Well for anyone that was interested in my Raleigh 753 rsp for sale...
Turns out that I had something different in my possession and didn't realise...
Firstly I owe the sincerest of thanks to Matt_Wood off of retrobike who turned up this evening to potentially buy my bike... you have actually just returned a little bit of my faith in people with that gesture of honesty and kindness...
I let Matt take it for a test spin and he had a good look at the bike whilst I left him to it... he realised I didn't know what I had in my possession and rather than rip me off and make a profit chose to show me.
It appears I was a bit oblivious to the fact I own a Raleigh Castorama which was frame number 1 for team rider Laurent Fignon in 1990. A tour rider who actually won the tour in 1983 and 1984. He sadly died of cancer in June 2009.
Kind of gob smacked! Apparently not the original paint job either.
Funnily enough had I listened better at a point in time when this was passed on to me I might have known more about it.
I bought this off an old school friend who's father had owned it. I'd done his dad a few favours in the past and as he'd hung up his riding boots (the father) due to being knocked off of his time trial bike he sold/practically gave this to me. I seem to remember my friend saying something about it being a tour bike... but thought he meant some sort of tour replica.... not that it had actually been round the tour!
Anyway. Photos of the frame serial number and campag lugs etc below.
I'm interested in knowing more about the history of these... and also an indication of what it might be worth to the right buyer?
I might ebay it but I'm also considering keeping it now as it's got historic value. Any information and advice would be greatly appreciated
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
More pics below on link
[url= http://www.pinkbike.com/u/chilled76/album/Classic-Raleigh-for-sale/ ]http://www.pinkbike.com/u/chilled76/album/Classic-Raleigh-for-sale/[/url]
Now that is special. Keep it, at least for a while.
Wow.
You are so lucky to own that.
How about a resto?
Resto?
In all honesty I'm thinking it needs to go to an owner who will appreciate it.
Wow. Nice of him to explain.
Wow that's absolutely brilliant! That bike is priceless, don't sell it! I bet L'Equipe would do a double page spread on you and that bike. Contact cycling weekly, I bet they'd be interested.
L'Equipe?
I'm not into road bikes at all... would be mad.
Hilarious that I couldn't get anyone to caugh up more than £300 for it last week. Blessing in disguise.
Jeez don't restore it.
Get it in an article in a magazine, then flog it!
Fignon is(was) a cult hero, especially in France. He was still involved with the Tour and French TV right up to the year he died. His biography (translated in to English) is supposed to be a good read, it's on my list to read.
Not in any way a criticism, or an attempt to deflate your enthusiasm, but pictures of Laurent Fignon in 1990 seem to suggest a bike with a taller headtube, and with a different version of Campagnolo groupset.
This in no way detracts from the frame itself, but does suggest that it might not be an actual Fignon frame, and has had a different groupset added later.
The frame number suggests that I might be wrong, but is certainly worth more investigation.
http://www.velominati.com/racing/anatomy-of-a-photo-1990-paris-roubaix/
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/laurent-fignon-remembered/138375
The combination of Campag Delta brakes and Campag Ergo levers also suggests some mismatching...
he's a better man than me,..if i had that knowledge I'd have brought it off you as sold... just the way i am... skint!!
intrigued that he didn't offer you something for it, or is he going away to mull it over?
maybe auction would be an idea in France?
Money is not evey thing keep and enjoy , but do use it ( bikes are for riding)
But please put some cable straw under the bb shell
He was buying it for a mate as a starter bike, then he had a turn of conscience I believe and had to tell me. I gave him a couple of beers, but I just can't believe it!
Has seriously restored my faith in people.
As for the groupset, I think it is much newer isn't it than 1990 campag? Clearly added later.
It's deffo a team bike, the detailing on the lugs and rider tag etc make it obvious apparently.
Who is that beside Fignon in the first of Crikeys pics?
He is probably the coolest dude I've ever seen in my life 8)
[img] 
[/img]
That's an excellent story on all fronts, cheers!
The bike Fignon would have ridden at Roubaix and the bike he would have ridden at the Tour would probably have been completely different bikes. Less need for aero brakes on the Roubaix, less need for a taller head tube on the Tour.
The bike Fignon would have ridden at Roubaix and the bike he would have ridden at the Tour would probably have been completely different bikes. Less need for aero brakes on the Roubaix, less need for a taller head tube on the Tour.
The brakes were provided by the company in a sponsorship deal; you don't get to pick and choose.
Frame size is/was like shoe size; you don't change it.
Tour 1990:
[img] 
[/img]
how tall was fignon, looks my size?
A quick read through crikey's link confirms that SB serial numbers were for pro team issue frames. Combined with the 90.1.LF the evidence builds up.
5' 11" and a half, apparently.
i think they were made by Cyfac in France . they are still building frames .
contact them and they will tell you if it is one of theirs and if it is genuine .
Any ideas what I should ask for £?
if it is a genuine Fignon bike , you are looking at a few thousands .
stick it on ebay with international postage .
You need to get one of the Veteran Cycle Club Raleigh marque experts to take a look. Sadly I am a member and can pass you contact details next week when I am back from cycling if you want.
i think they were made by Cyfac in France . they are still building frames .contact them and they will tell you if it is one of theirs and if it is genuine .
I think it is a Raleigh frame built in Ilkeston in the UK,judging by the serial number.
One thing which does ring true is the race number braze on under the top tube....
[img] 
[/img]
Don't sell it.
Give it a proper restoration and ride it.
A bike like that needs to be ridden
William Fotheringham translated his biog - probably a good place to start for some validation.
I've tweeted this link to him.
No the guy Matt (an enthusiast) came looking at it expecting an Ilkeston built special products Raleigh, he owns a Castarama and has had a few of the Ilkeston RSP frames already himself and spotted the differences on the frame welds immediately, quite different apparently to the Ilkeston built ones... hence he then flipped it over to look at the serial numbers.
I need to get in contact with my mates dad and find out where it came from. As I say, I vaguely remember him banging on about it's tour history when he sold it me and not really paying attention to what he was saying.
To be honest if it needs to be ridden... selling it is the best thing. I've used it less than 10 times in 4 years!
David B... would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
You'll never get another bike like that. Use it and cherish it.
This is the thing though, I was selling it because I don't ride road and have used it 10 times or so in 4 years.
Might hang it on the wall in the lounge though 🙂
Ride it? Why would you ride it? You can buy a similr bike for £300 and ride that! If this is fignon's bike then it is to be cherished as a piece of memorabilia, not put at risk on the road.
get some disc brake mounts welded on it and maybe open the stays a bit and take it cyclocrossing!
What a cool story.
OP - I like the fact that you're being honest about not appreciating the significance of the bike. There's probably a really passionate fan out there who'd be delighted to get their hands on it.
Just a thought - if you do end up getting a big pile of cash for it, it might be cool if some of it went to a cancer charity or a cycling charity.
I think it should be restored to 'period correctness' and used sparingly, like an old Ferrari.
I hope the bloke you bought it from can fill in some of its history - keep us posted.
One question nobody has asked: how does it feel to ride?
Its the only road bike I've ever ridden. Feels fast... but I'm used to mountain bikes.
I would say that it has a steel feel to it, it's not harsh like I'd expect an aluminium road bike to be and I'd imagine some of the cheap carbon ones too.
It's a touch stretched for me (I'm 5ft10) but feels right in terms of saddle heinght, but I have long limbs. I've never known anything else so probably not the best person to comment.
Paul
What tyres for an old Laurent Fignon bike?
I'd ride it. Thing was built to be ridden.
That's a lovely bike and a lovely story.
It is a [i]very[/i] good book.His biography (translated in to English) is supposed to be a good read, it's on my list to read.
So what should I ask for then?
£700, £1500, £3000? I have absolutely no clue what it's value is.
Might try and get on 4 rooms with this.
ask on road.cc and retrobike about values perhaps?
Well it's defo worth 700 quid.
I'd give you that for it
I would drum up as much publicity as I could, contacting French cycling mags perhaps, then auction it and give the proceeds to a French cancer charity.
chilled, you've had some good fortune, IMO if you sell it for much more than you'd initially have accepted in ignorance, pay some of that forwards and keep the karma flowing with a charity donation of a portion of the extra, or some similar gesture. send the guy who identified it a bottle of wine, or ask for his idea on where to send the donation.
I gave him a couple of beers on the spot. Said thank you and didn't know what else to do.
I plan on sending him something if I get a decent whack for it.
Depends on what I get for it as to how much goes to charity. I've raised thousands for charities in the last decade and am currently not in the best state of finances myself.
Wow.. I looked at this and thought it may be a tad small and discounted it. No idea what it actually was. Missed a bargain there! 😉 In all honesty I'd have got back to you if it became clear what it was after buying, but glad you realised before selling it at the original asking price!
chilled, you've had some good fortune, IMO if you sell it for much more than you'd initially have accepted in ignorance, pay some of that forwards and keep the karma flowing with a charity donation of a portion of the extra,
+1.
I note your comments about personal financial situation. If it were me I'd do a load of research, maybe get it in a mag, get it sold at the sort of auction or with the sort of publicity where it will realise its true potential value, then split the "profit" (ie, what it goes for minus what you were going to sell it for in ignorance) between you and a charity. A cancer charity would be very apt given the bike's apparent provenance.
You end up financially and spiritually richer, someone who is an afficionado gets a piece of cycling history.
fair enough, perhaps it's working the other way around then, you've done your bit already and the karma spirits have smiled on you!
good luck & let us know what happens.
obviously the whole karma thing is nonsense really, but it's an enjoyable thought-toy all the same
Your other option, if you are unsure of selling it, would be to contact a Tour de France museum and see if they would put the leg-work into confirming its heritage. If it is found to be Laurent Fignon's frame, then you could offer to allow them to display it on loan for however long you want/need, until you decide you want to sell up. It would give the bike an audience.
Fignon's book is well worth a read. Won't tell you any more about the bike, but puts the whole thing in context. email me your address if you want my copy, I'm not likely to read it again.
Fignon is pretty much a household name in France. I think he was involved with some charity work towards the end but not sure. I also think he had a cycle holiday/ training camp business.
Either way I'd try to get in touch with his organisations/ family/ former team/ leagcies in France.
£2k?
blimey.
[url= http://road.cc/content/forum/87824-raleigh-castorama-laurent-fignon-1990-bike-daytonaveloce-%C2%A32000 ]http://road.cc/content/forum/87824-raleigh-castorama-laurent-fignon-1990-bike-daytonaveloce-%C2%A32000[/url]
Yup £2k is my asking price. Considering ebaying it.
I don't think it belongs in a museum, if it was original paint then maybe, but not as it is.
Needs to go to someone who wants to ride it as a piece of history rather than sit unused.
[i]He is probably the coolest dude I've ever seen in my life [/i]
It's either Magnum PI or Hora.
It's either Magnum PI or Hora.
Nonsense. It's quite clearly Freddie Mercury. He obviously wanted to ride his bicycle
Nah, it's Giorgio Moroder
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
The delta brakes on it are worth loads ,even though they are poor
Is that Raquel Welch wearing a Nigella-style strangle bangle round her neck?
I wasn't looking at her neck initially...
I've emailed Cyfac for confirmation and history of what they know.
Also took some pictures with the SLR.
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
When I did a race in Normandy an old boy came up to me and started talking to me about his best friend, Laurent Fignon, he started crying and needed some help calming down. With that sort of passion for the man it might be prudent to advertise in France once authenticated, maybe that way it will go to the right person.
It's got Delta brakes, Veloce shifters, Daytona mech and a Shimano headset.
The frame number is the interesting bit, the rest is a right old mish-mash.
I'd be checking it out carefully before asking £2000 for it.
...and despite the rarity of the Delta brakes, they were well known for being less than efficient at the job of reducing speed.
Yep, thanks for the additional negativity crikey.
The mish mash came from my mates dad having owned it for years and used it pretty much daily.
Just had the worlds biggest telephone chain of asking for peoples numbers but finally got hold of my friend who I haven't spoken to in 4 years.
He's going to ring his dad and get the frame history and ring me back.
I'm also going to pull the forks out when I get 5 mins. Someone has suggested to me that some of the old team bikes may have had the rider initials on the steerer tube too.
Will report back.
Paul
Just got off the phone about half an hour ago from Dave March at UniversalCycleCentre. He thinks the code indicates it is genuine and also thinks he might know the guy who sprayed it from the original colour. His colleague worked on these back then..
I've emailed him back and he's promised to get back to me with what information he can offer and will hopefully throw insight into some history.
If it is the one he thinks it is a guy in Leicester had it sprayed and they tried to advise against doing it..
Will post up the email he sends back.
Also interestingly he reckons these weren't actually built by RSP but the team frames that were custom geometry were made by smaller bespoke frame builders to the riders specification and then stamped up by the RS division.. well interesting reading and researching this!
Crikey seems to have a bit of an axe to grind?
Anyway, lets wait and see what the real experts say.
Cool looking bike though.
Whoever fitted the cables wants strung up! 😮
So does your old English teacher 😉
Only joking, yes I agree. I've never flipped it upside down to look under the BB until I came to pass this on.
The previous owner was the last person to do the cables. As I say I've owned it 4 years and barely touched it.
Sorry if it comes across that way, I was just trying to look at the bike as a whole package.
I'll go.
Have you thought about getting it re coated in the original colours?
Funnily enough I've just been looking at it in my kitchen and am considering removing the ebay ad and just keeping it but getting it sprayed back up... but then that will lead to attempting to find all the original parts that would have been on it and that's going to get expensive!
Gonna take it for a blast in a bit when the traffic calms down, I've become pretty attached to it now I've started finding out what it really is.
Crikey seems to have a bit of an axe to grind?
Read like someone taking a step back and trying to play devil's advocate to me?
Here you go Crikey,
been doing a bit of digging. For some of these team frames Raleigh shipped the parts to other builders and they built them with the parts shipped.
I have copied and pasted directly from my email.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dear Paul,
I can speak english.
This frame was built in 1990 (90) – was the first frame produced for this season (1) and was made for Laurent Fignon (LF).
This frame has been produced by Cyfac for CASTORAMA Team and for your info, we could repaint it in its initial color as we did for another UK customer at the beginning of the year ( see picture attached).
Best Regards,
Aymeric Le Brun,
CYFAC INTERNATIONAL
Tél : 02 47 24 67 42
alebrun@cyfac-expert.fr
De : Paul Bennett [mailto:paulbennett76@hotmail.com]
Envoyé : jeudi 11 juillet 2013 21:03
À : contact@cyfac-expert.fr
Objet : S'il vous plaît pouvez-vous aider? Laurent Fignon frame?
Bonsoir,
Je suis désolé pour mon mauvais français écrit.
Pouvez-vous parler ou d'écrire en anglais?
Je vais écrire en anglais si c'est ok?
I have what i have been told is an old Raleigh Castorama and upon inspection many people seem to believe that it was ridden by Lauren Fignon.
It has been said that Cyfac built these? Is that true?
If so could you confirm the identity as a true Laurent Fignon frame?
It has obviously been re-painted since it was manufactured..
Pictures attached.
Many thanks in advance,
Kindest regards
Paul Bennett
et au cas où vous ne pouvez pas lire l'anglais, j'ai essayé d'utiliser google translate
J'ai ce que j'ai dit est un ancien Castorama Raleigh et, après inspection Beaucoup de gens semblent croire qu'il a été monté par Lauren Fignon.
Il a été dit que Cyfac construit ceux-ci? Est-ce vrai?
Si oui pourriez-vous confirmer l'identité comme un véritable cadre Fignon Laurent?
Il a évidemment été repeint depuis qu'il a été fabriqué ..
Photos ci-jointes.
Merci d'avance,
Cordialement
Paul Bennett
Excellent!
I was trying to think in the way that a potential buyer would, but I'm glad that your initial suspicions are proving to be well founded.
Repaint it and ride it.
@Chilled76 - can we se the picture of the other bike that cyfac repainted?