Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2005 18:09:59 -0800 From: "JB Froke" <jbfroke@msn.com> To: "classicrendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Subject: [CR]Reynolds 531 stamping, question
Question for the experts: Does one normally expect to find a Reynolds stamping on the tubing of an assembled frame? Specifically, while sanding-down my 1960s Tigra (for a redux), I found stamped on both the down tube and top tube the word "REYNOLDS" and on the down tube added "REYNOLDS 531 ??? 20/23." I had not seen that before, and have relied on others to identify whether a bike was indeed built of 531 - if the decals were missing. So again, is it usual or unusal for such a stamping.
(I assume the 20/23 means inside and outside diameter of the tube, but??
Thanks,
JB Froke Pebble Beach, CA
Sometimes Reynolds tubes were marked that way (mechanically stamped into the wall of the tube). Sometimes they were just ink-stamped. 20 and 23 would be the gauges of the two different thicknesses of the tube (20 on the butts, 23 in the center section, IIRC)..... Downtubes are (were) 28.6 mm (1.125 inches) O.D., the same as a seat tube. Downtubes are double-butted, seat tubes single-butted. Greg Parker Ann Arbor, Michigan, 'murrica