I acquired this bike as an impulse purchase, mainly because it looked like a good deal. The price was $120 including shipping, as pictured below. Now, I didn’t really need this frame but I do like some of the 80’s British touring bikes and I thought that maybe I could find something to do with this one. Besides, look at all of the good parts it came with!
The frame came with it’s stock brake-set, bars and stem and the bottom bracket. Even though I might not use most of the original components the condition was pretty good with very little rust and decent paint. Even the decals were mostly intact! I would need to do very little to clean this bike up and bring it back into service.
Raleigh touring bikes of this era have some interesting characteristics. The full line was made from Reynolds 555t double butted tubing, and there were few differences between the top of the line and the lower tier frames such as this one. The main differences being that the top tier model (the Portage) had better (Chro-Mo) fork ends, and the lower tier model (Wyoming) had side-pull brakes as opposed to cantilevers. Other than that the frames themselves were quite similar. Of course the upper tier models came with better components, but otherwise this frame was quite comparable with the top shelf models.
Another characteristic of this frame that I liked was that it originally came with 27 inch wheels. By switching to 700c wheels I could probably go to a bigger tire size, which was a thought I had in the back of my mind. Just how big I could go was the question to be answered.
I found a complete copy of the 1984 Raleigh Touring Bike Catalogue on a blog that I follow, (the Simplicity of Vintage Cycles) which offered some good insight as to how this bike was originally equipped. It is not my intention to bring this bike back to original but it is good to know where it started.
The next step for me will be to decide what kind of bike that I want this to be. Then I will scour my parts bins to see what I have that will work for that. After that there will likely be a quest for parts, which is half the fun!
The Utah Randonneur 
March 22, 2020 at 10:46 pm
I just bought a rebuilt 1984 Wyoming and rode it for 3 hours today (nothing else to do with COVID-19 running amuck) but had such a nice ride and could have went 3 more hours easily. I literally could ride this bike across the state. I’m a recent roadie converted to touring now that I’m in my later 40’s (that was hard to type). I still have my Ti Litespeed and won’t get rid of it anytime soon, but this old Wyoming could actually be my go-to bike now. If anyone is interested in how my bike guy built this up I can share pictures. It’s truly a sweet ride.
March 22, 2020 at 11:24 pm
I always like to see pics. Send me some if you like, and maybe I can find a way to put them in the post!
March 22, 2020 at 11:27 pm
Please do post them!
Inquiring minds want to know.
March 22, 2020 at 11:42 pm
Ok, tomorrow! Assuming I can figure out how to upload pictures on this forum.
March 23, 2020 at 2:16 pm
You could email me any pics to; lonnie at oldairhead.com
March 23, 2020 at 5:44 pm
On the way! Little dirty. Just got back from a ride with my daughter.
March 25, 2020 at 9:41 am
Matt: I posted a pic of your Wyoming at the bottom of the page on my finished build.
March 26, 2020 at 9:26 pm
The picture looks great. Thanks Lonnie!
Hi Josh,
I’m still getting used to handle the bars. They are very comfortable. But when I want to get cruising and pedaling hard they tend to make me wiggle back and forth. The bike probably isn’t meant to ride that fast. So tonight I took my Litespeed out for a quick fast ride and got it out of my system. I realized I enjoy the scenery more on the Wyoming.
March 26, 2020 at 12:16 am
That’s a good looker! Those “crazy bars” (as VO calls them) have my eye. I’ve been considering putting them on a build. How do you like them, Matt?
March 26, 2020 at 11:09 pm
Matt,
The right bike for the right job I say! I ride a lot of different bikes, all road, rando, double century, a sporty 40, MTB! It’s good to have a lot of tools to choose from!
May 12, 2020 at 2:29 am
I used to own a 25″ Raleigh Wyoming (it was stolen back in 92). I really miss that bike. The Wyoming felt like no other bike I have ever ridden. I think part of it was the light 555 tubing and part of it was the geometry, but as I brought it up to speed (and I got a few speeding tickets in Downtown Chico, Ca while riding that bike, 25mph speed limit) the bike would flex in an elongated stretch (like the way a house cat stretches), and it felt incredible. It smoothed the ride without losing the energy I was transferring to the bike (like a full suspension mountain bike tend to lose the energy with the shocks and springs). The Wyoming was the most comfortable bikes I have ever ridden and I used to put 100+ miles per day on it. I don’t know if the smaller sized frames flexed the way the 25 did, I never rode a smaller one, but I hope to own another Wyoming 25 again, at some point in the future. I keep looking for one to buy, but no luck thus far. If your Wyoming is flexing the same way mine did, it is a real joy to ride.
May 12, 2020 at 10:43 pm
Hi Paul, the way this bike is now configured with crazy bars, Thomson Elite stem and smaller wheels with larger Gravel King tires I probably won’t be getting any speeding tickets on it 🙂 So I don’t really know if it will flex like that. We do have some pretty nice hills in our area near the Mississippi river and I’ve been able to push 50 mph on my Litespeed Firenze on the downhill. I’ll see what I can do on the Wyoming! It’s sort of a green tank the way it’s built now. But very comfortable.
November 13, 2023 at 10:32 am
Just picked up on your post during my research to find out something about the used bike that I bought off the grocery store notice board back in 1984. I needed to get from Vancouver to Toronto and had limited funds for transport so I decided to buy a bike and tent and ride there, 4600 kilometres. Knew nothing about bikes but this one sounded right “ Raleigh Touring Bike “ and it worked out fine. Got me over the Rockies with a combined weight of bike gear and me coming in at 250 lbs. It took me six weeks including rest days , and I just loved that bike but it was stolen a month after I arrived in Toronto ..surly knaves 🤬
Just written a book about the adventure and really pleased to have discovered that my used bike was a thorough bred top of the line lady .
August 15, 2019 at 9:58 am
Hey! Did you ever complete the rebuild on this? I’m curious too.
August 15, 2019 at 7:31 pm
Chris,
Yes, I hope to update soon with the result! Sorry, but life sometimes gets in the way.
June 29, 2019 at 1:36 pm
I have this bike all original except for the front tire. I had no idea it was such a gem. I’m excited to get it up to speed.
February 20, 2018 at 12:52 am
The mid-80s Touring line for Raleigh was spectacular. I’ve owned everything from the Portage, Kodiak to the Alyeska and even some of the race bikes from the same era. They each have their own spirit and all proved to be well-built machines. You could do a lot worse for $120! That’s a steal!
As for the 1984 Raleigh Touring Bike Catalogue, it certainly looks familiar! At least give me credit, will ya?! 😉
February 20, 2018 at 10:44 am
Sorry Josh! I downloaded that catalog several months ago and forgot where it came from. I will add accreditation in the post. Thanks!
February 20, 2018 at 11:33 am
No harm, no foul on the catalog!
I’m really looking forward to seeing your Wyoming built up. What a great frame!