Has a "C" on it, not the Raleigh "R" like on my Sports models. Any idea why? Obviously this is just a basic 10-speed, right?
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Thanks very much for sharing this oddity HARPO! :)

Will leave discussion of its numerous anomalies to the Raleigh Industries experts...

Am able to contribute on dating -

very first year for this model 637 Simplex Prestige rear mech was 1970-71.

very first year for this model Simplex Prestige shift lever set was 1970-71.

final year for the Atom model 440 pedals with the slotted dustcap was 1971.

if you check the backside of the Simplex Prestige rear mech you will find a date of 1970 or 1971.

this model of Weinmann cable anchor only seems to have been around for one and one half to two years ca. 1969-70.

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@juvela Catalog shows 1972 as being the first year that Raleigh used Simplex on the Grand Prix. Prior year it was Huret. So this makes sense.
 
@juvela Catalog shows 1972 as being the first year that Raleigh used Simplex on the Grand Prix. Prior year it was Huret. So this makes sense.
Harpo,
I'm working on a similar Grand Prix, also blue with Carlton decals and a Carlton nut on seat post binder.
No wheels so don't know if axle nuts had caps on them.
I think if you check here you'll see that Simplex started in '71.

http://www.kurtkaminer.com/TH_raleigh_cat_us71carl.html

Pete
 
Check the serial number (probably on the seat tube or left rear dropout) - if it begins with W, the frame was made at Worksop in the Carlton shop beginning 1967 - a few Grand Prix were.
it may begin with zero, but if it begins with a letter, the next letter is the month, and the next digit the year (70s)
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ps - good effort - your bike cleaned up nicely
 
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