56cm Ti-Raleigh Team Professional SBDU Frameset: Reynolds 753R - 1980's (Near Mint)

This is a legit Raleigh Team Professional from the mid 1980's, built from Reynolds 753R ultralight steel. It is designed to build into a serious racing machine, and the heat treated ultra-thin 7/4/7 (or sometimes 7/3/7) tubing ensures it will plane better and feel faster than nearly any other vintage steel frame and most modern steels (save the new wonder-steels like Columbus Spirit). It has pretty steep angles and a tight rear end for quick and agile handling. The frame is finished in Ti-Raleigh Team colors, and features a race number tag hanger and top of top tube cable guides. Sloping crown,  DIA-COMPE USA decal on the non-driveside chainstay. This is an SBDU (Specialist Bicycle Development Unit, Raleigh's elite pro-level race frame workshop) frame, confirmed by the frame number SB8583 on both BB shell and fork steerer.

The "R" in 753R indicates it is Imperial/standard measurements and thus the measurements we're used to in English/Italian/American bikes.  1970's and earlier 1980's 753 was metric tubing which follows French standards. This meant the BB threads were French, tubes were very slightly different dimensions. The flat seatstay caps are an indicator of 753 tubing.

Condition

Near mint lightly used shape! Quite minimal wear, and very much show bike condition overall. No dents, dings, or rust.  There are some spots on the stays/dropouts where the black paint has been worn back to show red underneath, hinting this is likely a restoration (which explains the fabulous condition).  There really isn't much to say for wear spots. There's a small smattering of tiny chips in the paint, almost exclusively on the stays near/on the dropouts and top of seat cluster. There are marks elsewhere, but so inconsequential they're not worth noting. Photos show condition accurately.

Details

• Frame number: SB8583
• Raleigh named size: 56cm
• Seat tube: 56cm c-t
• Top tube: 55cm
• Head tube: 135mm