Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,794
Likes: 83
From: Sendai, Japan: Tohoku region (Northern Honshu))
Bikes: Vitus 979, Simplon 4-Star, Woodrup, Gazelle AB, Dawes Atlantis
I've got this kind of nice Raleigh frame but you can see seams when you look down the tubes. That would make it definitely not 531, right?
Definitely not 531, which was an extruded pipe and a different alloy than the rolled and welded 501. There were other differences too in regards to the length of the butts and tapers. But, IMHO the differences should not include quality of production. In other words, I cannot believe that you will see or find a seam in 501 tubing. Perhaps I can be contradicted. Apparently, Raleigh did use their own proprietary tubing about which their is more in the BF archives. BTW, I own a 501 bike and like it a lot. 501 gets a bum rap these days, but only because 531 was the preferable tube, not because there was anything intrinsically wrong with 501 — like gaping seams for instance.
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Vitus 979, Simplon 4 Star, Gazelle Champion Mondial, Woodrup Giro, Dawes Atlantis
Last edited by Lenton58; 02-28-11 at 09:21 PM.