This frame is exactly what the seller says it is, a Massed Start Special from 1951-2. Please see the picture which was used by Carlton in the their 1951 and 1952 catalogues:
http://i141.photobucket.com/
The LH frame is the straightforward Massed Start and the right-hand frame the Massed Start Special.
A 23in 531 DB frame from the early 50s will typically weigh a bit less than 2kg - the thinner rear dropouts and thinner pressed lugs meant that frames from this period were often much lighter than we'd assume based on present day frames built from similar tubing... It is true that there were quite a few variations of 531 DB tubing available - some really rather light tube options - for example a 22g head tube (0.8mm) was a quite commonly used option in place of a 20g (1mm) one which would now be used as standard...
Different tubing decals were used according to the whim of the bike maker and Reynolds - the very small 531 DB decal is restricted to only a few makes...
Please remember that Carlton was a British company which meant that not every frame would come with the same set of decals... Not all Carlton's had a script decal on the top tube. I would agree that this frame has almost certainly been repainted but I think that the lining in particular has probably been faithfully copied if you look at the catalogue illustration.
Finally the quoted frame number Cxxxx is approx correct for 1951-2.
I think it pays to check before committing yourself to print especially when forgery is suggested - the correct information in this case is mostly available on the web...
Hilary Stone, Bristol, British Isles
donald gillies wrote:
> I have a 1950 flyer and I've seen massed starts and super pythons on
> ebay, and of course I saved the photos in my archive of Carlton Art.
> This is a beautiful bike, just beautiful. But it's certainly not a
> 1950's Massed Start bike. It could possibly be an early 1960's bike
> of some sort.
>
> I'll tell you just why this bike is a fake.
>
> 1. First, bikes in the 50's era had a different seat tube decal.
> Even though reproductions of that vintage seat tube decal are
> available from Nick at Lloyds, I'll can tell you exactly why the
> painter didn't use the reproductions, assuming he knew what he was
> doing. The painter used a 2nd head tube decal because the seat
> tube decal SHOULD contain THE MODEL NAME within the seat tube
> decal to be authentic.
>
> My 1950 Carlton Flyer says "FLYER" within the decal.
> Another 50's bike says "SUPER PYTHON" within the decal.
>
> Pix available on request.
>
> 2. My 1950 Carlton flyer is reynolds 531 throughout, but more
> importantly, its freak'in light, a 1900 grams frame for a 23"
> sized frame. The 531 decal used on my bike is the "thumbnail"
> sized decal that just says '531'. It doesn't have all the
> B.S. contained on the decal in the auction.
>
> 3. More importantly, where's the frick'in 'Carlton' script decal that
> belongs on the top tube or downtube, much like what Raleigh
> adopted in the 70's? What Raleigh adopted in the 70's, Carlton
> was doing in the 50's.
>
> Excuse my french. I have MADE copies of this decal PRECISELY
> BECAUSE its so difficult to find. SSSINK.com doesn't make it.
> The bike should not have block letters on the downtube, it should
> be script letters, just like on my 1950 Carlton Flyer, and like
> the early 1960's Carlton Franco-Suisse that I am turning a Raleigh
> International into ...
>
> - Don Gillies
> San Diego, CA, USA