Road Cycling - Reynold's numbering system

Hi, I tried asking a few people here in PM but none of them know :(

Basicially im trying to build a secondary bike but try to keep it at a minimum cost.

I see these Reynold's 501, 3xx and some other numbers too but im not sure what they mean. Im trying to find the lightest Reynold and most durable.

Thanks

https://vault2.secured-url.com/reynolds/compproperties.html

Thanks for the link!

I assume the highest one is the lighest of all the Reynold frames?

I've always been curious too, so I went googling and only found -- http://www.bikeschool.com/technical-board/messages/9979.htm

All I understand is that the higher the number, the better the quality, supposedly. By quality, I mean strength-to-weight ratio. But dunno.

I don't know exactly what the numbers represent, but I was once told that they stand for different ratios of the other metals (manganese, molybdenum, for example) that are added to the steel to give whatever tube-set its particular properties.

However, I'm confident I can rate the from "best" to "worst":

853, 753, 653, 631, 531, 525, 501....(Hmmm, seems to be some sort of pattern appearing :) )

Some of these tube-sets are not made any more, but there are still plenty out there.

VERY simply put, the the bigger the number, the lighter and stiffer the frame will be, but......

not all 853 frames are the same, some are made using 531 rear triangles, some use oversized downtubes, some use heavy lug, etc, so, even though 853 is considered the best by most, don't go buying one without checking it right out. Same goes for 531; some are good, yet some are absolute bricks.

I'll try to find more stuff

http://www.worldclasscycles.com/JACKSON-HOME.htm

I don't know exactly what the numbers represent, but I was once told that they stand for different ratios of the other metals (manganese, molybdenum, for example) that are added to the steel to give whatever tube-set its particular properties.

Don't confuse the marketting names (or rather numbers in this case) with the SAE/ASTM numbering scheme.

For instance, 853 is a brand name while 4130 is an SAE/ASTM designation. You may want to check out this previous thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=53270).