--- On Thu, 3/5/09, Hilary Stone <hilary.stone@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: > > Argos, a local framebuilder to me has already tried the new > 531 and they say its not anything like the original - they > used to make aero fork blades by squashing in a former 1in > 531 top tubes - this was extremely successful - the new 531 > just splits...
It makes one wonder whether the new fork blades are actually made from seamed tubing. Didn't Norris Lockley recently mention that some French frame builders had once complained that they often received 531 tubesets which contained seamed material?
In fact, when I first read that post, I wondered whether the seamed 531 wasn't the actual progenitor of the 501 tubing? Of course, the question about the recent version of 531 remains. I would have thought that a properly constructed, high quality fork blade (seamed or seamless) would handle the modification that Argos is trying to make.
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)