At 2:29 AM -0800 11/25/09, R.S. Broderick wrote:
>However, Reynolds 5/10 mm tubing was introduced in 1975 as 531 SL (...i.e.
>Special Lightweight) coincident to release of 753 (...which does happen to
>measure 3/10 mm at its thinnest point).
While the "SL" name probably does date from 1975, the lightweight 531 tubing is much older. I have a spec sheet for a 1947 Alex Singer that lists "5/10 mm" and the bike carries a Reynolds tubing sticker (see "Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles" p. 55).
The "3/10 mm" tubing was already available in the 1930s, as it was used on many bikes in the French technical trials.
Was the lighter-gauge 531 only available in France? (My sources in France all claim that the "3/10 mm" 531 was a French exclusive, but nobody ever told me that about the "5/10 mm.")
Looking through the V-CC's reprints of builders' catalogues ("Lightweight Catalogues, Vols. 1-3), I only see references to "Reynolds 531" in the descriptions, but no other distinctions.
Considering the many different and even custom tubes (Cantiflex etc.) made by Reynolds for British makers, I would be surprised if they only offered "7/10 mm" tubing in their catalogues.
I am sure some of our British members know the answer.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
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