Carlton i/d

[Taffrail2]

Here's a photo of 'my' Carlton frame, WS5004879. My father bought the bike s/h for £35 the year I was born, 1990, in order to get out of the house and my bawling, he says! The shop changed the drop handlebars to a straight set and there were all sorts of, what I assume were non standard items on board, Sachs Huret derailleur and lever, Weinmann brakes and Dawes crank/pedals. I understand the frame number shows it to be a December '75 or '85 Worksop build but I'd like to know what model it is. I'll be refitting it with new/secondhand items and all suggestions/advice on the way to go will be helpful.
Many thanks in anticipation.

 

[midlife]

Deffo 1975 . Have you got the forks, some models had chrome

 

[Taffrail2]

Here are the forks. I assume they are replacements due to the colour, which seems original; the frame is hand painted metallic blue with grey primer. Yes, I thought '75 as Dad said it looked well used in 1990. Any suggestion on the model?

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

It could be a number of models as the Raleigh organisation had a policy of producing a small number of generic production frame designs, then painting them in various colour schemes and equipping them with different parts according to the target customer base.
Your best chance is to unearth the original factory paint if it survives, and see what colour it was and if there are any identifiable decals.

 

[raleighnut]

It could be a number of models as the Raleigh organisation had a policy of producing a small number of generic production frame designs, then painting them in various colour schemes and equipping them with different parts according to the target customer base.
Your best chance is to unearth the original factory paint if it survives, and see what colour it was and if there are any identifiable decals.

Nah it's definitely a Carlton, wrap over seat stays.

 

[Taffrail2]

Nah it's definitely a Carlton, wrap over seat stays.

I think he means that Raleigh owned Carlton, not that it was a Raleigh badged bike. It has got the Carlton badge. I'll try to get down to the original paint but what I've done so far has only come up with what seems to be grey primer.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Nah it's definitely a Carlton, wrap over seat stays.

I've seen those Carlton Tru-wel type frames with Raleigh decals on them before now, not forgetting the XL size one @Cycleops posted up recently with Raleigh on it. I'd imagine management viewed the whole manufacturing organisation as one big resource that needed to be kept busy to be efficient. If Nottingham was building at full capacity and Worksop had some slack, they'd get them to build some extra frames to help out.
Just the same as car manufacturers in the short term will build cars they have no customers for then stockpile them, rather than build nothing and have the workers being paid to stand around.

 

[midlife]

The frame is almost certainly a Continental as it doesn't have the rear centre pull braze on that a Corsa would.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=372573

UK frames with Crespera lugs like the OP's were normally branded as Carlton, the only UK Raleigh that springs to with Crespera lugs was the very early Europa with the Yellow Head tube.

Exported frames had Raleigh branding on Crespera lugged frames, mainly USA.

 

[Taffrail2]

The Retrobike forum post shows what appears to be the same paint as mine, but mine shows definite localised brush strokes. I suppose it might it have been touched up on those sections. No sign of any Carlton decals apart from a bare fluorescent blue/pink sticker. I'll post some more photos later today. Many thanks 'midlife'.

 

[Taffrail2]

It looks as if I was wrong about the frame being hand painted. The 'brush strokes' seem to be rust bubbles as in this photo. The paint is the same colour as the one in the Retrobikes post and there is no other base colour other than grey primer.

 

[midlife]

Carlton were really proud of the quality of their finish and chrome, even of their lower end frames. Went a bit awry with their flame red but was an exception lol

Doesn't look like an original carlton finish to me, even given the rust bubbles. Maybe has been resprayed at some time?

 

[raleighnut]

Carlton were really proud of the quality of their finish and chrome, even of their lower end frames. Went a bit awry with their flame red but was an exception lol

Doesn't look like an original carlton finish to me, even given the rust bubbles. Maybe has been resprayed at some time?

Yep I'd expect a Carlton frame to have bands and panels on it unless it was a chromed and painted (polychromatic) one.