Classic & Vintage - Holdsworth ID

I recently acquired a Holdsworth frame and fork. The seller and I both believe the frame to be a 'Super Mistral' . We are not sure of the year. The frame may have been repainted it's hard to tell but it looks pretty original. The serial number, 36381, on the BB matches the with the serial on the fork steerer tube. There is what is likely an original campy cable quide and the dropouts are campy. Wrap around seat stays.
531 decal but not one I am familiar with. The bottom bracket is english 68mm 1.37 but has lockrings on both sides. Any info appreciated. The frame is very light and very well constructed. Of course the Shimano decals were something added by a previous owner and will be the first things to go. The frame is fully chromed.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff301/terrors2/holdsworth/holdsworth008Medium.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff301/terrors2/holdsworth/holdsworth001Medium.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff301/terrors2/holdsworth/holdsworth004Medium.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff301/terrors2/holdsworth/holdsworth005Medium.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff301/terrors2/holdsworth/holdsworth003Medium.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff301/terrors2/holdsworth/holdsworth002Medium.jpg

It's definitely a repaint. The paint is too thick and the lug outlines too vague.

Other than that, the seat cluster definitely points to Holdsworth, and judging by the lack of brazed on shifter bosses and cable guides, I would guess 70's to very early 80's...but I'm not an expert.

Pete

I really think what you have is a Professional from the early to mid 70s. The wraparound seat stay puts it in that period. All the Mistrals that I have seen have eyelets on the dropouts. The lack of eyelets are an indicator that it is a Professional.

Also, the geometry seems to point to that frame being a Professional. The steeper seat and head tube angles point to a racing geometry. The fork has a larger rake than most of the Professionals I have seen but I have seen some with that amount of rake.

Professionals of that period had a variety of chroming schemes. Some had fully chrome forks and some did not. Some had chrome on the seat and chain stays and some did not. Some had fully chromed dropouts and some were partially chromed like yours.

Most of the Professionals from that period also did not have cable guide braze-ons. The chrome Campy bolt on cable guides were usually what the professionals had.

The paint is definitely a respray. The decals are very similar to what my mid 80s Professional have so they are not correct. The Reynolds 531 decals are not from the correct period either.

I am almost positive what you have is very nice steel racing frame from the 70s. I have a little a bit of knowledge about this because this frame is on my holy grail list.

Go here to see more about the Holdsworth Professional (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nkilgariff/Professional.htm)

My money is on the original paint being ORANGE !

I think it's a Professional as well - early 70's. It would look great in the team orange and blue livery.

Here we go:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HOLDSWORTH-PROFESSIONAL-REYNOLDS-531-Bike-frame-/260688448359?pt=Road_Bikes&hash=item3cb23e0b67

thanks for the info guys, this is better than what I thought and for sure it will get painted Orange and Kingfisher blue. Do you know if bead blasting will damage the chrome under the paint? Oh and to go along with the 70's thing the dropouts are 120mm

thanks for the info guys, this is better than what I thought and for sure it will get painted Orange and Kingfisher blue. Do you know if bead blasting will damage the chrome under the paint? Oh and to go along with the 70's thing the dropouts are 120mm

Rather than blasting with a "softer" media (which still might damage chrome) you might want to use a chemical stripper. Of course, the reason it's painted like this could be because the chrome is bad, you'll know once you start stripping it. Usually paint sticks so poorly to chrome that chemical stripping is fairly easy and quick on a fully chromed frame.

thanks for the info guys, this is better than what I thought and for sure it will get painted Orange and Kingfisher blue. Do you know if bead blasting will damage the chrome under the paint? Oh and to go along with the 70's thing the dropouts are 120mm

It really needs to be all Campagnolo Nuovo Record as well. Holdsworth was the Campagnolo distributor for the UK at the time your bike was made.

http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz248/earoehl/Team1970.jpg

Somebody that lives near me has a Super Mistral Fastback, which is the same as the Professional except for the fastback seat stays that make it slightly stiffer and lighter.

http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz248/earoehl/Holdsworth-Sunny-50.jpg

thanks for all the links and pics it is really helping find out the exact year. I found this afternoon that the decal headbadge is covering up two rivet holes from where a metal headbadge once resided. Looking at the fork steerer there is no evidence of any other colour of paint but is has been redone for sure.