1970s Raleigh International build

[Eric Marth]

Hello friends — I wanted to share my new build, it's a Raleigh International from the early 1970s. I fitted it with 38mm tires and it's a plush road dream come true. There's a full build video over on YouTube. Let me know if you've got a vintage road rat rod, I'd love to see it. 

Extra special thanks goes out to forum member Max F. who found this frame on Craigslist of Connecticut! Thank you Max! And to Jason Fuller for perspective and feedback as I was getting it all together. 

This build far exceeded my expectations, the ride is very nice indeed and this frame p l a n e s. A sensation that's all together new to me. It bounces up hills and yields nicely when I put the hammer down. It was fun to combine vintage and modern components and get everything working and clicking without much issue. I didn't hold back and was able to use the exact components I wanted in every instance, without compromise.

I melded Campagnolo Chorus shifters with a Shimano XTR rear derailer for a nicely-indexing Scampy drivetrain. I think it all came together for a classic, understated build. 

The Ergopower shifters and Maes Parallel bars are new to me and I'm a huge fan of both, they feel great. I love the long ramps and shallow drops on the bars. The frame is bigger  than I'm accustomed to at 62cm. I have a lot of reach with the longer top tube, longer stem and longer ramps compared to my mainstay drop-bar bike, the 57cm Sam Hillborne. But nothing feels weird or uncomfortable. If the right 23-1/2" frame falls out of the sky I might consider swapping all the components over. There's some pretty significant toe overlap but I'm learning to get used to it. 

I put some more build and inspo pictures up here if you'd care to have a look. 

Cheers!

Build list:

• 1970 or 1971 Raleigh International, 24.5” (62cm)
• Mavic Open Pro / Dura Ace 7700 wheels (700C, 32/32h)
• Simplex skewers
• Rene Herse Barlow Pass 700x38mm extralight tires
• Rene Herse TPU tubes
• SRAM PG970 12-28 9-speed cassette 
• Nitto Technomic stem, 9cm
• Rene Herse Maes Parallel bars, 46cm
• Blue Lug acrylic bar tape
• Velox bar-end plugs
• Campagnolo Ergopower Chorus 10-speed shifters
• Campagnolo Super Record front derailer
• Shimano XTR M952 rear derailer
• Campagnolo Record titanium seatpost
• Gilles Berthoud Aravis saddle, titanium rails
• MAFAC Racer brakes with Kool Stop pads
• TA Specialites Pro 5 Vis cranks, 170mm
• TA Specialites Pro 5 Vis chainrings, 46/30
• MKS All-Ways pedals

[Patrick Moore]

That’s a lovely build; I was tempted to try something similar with “that” [early 1970s, very undersquare 60 X 56 c-c] Libertas. 

Judging from the photo alone, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary for saddle or bar position; it all looks as if it would give the rider a very nice, neutral riding position, unless a too-long top tube combined with the long Maes Parallel ramps and long brifter hoods gives you too much reach.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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[Patrick Moore]

Forgot to add: toe overlap: funny, I’ve so fully absorbed the view (Grant shares it, I think) that if you have to juggle fit, handling, and toe overlap, the the first thing to give way is toe overlap. My Matthews “road bike for dirt” has fully 3” of toe overlap with the 80 mm Kelpie fenders, — good thing that it has a freewheel drivetrain (2X10); my Roadeo and erstwhile Ram had toe overlap, I commuted for some years in dense urban traffic without mishap on an early 1970s Motobecane Record fixed gear with toe overlap made even worse by fenders, and my new-to-me Roadeo has about 1” of toe overlap; but I have to admit that I am repeatedly gratified, while making sharp, >90* turns on my 2 custom 26” wheel road bikes, that I don’t have to worry about foot strike; just as well, because both custom roads have fixed drivetrains.

[Nick A.]

Eric. Gorgeous build. Well played, sir. No notes.

Nick in Falls Church VA

[Patrick Moore]

Going more closely through the photo album just now, I have to add that this build is particularly attractive, with such an interesting collection of high-end but unrelated parts; I would ride it! — Except that it’s at last 1 size too big for me.

Well done.

On Sun, Nov 16, 2025 at 10:58 AM Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:

[K AL]

Wonderful build and so nice to see you back on Youtube documenting it: enjoyed the video immensely. Some feat to clear each and every hurdle along the way, from the frame's lack of bottle mounts, the brake bolt bamboozle, right the way to the final cassette/frame spacing - very well played! Beautiful autumnal shots at the end there too: you timed things well to match the paintwork :) 

I built up a late 70s Competition back in the summer as a 650b conversion, thinking being to utilise it as a light tourer. Turned out pretty nicely. The 531 is a smooth ride ofcourse but the bike doesn't take kindly to being fully loaded and so I'm now back to my 'Plan A' of searching for a used Sam Hillborne here in the EU (yes, wish me luck!) 

https://groups.google.com/g/rbw-owners-bunch/c/OyPoIp9wN60

Happy Cycling! 

[Bryan Dalik]

Eric - a joy as always to watch you build a bike. This is inspiring and getting my brain going.

What is the story with this frame below in your moodboard? I swear I have seen this one before somewhere and would love to get some more information on it.

[Ian A]

Lovely bike and a highly enjoyable build video. Did the frame spacing end up at 120mm with a 130mm OLN installed? Would this put the rear triangle under tension? In other words it is not stress-relieved?

The 38mm of tire clearance makes a fast and practical ride. Just marvellous. 

IanA Prince Rupert, BC. A rare day with sun, no wind and no rain.

[RichS]

Eric, first class all the way! What a beauty. 

Best,

Rich in ATL

[Jason Fuller]

Hey Eric!  I appreciate your shoutout, I am pretty sure all I did was agree with your good ideas though!  It's cool to hear your ride feedback. I think I need to try a bike with these planing characteristics, because I've come to realize I am woefully unaware what a sporty bike feels like. 

As noted, the video quality is excellent and engaging and I watched the whole thing - not something I can say for most 25 min YT videos! 

[John Rinker]

Super beautiful, Eric! Excellent job.

Cheers, John

[GAJett]

Hi Eric,

What an interesting mix of old and new parts.  And your video showed some interesting problems and even more interesting solutions.  

I have a '74 Raleigh Competition that I purchased in about '76 and quickly converted to a touring triple, though not nearly to the extent you've done.  Major changes were to add:

• A 13-26 SunTour Ultra6 freewheel on a 125.5mm Phil bottom bracket;
• A TA Specialites Pro 5 Vis crankset with 49-46-26 chainrings;
• SunTour Cyclone II front and rear derailleurs (but currently running the original Jubilee front mech and an Eco-DuoPar rear);*  Converted the tubular wheelset to 27-inch clinchers on Phil Hubs; and
• Added front and rear racks.

After having this for nearly 50 years, I'm now updating the gearing and wheels so it will be more suitable for my 50-years older legs.

• I will have Phil rebuild the hubs and they will go into either 650b or 700c wheels.  From you video I can see 38 - 700c tires should fit, but it's close at the chainstays.  Dropping to 650b allows more clearance for some 38 - 650b tires and also drops the bottom bracket height down to within 0.1" of that on my Hilson.  Downside for the 650b wheels is that I will probably need to build "droppers" for the brakes both front and rear.  (Note that Phil says the BB cannot be rebuilt.  This is one of the earliest of his BB and the bearings are silver soldered into be BB shell, so it cannot be taken apart.);
• I haven't found any old Ultra6's with larger rear cogs, so I'll change to a 5-speed IRD freewheel with a 14-17-12-26-32 block.  This maps out wonderfully for a half-step setup;
• Crankset will get new 50-45-26 TA Pro 5 Vis chainwheels and bolts to go on the old cranks.

I concur with your dating of your frame to '70 or '71, based on the information on St. Sheldon's Retro Raleigh's pages and the catalog page you presented (I assume from '71).  The coffee color only existed in those two years.

I do have a couple of issues regarding your choice of brakes:

1. According to the listings on the above Retro Raleigh pages, all the Internationals came with Weinmann AG Vainqueur 999 brakesets.  So I'm curious as to why you changed to the Mafac "Racer" brakes.
2. I see you needed to drill out the bridges for the Mafac centerpulls.  Do you have any concern with weakening this part, or is it so over-built that you don't anticipate any problems?

Thanks for your very informative post!  It has been quite a helpful guide as I begin a rebuild my old friend.

GAJett

[Eric Marth]

Wow, thanks everyone. I really get juiced on all the feedback, build notes, geometric ideas and other bicycles. 

Patrick: Thanks for having a look. I certainly prefer bikes without the toe overlap but I'll chalk it up to compromises I can handle. 

Mac: Beautiful Competition! Wow! I wish you good luck on finding a Hillborne in the EU. Check with La Chouette in Paris or The Woods Cyclery in Lyndhurst, New Forest. 

Bryan: Oh, buddy. That's Lyle's Rivendell Rambouillet, one of my favorite bikes of all time. Converted to 650B, frame stripped raw. Hubs and fenders and frame all weathered and patinated. Crazy downtube one-by drivetrain, bad-to-the-bone drillium Shimano arabesque rear mech. He's on instagram @shredportals and has a gallery pinned in his profile.

Ian: Yes, 120 spacing for the frame and 130 for the wheel. Not ideal, I know. I wanted to get it to a fame builder during the process but they're scarce in my area. I plan to have the spacing adjusted for sure!

Jason: I'd love to see what you'd do with a sporty frame. Thanks for making it through the video, it ended up longer than I'd expected, likely driven by the errors and missteps. I sometimes cut those out of my other videos. 

GAJett: Wow, that Competition sounds so nice. Glad to hear you've kept it on the road for all this time. Agree on the model year investigation, I thought 70 or 71 based on the Sheldon page and seeing coffee was available for only those years. The Raleigh anniversary badge also offers a clue. I got the bike as a bare frame so I didn't have any Weinmann brakes to "switch" from. I much prefer the appearance of the MAFACs so I wanted to give them a shot. A lot of my build choices are born of how parts look. I'm lucky those parts usually work pretty well! Only drilled the rear bridge and as you might notice in the video the drill goes through with very little resistance. I didn't remove very much material. 

[J J]

That’s a beautiful build, Eric, and the video was the perfect Monday-morning distraction.

It was great seeing how you worked through each obstacle. The camerawork was excellent—clean angles, appropriate lighting, nice presentation of Scampiness, and those soothing chimes didn’t hurt either.

Do you have any sense of why the cold-setting attempts didn’t take? It looks like you did everything Sheldon and RJ would have recommended. What is it about this frame or this particular steel that kept it springing back? With the bolt-and-nut method, I wondered whether the duration at 160 mm might have mattered—maybe the stays just needed more time held fully open?

And the Mafac Racers can definitely be a bear, but they are so cool. We restored a mid-’70s Peugeot mixte—orange and super fun—over the last several months, and its original Racers cleaned up beautifully. With the salmon Kool-Stop 4-dot pads from René Herse, plus their center-pull straddle cables and angled washers, the braking is surprisingly good: far better than expected, and no squeal. But getting them dialed in took some work. (Not to mention all the usual charms and many other frustrations of making an old Peugeot road-worthy…)

Great job overall, and congratulations on the bike, the build, and the video.

Jim

[Andy Beichler]

With Raleigh, it is difficult to be sure, but that is likely a 1970.  In 1971 they offered Chartreuse and Champagne as the colors according to the catalog.  

That being said, it is a beautiful bike.  I have two 1971 chartreuse Internationals.  One is converted to low trail 650b and the other is 700c with the original fork rake.  Both ride great and they were the first bikes I ever experienced planing on. After that, it is hard to ride bikes that don't plane.