1974 Raleigh Professional Mark IV
The absolute pinnacle of British engineering*
July 4, 2026
The bike boom era of the early 1970s was a crazy time. Bicycle manufacturers around the world were suddenly inundated with demand and had to quickly ramp up mass market production. Raleigh's facility in Nottingham, England, was no different. They built thousand of low end and midrange bikes like the Record and the Grand Prix that are still ubiquitous on American streets, much like the Schwinn Varsity, World Sport, and LeTour.
But both Schwinn and Raleigh also maintained small workshops where they continued to build handmade bikes. Schwinn's was the Paramount. Raleigh was the Professional and the International, made in their Carlton Workshop.
Naturally, as someone who loves to ride vintage steel, the Raleigh Professional has long been at the top of my list to own collect ride. I mean, its lore is extremely deep, almost Tolkeinesque. And, with a Reynolds 531 steel frame, it's among the lightest of vintage bikes. It's also got a reputation as a very racy, almost squirrelly ride, to the extent that many were purchsed by upper middle class folks but soon abandoned in favor of more comforatble bikes. Many Professionals spent decades as garage queens.
The frame as I received it. Note small dent in top tube.
But as boomers age, those garages are getting cleaned out. So, after years of looking, I finally found a Pro frame in my size and quickly agreed to pay $150 for it. The seller turned out to be an old bike guy like myself, probably 20 years older. He said he'd originally purchased the frame on eBay about 15 years ago from a seller named Sheldon Brown ("Maybe you've heard of him?!") but had never built it up.
Trying to match paint colors.
Unfortunately, the frame had a small cosmetic dent and a nasty bit of rust on the top tube. So my first difficulty would be filling the dent, touching up the paint, and fixing the lettering. The Mark IV's signature mink blue paint has a pearlescent sheen that's nearly impossible for an amatuer like myself to replicate. After carefully filling the dent with epoxy and cleaning the rust, I spent a good bit of time at my local Napa Auto Parts store examining paint chips. But the only decent match I found was super expensive and required a specialized application process.
Visiting Chris Kvale's shop
Eventually, I reached out to legendary Minneapolis framebuilder Chris Kvale, who said he may be able to help. I rode to his shop by the Midwtown Greenway with the frame on my shoulder. Chris keeps an extensive library of vintage 3M Imron paints. One of them was a near perfect match, although Chris said the pearlescent fleck size was slightly off. He may be right, but when he was finished, I couldn't see any difference at all. Chris also sourced replacement decals--they look perfect.
Top tube repainting completed
So now, I got to start bolting stuff on. Since I was starting with just a frame, I didn't feel compelled to rebuild the bike with its original Campagnolo Nuovo Record components. I'd already done that with my Motobecane Grand Record and I didn't really want to be limited by Campy's rather tight gear range. Vintage Campy stuff is beautiful and durable, but in truth Suntour was making better derailleurs than anyone throughout the 70s. I decided to build with high end Japanese components including Suntour barcons and Cyclone M-II derailleurs, a Sugino GT crankset, and Shimano 105 hubs laced to Mavic Open rims.
My cat Ghost helping to build the front wheel
I also gave it a Cinelli stem, its originally spec'd Campy headset, MKS Sylvan Pedals, a Brooks Professional Swallow saddle, and some modern dual pivot brakes
The drivetrain of the final build
Soon, after unknown decades of storage, this Raleigh was rolling again. My main motivation had always been--indeed always seems to be--experiencing what it's like to ride a classic 50 year old bike. To me, it's a type of time travel. And indeed, the Professional did not disappoint. I did not find it to be squirrely at all--rather, it's tight and responsive. It climbs very well and feels plenty stiff while also cushioning the shock of potholes. It's a joy to ride! But then again, I kinda love riding all my bikes. I'm not very objective.
The complete final build
I like best the Professional's modern look, with its sloping chrome fork crown and its "fastback" seat stays. In design, it seems to be a full decade ahead of its time. The only difference between the Mark IV and high end mid-80s racers is the Raleigh can accomodate much wider tires. I gave it comfy 28mm Continental 4 Seasons that feel great.
I've also discovered that no other bike pairs as nicely with 70s English Prog Rock. I highly recommend firing up some old Genesis, Yes, or Van Der Graff Generator and bombing through Lilydale on a spring morning on a whip like this. Or, maybe some *modern English prog. Either way--a one of a kind experience.
Under the High Bridge