Apologies for long title, but it serves to sum up a train of thought.
If you have ever had the consumate pleasure of following the Tour de France on some of its stages in the Alps, you may have had the pleasure of spending some time in the lakeside town of Annecy..the Lac d'Annecy being renowned as the cleanest lake in Europe, although its bottom is lined with pleasure-boat paddle-steamers scuttled by Hitler's SS force when they occupied the town, in an attempt to curtail the activities of the "resistance"/maquis that was very active in that region.
As well as being blessed with its setting surrounded by a ridge of mountains, Annecy used to boast a wealth of top-class cycle shops..and of course MAVIC still churn out their CNC-machined accessories from workshiops in the neighbourhood. A close friend of mine, Jean-Marie Duret once boasted to me that he supplied the same frames under different brands - Geliano, Rozelli, and Canelli to three of the top shops, and that business was unbelievably good.
It was on a cycle ride and visit to his Geliano outlet that I learned a great deal about Reynolds 531DB, or at least some of it, as supplied to the French cycle trade.. I recall chatting to the owner of the shop and bemoaning the fact that none of his "top" frames were built of 531 tubing. "Merde" he said"..souvent fissure.." explaining that 531 often split open..and to illustrate his meaning he ran his index finger down the length of a seat tube.
I protested that while 531 has been known, as have almost every other brand of steel cycle tube to crack across its diameter, I had never known one to split. He promptly disappeared into his workshop ,and returned clutching three pieces of what he claimed was 531 tubing. Two of them bore the "MERCIER" transfer and the other "PEUGEOT"..all three had Reynolds 531 DB decals ..and all three had long splits or cracks running along their length.
To make his point he hoisted one up to his eye like a telescope and raised it skywards. Having given me the lesson on what to do, I had to carry out the same manoeuvre. And Lo and Behold..I could see the sky..but also what appeared to be a seam. His enquiries after a series of split frame tubes had yielded the information that some Reynolds as supplied to the larger manufacturers was in fact seamed and not solid-drawn.
A couple of years later I had the job of replacing a some of tubes in a couple Raleigh frames, one a "road" frame the other a "randonneur". With the memory of the Reynolds telescope reasonably fresh in my mind I checked out the Raleigh 531 tubes with the "sky" test. Yes..and Lo and Behold..they too were seamed.
Has anyone on the List come across this phenomenon?
Norris Lockley, Settle Uk
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