Raleigh Banana

JesseD
JesseD Posts: 1,961
edited October 2008 in Workshop
I have just been offered one of these in my size for free, and I was wondering what they were made of.

Does anyone have a clue, it's got to be either Reynolds 501 or if I am lucky Reynolds 531?

The idea is to either restore it best I can and use as a winter bike, or strip and build as a fixie :D

Either way it's another bike that I have to hide from the GF :wink:

Thanks
Obsessed is a word used by the lazy to describe the dedicated!

Comments

  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    Any frame sticker love?

    I'd make it into a fixed for jinks.
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • JesseD
    JesseD Posts: 1,961
    Not got it get "darlin'", but should be picking it up at the weekend.

    I rekon fixed as well, then I can dress head to toe in black Rapha and pretend to be a too cool for school courier 8)
    Obsessed is a word used by the lazy to describe the dedicated!
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    All black is way too retro, it's all about your own style, today I'm sporting rolled up jeans and spds as usual, a pink jumper and a TdF cap...

    I'd guess you'll have to check the frame when it arrives, my personal favourite of the 5 series steels is the 531c, cos it is double butted and the frames are normally ridiculously light.
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • k-dog
    k-dog Posts: 1,652
    I think it depends - there was a good team replica one made of decent steel and then there was the gaspipe version that most people bought.

    You'll just have to have a look at it - the weight and the flex of the cheaper one are the main giveaways.
    I'm left handed, if that matters.
  • 16simon
    16simon Posts: 154
    ride_whenever wrote:
    my personal favourite of the 5 series steels is the 531c, cos it is double butted and the frames are normally ridiculously light.

    :?
  • damage36
    damage36 Posts: 282
    16simon wrote:
    ride_whenever wrote:
    my personal favourite of the 5 series steels is the 531c, cos it is double butted and the frames are normally ridiculously light.

    :?

    This comment might just be relative to other steel frames... OR its made of unobtanium
    Legs, lungs and lycra.

    Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    Yeah, sorry. In my experience, 531c frames are exceptionally light, for steel frames... :oops:

    But why would you ride a bike that isn't steel?
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    I expect the majority of Raleigh Banana bikes of that era are the plain gauge gas-pipe specials - anything that was half-decent would have corroded away or the owner sensibly had a repaint to cover the awful paintjob. I would suspect that even the 531 frames had plain gauge stays - the one to have would be the Team Issue frames in 753, again not reknown for their longevity.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • fizz
    fizz Posts: 483
    I quite liked the banana paint job :oops:

    As the others said theres two versions one el cheapo and one in 531. If its the 531 and in decent nick I'd take it, if its not I woudlnt bother...
  • DavidBelcher
    DavidBelcher Posts: 2,684
    Monty Dog wrote:
    I expect the majority of Raleigh Banana bikes of that era are the plain gauge gas-pipe specials - anything that was half-decent would have corroded away or the owner sensibly had a repaint to cover the awful paintjob. I would suspect that even the 531 frames had plain gauge stays - the one to have would be the Team Issue frames in 753, again not reknown for their longevity.

    From memory, the 531 replica was 531c throughout, with a Shimano 105 group. The other giveaway distinguishing it from its cheapo cousin was that although it had the team livery, there was no actual 'Banana' branding anywhere on it, unlike the gaspipe version.

    David
    "It is not enough merely to win; others must lose." - Gore Vidal
  • aracer
    aracer Posts: 1,649
    ride_whenever wrote:
    Yeah, sorry. In my experience, 531c frames are exceptionally light, for steel frames... :oops:
    Not even that compared to bikes made from some of the more modern steels (if made with the intention of being light).

Categories