Originally Posted by
TimmyT
Take a look at the dropouts. The lines are not clean. It's a handmade British frame. It's fine, but it's not the prettiest finishing. Also, the lugs are fairly run-of-the-mill Bocamas or Prugnats. To my eye, it's not special in terms of the 531 frames out there. Is it special to someone else? Well, that's not for me to decide. The fact that it's rare probably just means that it was a small supplier. Frame construction could have even been outsourced to another builder like Woodrup as fietsbob intimated.
I'm not saying it wouldn't ride well. I have a similar 1970s 531 frame with a ham fisted fix on a cracked bb. I rode that for hundreds of miles before I hung it up. It was a lot of fun.
I get what you're saying...and it's not something like a ron Cooper, but I like the finishing of the lugs. It's very possible it's subcontracted. I found the oldest bicycle shop part of the story interesting at any rate, especially as I'd never heard of them. I'm not trying to make this into the find of the year, I just found it interesting and nicer than most bike booms of the period.
There is no question that a restoration would be a financial dog.