The Reynolds site information is incorrect. The use of Reynolds HM tubing for cycles was announced in Cycling magazine in autumn 1932 and several manufacturers' bikes built with the new tubing were included in a round-up of the new models in Cycling in November 1932 - Bertrand, Claud Butler, Ellis Champion, F W Evans, Granby, Stenton Glider etc There was no Olympia Show that year but there was a Lightweight Show held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, Westminster in October 1932. There was a quite comprehensive programme to the show and Reynolds had a full page advert announcing the use of HM steel now being available for cycles including butted frame tubes, fork blades, butted handlebars etc Accles & Pollocks, Reynolds greatest rival amongst tubing manufacturers, had introduced in 1930 aircraft chrome-molybdenum alloy steel tubing in sizes and gauges suitable for bicycle frame use. This was received very enthusiastically by the lightweight builders and Reynolds response with HM tubing in 1933 was predictable... Especially as the shows featured lighter and lighter bicycles built from this latest tubing. Both A&P Chrome-Moloybdenum and Reynolds HM steels were not developed initially for the cycle industry - cutting edge technology at the time was aircraft so both types of alloy steel were developed for this use prior to their introduction for bicycles. Reynolds in their 1932 advert infers that and A&P in their reference to aircraft tubing confirms this too. So Reynolds may well be correct in saying that HM steel was introduced in 1924 ... but incorrect in claiming its use on bicycles before 1932.
Hilary Stone, Bristol, England
> From: sam lingo <frameteam2003@yahoo.com>
> Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 21:05:30 -0700 (PDT)
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR] early-20s(?) Reynolds Tube Company catalog scans available
> on the web
>
>
>
> Hilary Stone <hilary.stone@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: Reynolds HM tubing came
> out in 1933 so the catalogue predates that. The
> butted tubing would have I think only been A quality - transfers were
> supplied by Reynolds proclaiming a bike to be built from Reynolds A quality
> tubing.
>
> Hilary Stone, Bristol, England
> I think Joe gave me this answer a while back---sam lingo,pleasanton tx
>
> Apparently 1924.
>
> If a link from the CR site is dead, try the Wayback Machine.
>
> <http://web.archive.org/web/19980109144634/reynoldsusa.com/history/history.htm
> l>
>
> At some point, Dale could spend the rest of his life recovering broken
> links.
>
> Joe Bender-Zanoni
>
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