if yore* suggesting that the 90% of the "full 531 D.B." frames ever made were built at shops/factories where the pipes were ordered, packaged, and/or shipped from the YooKay as "sets in boxes...", i say "warlocks. no way!" at witcomb london it was pipes only. witcomb usa it was pipes only. and i'll raise yore* 50 quid to 50 dollars and bet the cinellis, the mondias, the paramounts, the bob jacobsons, the motobecanes, and MANY others ordered pipes for inventory and then concocted their own assemblage. e-RICHIE dorking-upon-chester, ct *spelled the British way to show i have learnin'.
Is SL different than SP? You betcha! Three-quarters of a pound different, and it shows. I love my SP Medici, but SL is a bit light for me (60-61 cm frame size, c-t). Certainly, Richard is technically correct, but I'd wager fifty quid that at least 90% of the "full 531 D.B." frames ever built worlwide used essentially box-stock complete tubesets from Reynolds, at least as far as wall thickness was concerned. (I'm not counting how the stays were pre-slotted (or not), or whether the blades were pre-bent or not, CO or NCO, etc., etc.). They had a "standard" gauge set of tubing, and various other pre-packaged sets that you could order. Of course, you could order it one individual tube at a time, but almost no one other than very-low volume builders did that IMHO. Others' thoughts on this?? Regards, Greg Parker Dexter, Michigan http://www.bicycleclassics.com /classicrendezvous