In their 1930's catalogue, Buckley Brothers of London listed the weight of their complete Model C racing cycle, built of either High Manganese or Chrome Molybdenum tubing, and fully equipped to catalogue specification, as 15 pounds. The Model C exhibited at the first Lighweight Show weighed 13 pounds, but the equipment on the show model isn't listed.
Their CR road racing model is listed at 18 pounds weight.
The catalogue doesn't mention 531 anywhere, and the frame angles look pretty shallow, so the catalogue could pre-date 1935.
Neil Foddering Weymouth, Dorset, England
>From: Simon PJ <simonpj@mac.com>
>To: <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Subject: [CR]How light was 'lightweight'?
>Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2006 21:12:57 +0100
>
>Having just passed some idle hours wondering about the weight of my bikes
>and finally figuring out that I could weigh them by holding them whilst I
>stood on the scales, I would be interested to know what really was
>'lightweight' for a racing bicycle in the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.
>
>I was surprised - but probably shouldn't have been - that my most recent
>bike, an OT Pinarello Vuelta from '98 wearing a mix of Campagnolo C-Record
>and Chorus from the 80's and 90's was the heaviest at a little over 23
>pounds - whereas a 1948 Holdsworth Cyclone Deluxe and a 1954 Bates,
>admittedly both with fixed gear, came in at just under 20 pounds, even with
>their full complement of period steel cranks, etc.
>
>So, what weights were racing cyclists trying, and managing, to get their
>bikes down to - in the on-topic decades of the last century?
>
>Wyndham,
>Girton, UK