1982 Raleigh Trail Rider

Interesting twin-lateral type frame.  During this era, manufacturers were still unsure about the future of mountain biking and were reluctant to dump a bunch of money into them.  That helps explain the use of BMX-derived parts such as the crank, stem, brakes, pedals, handlebars and forks.  This bike still uses caliper brakes and a double crank.  The crank may have given and acceptably low gear when used with the 38 tooth cog on the back.  Raleigh got a little more serious the next year by offering more of  a true mountain bike.

This was the response from Joe Breeze on the similarity of the frame designs:

"I remember that Raleigh. I don't recall seeing them in the US though. I think I saw it in a British "Crane's" publication at that time. There's little reason to doubt that the first 10 Breezers were the source of influence.

The Raleigh design is of course a cheap imitation. The Raleigh twin-lateral design negates most of their benefit as the tubes hug the seat tube and kink around the tire. The Breezer twin lats made a bee line between the head tube and rear tips and had more bending stiffness. Granted, subsequent designs
(diamond frame) were far better.

Soon after I built my first Breezers I determined that, with a diamond-frame design, I could make a frame 3/4 of pound lighter, requiring 10 fewer welds and 9 fewer tubing cuts, while achieving greater laterally stiffness and greater strength overall.

Cheers,
Joe"

   Click on thumbnails below for larger images:        

    
 

Frame		4130 Cro-Moly
Fork		Straight bladed BMX
Rear Shock		NA
Rims		Araya 7X
Hubs		Suzue
Spokes		Zinc 3 cross
Tires		26 x 2.125 Gum wall
Pedals		Alloy rat-trap style, 1/2" spindles
Crank		One piece with stamped steel double chain ring set
Chain		1/2" x 3/32
Rear Cogs		Suntour 5 speed freewheel with 38 tooth cog
Bottom Bracket		American style for 1 piece cranks
Front Derailleur		Suntour Spirt
Rear Derailleur		Suntour AG
Shifters		Suntour Mighty
Handlebars		High rise steel
Stem		MIC BMX style, 4 bolt
Headset		Steel
Brake set		Raleigh BMX-style
Brake levers		Chang Star motorcycle style
Saddle		Sprung
Seat Post		fluted alloy
Colors		Metallic Red
Size		20" c-c
Serial #		MD2013890