I responded to a CL ad that had something like this in the title: High end vintage English 531 frames for sale. He wouldn't say what they were and would only send directions to his yard sale on the upcoming Saturday. I responded on Monday and never heard back. I responded again when I saw the ad again on Wednesday. He sent out directions Friday evening. Not knowing what to expect, I told myself it would probably be some beat up Super Courses. The yard sale turned out to be in a self-storage facility. He showed me the frames - 1 Competition, & 3 of the 3 Speed frames. He asked me if I knew who Joe Bell was and that he had painted 3 of the 4 frames. The 4th frame is primed and not painted. Since they were too small for me, I passed. I asked about if he had other bike parts and he kept bringing out boxes with the goodies pictured in my appraisal thread. I was really trying to be cool about the whole thing but was "about to wet my pants" about the possibilities. I figured I couldn't afford it as it was really nice stuff. I piled stuff up that I was interested in and asked him what he wanted for it. He said make me an offer. I made him go first and said we'd work on it from there. He made me a "I want this stuff gone" offer and I took him up on it. I could afford more, so I looked through more stuff and made him an offer on more components. I asked him what he wanted for the frames and he gave me a nice offer as well. I passed as I didn't know if the frames were really legit and they were too small for me.

He gave me a tour of all his other cool stuff in other buildings there.

I left but was already regretting not buying a frame. I figured it was probably legit because the guy didn't seem shady at all. The frame was nice and light and looked the part although I knew Lambert was long gone. There was an ATM nearby, so I got the cash out for a frame and went back. I then bought the Competition because it was the biggest and had a Stronglight headset in it. I figured the Joe Bell paint job was worth a lot (although at that time, I didn't see the JB on the paint and was taking him at his word).

He didn't sell any of the 3 speed frames at the sale because I saw an ad later in the day. I emailed him back saying that if he doesn't sell everything in a few days, to give me a call and we can work out something. He got back to me and said he would let me know as he needed the storage bin clean by 9/1. We'll see if I wind up with more frames. I don't need them, but maybe I can build them up for my wife and kids.

If anyone is interested a 3 speed frame, PM me and I can facilitate. They look identical to the one that Joe Bell is holding in the photo above. I asked if what made them 3 speed frames was the lack of derailleur hanger and he said that and the pulley braze on on the top tube.