Its 300 to get the tubes swapped out locally. Thats super tempting.

I can get tubes swapped out cheaper than that, but the paint is expensive. Maybe it is worth repairing...I think I'll sleep on it.

Might easily be more.

Always opens a can of worms. Imho

Check that fork carefully. The last thing you would want is to have that fold up on you while in action.

Then you would be adding a dentist's bill into the net costs.

Definitely. I wish we had more frame building options in the area...Chris Wright doesn't return calls or emails, which is not confidence building.

Simon might be an option.

Nice find and appears to be well made. I think it'd make an awesome townie as is providing it's structurally sound. Steel is pretty forgiving and not as susceptible to catastrophic failures as other materials. The possible danger signs on steel are a lot more obvious to spot than that of carbon for example. Either way, cool find.

Safe to assume you fashioned the rear rack setup

I was talking about both tubes. Locally it would be ~500 to fix the frame and repaint. You can buy a lot of frame for that, I agree.

I don't know, I don't exactly want to be a downer, but I think we're kidding ourselves to say there's anything special about this frame. No doubt it was a nice frame, but now it's a bent frame. Hypothetically, if you knew who the builder was, and it was someone with a reputation --let's say it was Ron Cooper-- and you had the tubes replaced; would it still be a Ron Cooper frame? I can imagine it being worth the cost of repair; but I can imagine a lot of things that have no basis in reality.

I agree Rhm...it's why I'm hesitant to go down that road. Repairs like that make sense for frames with emotional attachment, or maybe ones made for you, but as a value added proposition they're usually highly questionable.

If this were my size I'd be into it, I have a friend who's started frame building recently. Too bad about the damage, looks real pretty.

I definitely think Philly has room for a frame builder who runs his business professionally and who meets obligations.

I like it. If it rides well enough, try out your fantasy. Put North Road bars on it and see how it goes. Definitely don't invest in repairs on this. You already have too many bikes, so you won't get any added utility compared with your current fleet, unless it becomes your only single bike with upright bars.

I plan to try North Road bars on my Raleigh International. I suspect it will be fun to ride a light, old steel frame that is dressed casually and rides nicely.

Yeah, I look at the shorelines on the rear dropouts and seat tube, and this quickly becomes a 1970s 531 frame of nondistinct origin, save the decals. The OP's plan of pulling the parts and hanging the frame (or giving it away), are the only sensible things to do. The cost of repairs exceed the cost of an equivalent 531 frame with no damage by at least a factor of 2.

I'm not entirely sure that I agree about it being non-distinct; it exhibits more workmanship than most brits I've seen. It doesn't have a distinctive flare like an Ephgrave, but it shows signs of being a well made, carefully made bike.

I do agree about it being a dog from a strictly financial standpoint.

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.

From the images of the bike I would be tempted to just cut the top tube and maybe just end up needing to replace that.
The damage is typical to what I have seen when a bike tires down on a roof rack receives when it meets a garage entrance.

I really like the fork rake. If I did not have too many projects to do...
Working on a very different front end design that has been on the drawing boards for too long...

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.

You also have a beat up Cinelli that you could turn into a townie. You have enough nice bikes that you can also have some beat-up bikes that you keep in beat-up condition.

Cool frame! I have limited experience with project bikes, but I tend to run in the school of thought that, if you're going to do something....you might as well do it awesome. And while that money is gone forever, it was never about that anyhow. That being said, I agree the frame possesses a certain elegance to it. But given that collision damage, this project will be a money pit. I rather like the patina and wear on the frame also. It would make a nice wall piece.

Notice - I never fixed that Cinelli up (nor will I). It's a fun bike actually.

I'm glad!

I've gotten some negative remarks about my Raleigh Super Course, because it is an eyesore. I was thinking seriously last year about fixing up the cosmetics, but I've decided against it. Gotta have some ugly bikes.

Very cool. We've got history all over C&V lately. It's almost, I dunno, C&V!!

The Cinelli in question (it looks better in photos...the paint is awful):