A customer dropped by a Holdworth Professional that he is interested in selling. I'm trying to piece together exactly what this thing is and am looking for some help from Holdsworth experts.
The owner says that he bought the bike brand new in 1969 or 1970. However, the paint scheme and components are a bit off. The bike might have been repainted at one point as the bike resided with the owner's brother for a number of years.
The paint is a bright yellow and the Holdsworth seattube and downtube decals appear to be the later serif font type. A top tube decal reads "Professional" in a script font. There is no head badge, but there is a decal. The seatstays are the semi-wraparound type, and the seatlug has a Campy allen head binder bolt. There are braze-ons for the rear brake cable, rear derailleur cable, and bottle cage mounts on the downtube. Derailleur cables are routed over the BB shell. The fork has a flat crown as used on the earlier Professionals. There is no chrome except for the dropout faces, but a couple of paint chips reveal chrome under the paint.
The 531 decal is the TI Reynolds type, and there is a "Designed and Handcrafted Holdsworthy" decal on the seattube just above the BB. The components are a mixed bag. The crank is a Campy strada with a 1981 date stamp. The NR rear derailleur is marked Pat. 82.
Looking at some Holdworth sites, it appears that this bike has elements of both the early Professionals and the later varieties. The owner is sure about the time that he bought the bike, but if it is from 1969/1970 I'd say that it has been repainted and equipped with newer components at some time. I couldn't find any chart of Holdsworth serial numbers. This one is marked 030882. Any suggestions?
Todd Kuzma
Heron Bicycles
Tullio's Big Dog Cyclery
LaSalle, IL 815-223-1776
http://www.heronbicycles.com
http://www.tullios.com