Originally Posted by
zandoval
Chain stays I believe were for adding a little strength and giving a support for added equipment like fenders or heaven forbid a kick stand...
The beauty of your Reynolds 531 Steel frame is having the ability to in fact drill or drill out a hole without ill effect to the frame...
I am kind of surprised that there isn't already a hole in it. We are talking about that little tube that makes a bridge right behind your bottom bracket right?
I think in the old days it was placed there not only for kickstands and fenders but also to keep your rear tire from sliding forward and getting jammed between the stays during a wheel change.
What am I thinking Roadfan... You know all this...
Thanks for the vote of confidence!!!! Actually I hadn't thought it was to limit tire forward travel, but it does make sense. I figured it was to ensure an added measure of rear structure stability.
I don't know if you read my other thread, but there is a hole, just that it's only 2 mm diameter. The bolt on my gadget needs 4 mm, and I opened up the hole using a succession of graduated drills driven by a pin vise. Took about 20 minutes to open the hole. Frank the Builder suggested I add some oily interior coating to protect against the effects of ingressing water. Should really do the whole frame, but that's a total teardown which I don't want to do at this moment. It's better as a winter project.