[CR]Re: Any Heavier Riders on 531 SL?

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Campagnolo)

Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:01:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: "EPL" <lowiemanuel@yahoo.ca>
To: "classicrendezvous@bikelist.org" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR]Re: Any Heavier Riders on 531 SL?

Mark Stonich wrote:

&gt;&gt; I&#39;d like to hear from 175-190 pounders who ride frames made with &gt;&gt; Reynolds 531 SL tubing. Do they, as Jan says &quot;plane&quot; or are they &gt;&gt; noodles? Does the chain rub the derailleur whenever the road gets steep? &gt;&gt; &gt;&gt; I&#39;m planning to build myself a new 21&quot; frame, which I&#39;ll equip with &gt;&gt; mostly on topic parts. The frame it will replace is an &#39;81 Trek 710 &gt;&gt; with 531 standard butted tubes, forks and stays. I don&#39;t cause any &gt;&gt; noticeable amount of flex on this. I weigh 185 but I&#39;m not a strong &gt;&gt; rider and could weigh 165 without losing any muscle. (Anybody know &gt;&gt; where I can buy some will power?) I run low gears, so rarely have to &gt;&gt; stand when climbing. The bike will not be used for touring. &gt;&gt; &gt;&gt; I have a couple of old sets of standard 531, but I just found out a &gt;&gt; friend is sitting on several sets of 531 SL.

Frame design should not begin with a decision about a tubeset. Geometry and dimensions go hand-in-hand with diameter and gauge of each tube.

You have 8 choices to make: seat stay, chain stay, down tube, top tube, seat tube, head tube, steerer and fork blade. Take advantage of your range of choices!

Having said that, despite the rider&#39;s weight, the frame size (21 inch or 53.5 cm) is quite small. Low gears and no touring, I&#39;d say all other things being equal, you can use the 531SL tubeset throughout. But there are some caveats.

Take care to use a good quality bottom bracket shell and fork crown.

Bear in mind the 531SL chainstays were reported to have some problems. You may want to swap them out for standard gauge 531C.

That light gauge 531SL was supposed to be silver brazed, unless you are really a master at torch work.

If you have access to standard 531C, you may be better off with that for the down tube and maybe even the seat stays too.

Sounds like you won&#39;t be pushing this frame so you may be satisfied with the lighter gauge tubes here and there.

I prefer to cut weight in other places, like wheels, saddle or pedals.

Heavier gauge steel frame tubing is less dent & impact & rust prone.

Emanuel Lowi Montreal, Quebec

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