[I think this was one of the lost messages - please pardon the repeat if not!]
Just brought home an abandoned bike, perhaps stolen, I wonder what my legal requirement is? I'll call the police and see if they care...
Anyway my real question is, does anyone know if the mixte frame version was supposed to have Reynolds tubing? I'm pretty sure it's a '70 or '71, as it's almost identical to my '72 but a couple of things are older. The head badge for instance is roughly an oval, where my '72 has the headbadge cut out in the outline of the Heron. The city license (Fullerton, CA) says "Expires in [month scratched off] 1972". Anyone from Fullerton remember how long bike licenses were good for?
It's a nice enough bike but the paint and decals are fairly trashed, and if there ever was a Reynolds decal, that is gone without a trace. The boys frames were supposed to be 531 plain gauge three main tubes, though some may have had better tubes substituted - the decal on mine says double butted. It's the full 531 DB decal, with "forks and stays" painted over by hand! I take this to mean that it's three main tubes only, but they're double butted. Have to cut it apart to know for sure, and I guess I don't really care that much!
I would have passed on this abandoned mixte except Laurie liked it and said she'd ride it if I fixed it up for her. It is, to the best of my memory, completely original except for the tires and rear rim. Still has those goofy extra-long Huret steel DT shift levers, and that rear derailleur that looks like a Svelto but with the extra-long cage and nicer plating. Anyone remember what that derailleur was called?
Mark Bulgier