raleigh mountain tour elkhorn

1984 Raleigh Elkhorn mountain bike

1984 Raleigh Elkhorn

If you’ve seen one road, you’ve seen them all (according to Raleigh’s advertisements from the early ‘80’s). Try this new mountain-biking thing instead!

Raleigh designed their early Mountain Tour bikes for a new breed of cyclist who liked to go off the road “on purpose”. These bikes were assembled around extra long frames that featured “extended” angles and “longer” fork rake which added up to extra stability for going downhill without compromising the quick handling that’s needed when “dodging startled chipmunks”.

Bullmoose bars

Raleigh badge

Shoulder strap

Early mountain bike design, the hypothetical abuse that bike designers suspected the bikes would have to contend with and earnest ad copy were a fun mixture. I’m still not sure what an extended frame angle might be or how fork rake might get longer instead of just more pronounced.

Besides offering bikes with sealed-bearing ruggedness for riding down mountains, across fields and the occasional mud flat, Raleigh added some extra potency in other areas. The “bull moose” handlebars on this Elkhorn model bike must have been more than than a marketing guy could resist as the component highlights in the advertisement claim that the Deore XT cantilever brakes “can stop a moose”.

Suntour AG & Takagi cranks

Raleigh 575mt tubing

Suntour AG derailleur

As a really early mass-produced mountain bike, this Raleigh is a hodgepodge of components. There’s a Takagi triple crankset with the popular half-step gearing option for long-distance touring. The wheels are borrowed from Raleigh’s beach cruiser offerings, it has derailleurs from the road line-up, and a smattering of BMX parts.

This Elkhorn model rides smoothly and predictably on dirt trails (we’ve tried it) but the proportions are weird. The seatposts that were available for early mountain bikes were only about 200mm long at best, so Raleigh was expecting that the rider for this bike would be about 5’7” tall. In spite of that the “extended” 68 degree seat and head tube angles coupled with a long top tube made the reach to the handlebars appropriate for someone about 6’1”.

I think we’ll probably install a longer seatpost, air up the tires and head off road. Maybe see if we can startle some chipmunks in the process.

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Raleigh Elkhorn Mountain Tour + Original 1986 Documents

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It's not everyday that you can buy a bike from 1986 with all of the original paperwork and in near mint condition. This Raleigh Elkhorn is that bike! An absolute time capsule back to the 80's when it was all about bombing hills with your mates and maybe having a couple beers. This bike originally sold for $700! One of the nicer mountain bikes being produced at the time! 

Measurements:

Seat tube (ctt) - 49cm

Top tube (ctc) - 59cm

Standover - 75cm

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1987 Raleigh Mountain Tour Elkhorn

• Serial: 6JUO215
• Manufacturer: Raleigh
• Name: Elkhorn Mountain Tour
• Model: Mountain Tour Elkhorn
• Primary colors: Green
• Frame size: S
• Frame Material: Steel

Distinguishing features

an old mountain bike with no suspension. Pink back rack bell on handlebars/ old red Kirtland panniers

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• Mountain Bike --> 1997
• Retro MTB Chat

198? Raleigh Mountain Tour Elkhorn

• Thread starter Cactus459
• Start date Jan 6, 2022

Dirt Disciple

• Jan 6, 2022

I seem to have the worst luck with documentation or catalogs for my bike. I picked up a new Raleigh and I normally stick with Specialized bikes but this was a good looking bike. Can anyone tell me about this bike? The date code on the brakes is "KJ" which is October 1986. Guessing the bike is a 1987.  

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raleigh mountain tour

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i'm looing to at buying a Raleigh Mountian Tour. i dont know what this bike is. does anybody know if is it high end or low end? i have only seen a distant photo. it is definetly mid to late 80's but i cant see any of the components. if somebody could tell me its nothing than you would be saving me a long drive to see it in person.  

The One I've seen.... Looked to be built up pretty high end. Same build kit as a Stumpjumper, Ritchey or the like. The one I saw looked to be from around '86. I don't know about the quality of the frame though.  

Mountain tour I actually sold a bunch of those new (early-mid 1980's) and it was just a name for the mountain bike series but there should also be a model name. Sorta Like Trek (maker) Singletrack (series) 970 (model). If it was an earlier bike, the gray one was the Seneca (entry level good), the green was the Elkhorn (better) and the metallic red/burgundy was the Crested Butte (best). The Crested Butte used Shimano XT deer head stuff but Raleigh had an annoying habit of substituting private label stuff everywhere. I think they used the Mountain Tour name up until they introduced the Technium bonded aluminum frame.  

First Flight said: I actually sold a bunch of those new (early-mid 1980's) and it was just a name for the mountain bike series but there should also be a model name. Sorta Like Trek (maker) Singletrack (series) 970 (model). If it was an earlier bike, the gray one was the Seneca (entry level good), the green was the Elkhorn (better) and the metallic red/burgundy was the Crested Butte (best). The Crested Butte used Shimano XT deer head stuff but Raleigh had an annoying habit of substituting private label stuff everywhere. I think they used the Mountain Tour name up until they introduced the Technium bonded aluminum frame. Click to expand...

Hi Fillet-Brazed, I know this post is super old, but just wanted to see if you 1. still have the 23" Tamarack, and 2, if you'd be interested in selling it? I'm 6'5 and been trying to track down a big tamarack frame. Thanks!  

Fillet-brazed said: Jeff, I think Ive mentioned to you before, the Elkhorn was my first bike in 1984 and it holds a special place in my heart. If you come across an 18"-20" let me know. Maybe there are a few still in your area since you sold a lot of them. I did finally find one but its a monster 23"er. I rarely see them. On a somewhat related note, my friends mom had a Crested Butte model which he of course borrowed and thrashed but we didnt have a clue as to what Crested Butte was in 7th grade. He got the nickname "crusty butt" riding that bike. Its funny, at that point in time, neither of us had a clue as to which was the better bike between the Elkhorn or the CB. The Elkhorn for me brings back some great memories of jamming around on new uncharted trails. Those wheels seemed so big and stable coming off our BMX bikes. Anyway, mine ended up cracking at the seat collar and I got a super ugly Technium bike. I think Im tearing up. Click to expand...

First Flight said: The Seneca was my first decent bike when I was in college and working @ a shop so I remember them well. I put yellow cable housing on it as I was building it and then managed to wreck it in the parking lot before loading it in the car!! That is kinda funny, since we called the Crested Butte the "crusty butt" as well. I'll always remember those tapered reflectors, the "directional" tires and those little red Raleigh stickers that seemed to be placed on every part on the bike. I think we counted once and the word Raleigh was on the bike like 47 times or something ridiculous. We do have one of the early Senecas, an Elkhorn and a little bit later Seneca on the web site. Click to expand...

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Table of Contents

Raleigh overview, 1982 trail rider, 1983 grand mesa, 1984 elkhorn, 1985 crested butte, 1986 maverick, 1987 seneca, 1988 vision, 1990 instinct.

A giant in the industry since 1885, Raleigh, along with most of the big makers, was slow to accept mountain bikes as anything other than a passing fad. 1)

When Yvonne Rix [Raleigh product manager] visited the USA … in 1981, she formed the view that mountain bikes would eventually come down from the hills and onto the streets. The reaction from the Raleigh board was, who needs mountain bikes in England where there are few mountains? Yvonne Rix’s response was that neither do you need a 4×4 to drive in London, but you see plenty of Range Rovers in Chelsea. bikebiz

Raleigh UK wouldn't launch a mountain bike until 1985. However, Raleigh USA was separate entity run by Huffy Cycle Company of America , manufacturing bikes in the USA. 2)

The mt. bikes listed from 1982 → 1985 are the US only versions. Canada debuted a Rocky in 1985 and the UK a Maverick also in 1985. British Raleighs kept to non-ISO threading standards until the mid-80's so that restoring an old Raleigh usually means upgrading to ISO.

An obvious knock-off from a 1978 Breezer Series I , except with single piece cranks, BMX parts, and spring cruiser seats. Decent gearing with a 38 tooth freewheel.

I remember that Raleigh. … 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 Joe Breeze, from: mombat

The Grand Mesa and Teton remained at the bottom of the price range and top of the weight range (35 and 36 pounds) for Raleigh Mountain Bikes. Interestingly, both of these were available in 650b versions. The bike at the right is likely a 1984 Grand Mesa, with factory 650b rims.

The Elkhorn was the mid-range ATB, with Suntour components and weighing in at 32 pounds.

Originally debuted in 1984, the Crested Butte was at the top of Raleigh USA's Mountain Tour series. Shimano XT components, 29 pounds. 3)

Starting in 1985, Raleigh UK started offering a mountain bike to Europe. The lugged Maverick would be the sole Raleigh ATB for the UK for a few years. An unidentified Shimano Skylark related rear derailleur (1977-1986).

Suntour XC Sport 7000.

First offering of a Technium Aluminum/Carbon MTB, by “Raleigh Company of America,” under license from Easton. This frame technology was successfully raced by the 1989 Yeti team. SunTour XC 6000 (1988 in this version.)

Deore II (1989-90). If “chill” wasn't your thing, you could also opt for a “killer instinct,” “ovation,” “heat,” “flashpoint,” or “frenzy” models.

SunTour XCE (?) rear derailleur (1990-92).