Mystery bike - Reynolds 531, Campy, Cinelli
 

I got quite excited when I found this bike in the corner of a second hand bike shop here in the south of Sweden. I had to buy it because it was damn cheap. It got some rust, but it rides great.

It looks like it's been standing outside in the rain for quite a bit, one of the cable guides on the top is rusted away, and the cable is now held in place with a cable tie. But I can't believe how good everything works. And that beautiful sound of the campy freewheel!

I've been trying to figure out what brand the frame is, but I can't tell, because there are no good indicators on it. It is Reynolds 531 tubing though. Maybe the way the seatstays connect with the seat tube could be a hint to someone? There are three letters at the bottom bracket shell, but I can only read the first one, R. I though it might be a Reg Harris frame, but I doubt it, it seems too italian for that. But what do I know..

Almost everything is Campagnolo, dropouts, cranks, brakes, seatpost (27.0), headset, bottom bracket, rear and front derailleur (nuovo record), hubs, pedals. Tubular rims are Nisi, saddle is concor. Stem and bars from Cinelli (campione del mondo with a huge drop).

Can you help me figure out who made the frame?

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Looking forward to hearing any ideas!


Anders

It seems British to me. The wrap over seat stays are a very British thing although I think they also show up on some French bikes. Not many Italians ones though. But the Reynolds sticker is in English and the seatpost is 27 so probably not metric Reynolds so its probably not French. It looks like those are Prugnat lugs so that also says British to me.

Looks like you have a bad line of rust under the paint on that top tube.

Does this give a clue?

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...8&d=1335473379

Nice looking bike
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...7&d=1335473376

Reminds me of the gold painted Falcons I used to see in my LBS back in the 80's
They were, of course, built with 531 tubing.

Chombi

Doesn't look that weathered-maybe just some sweat effects-nice find!

Does it look Raleigh-pro-ish maybe?

What I was thinking, too, but . . . The wrap-over seat stays say late '60s, but these also had full sloping fork crowns and longer chainstays.

I'm going to say late '70s Holdsworth. I have a vague memory of these from the Palo Alto catalog.

One thing I didn't mention, is that there was a quite new sticker on the headtube that I removed because it was so ugly and obviously didn't belong there. It was a DBS sticker. DBS is a quite common brand here since it's Norwegian. Some old owner must have just put it on there for no apparent reason..

So when I googled Holdsworth, I found out that DBS used Holdsworth frames on their bikes in the 70s.
http://www.cykelhobby.com/dbsmystery.html

It looks just right, except the fork crown.

Then I saw the picture at the bottom of this page:
http://www.cykelhobby.com/dbs1.html

It has the same headtube sticker that I removed! I can't believe that sticker was original! And I removed it, totally against my principles! I guess you learn something new every day. For example, that you should believe what you see, even if it looks strange...

The BB shell letters are RGF: R. Gargatte et Freres.* That's a Gargatte shell. Quite widely used, back in the day, on higher-level frames....
That frame is oozing "1970s Brit. DNA."

* or Fils (son(s)), I forget which in this case....

Freres = brothers

Check out this Holdsworth on the other C&V thread.http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-mash-of-parts

Yeah, I'd say that's a DBS La Migliore. I've got it's Shimano equipped sibling, the Professionale. Definitely the Holdsworth frame on my bike, although it has no markings or serial number apart from the RGF on the BB shell.
Found it on "Blocket", Swedish internet marketplace, for something like $150. Turned out to be in great shape underneath the grime, just needed new tyres and bar tape. It had its DBS stickers, but not The Reynolds ones. At the time I found them too ugly to keep on the bike so I took them off. (And also, DBS is not a brand that is held in very high regard in Sweden, being Norwegian and all...)
Kind of regret it now, but the bike looks beautiful without them.

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Very nice bike, looks built in the eighties designed in the seventies to me. That bike has not been left outside the rusted cable stop is poor paint or the previous riders sweat dripping from his nose.If it is set up for you in the pics i would say it is too small.

Stunning bikes. I love the color, and the stay treatment is too cool.
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