Originally Posted by
gr23932
I just finished taking the Fork off and it indeed has a Reynolds 531 stamp on it. Here are the pics. Now, I also just got off the phone with the guy who sold me the bike and he says the paint is original. He's the OG owner. He also said he got it a ways back. He couldn't remember exactly when but he said it was for sure before 1987 since he remembers riding the bike to the hospital when his grandson was born. So what gives???
Eh, who knows with the paint schemes. I wouldn't sweat it too much.
The frame is pre-85 by the date code. Is there a decal on the fork that has a serial number? If so, does it match the BB? The crown was made by Microfusione Italiana, and its possible it arrived in the factory in late 1984 rather than '85. Assuming the numeric portion of the serial is sequential, yours is the latest pre-85 I have in my list - very likely it was one of the last of the "old" frames produced.