Reynolds 531. Straight gauge and from what I have been able to find that is only the main tubes.

Wow, that is a really nice '$6.00' wheel. And you got it away from that embarrassing chain. I would call that a rescue.

I had a strange weekend. My neighbor, who's a good friend, brought over two POS bikes for me to fix up for himself and his wife. One of them was this Huffy, perfectly awful bike, no way I'd fix it, but I could rescue a couple parts off it, such as the wheels.

Another neighbor, not really a friend, brought over a bike he wanted me to fix a flat tire on. It was a Panasonic Sports 1000 mixte, clearly rescued from the trash man, double butted Tange 900 Cro-mo tubing, nice SR forged crank, mismatched wheels, derailleurs rusted to inoperable, only the back brake working, saddle bent...all kinds of problems. I told him I couldn't fix the tube, it was shot. So he brings over a pair of wheels: Normandy hubs, Super Champion rims, says I can get the tube from one of these. I ask about the "other" bike.

"Aw, that bike? I got it off the trash, man. It's all rusty and spray paint, I just took it for the tubes and the seat, it got a big cushy seat! But the tires ain't the right size. Maybe you can use some of the parts off it?"

I said I'd take a look, at least I could change the seat over for him.

Then I went to a yard sale and picked up this Fuji Absolute for $10. Valite single butted tubing, aluminum rims, pretty nice bike... all it needed was a tube. This photo is after I "fixed" it; note the big cushy seat! But I haven't explained that yet....

Then the guy comes back with the rest of the other bike. I put the wheels on it and took this photo:

Then I put the big cushy seat and one of the innertubes on the Fuji, and gave the Fuji to the guy who brought me the two junkers.

Then I took the best parts of my friend's POS Huffy and made a frankenbike out of the Panasonic Mixte, and gave it to his wife. I'm planning on making it a three speed one of these days, if she likes it. She loves it.

And I'm left with the Poo-Joe. I think it's a PA-10 or something; but I guess it deserves its own thread.

It's funny, I bought a perfectly good Fuji at a yard sale for $10 and traded it for two totally trashed piles of rusted steel... and I think I did okay! Am I crazy, or does anyone agree it was a good trade?

I heard that they made a few models, and I think they made a comfort bike, as well. The frame on this one is ChrMo 025.

It was around that time. I think it was around 86, but couldn't say for sure.

Picked this up on craigslist last week for $75. According to what I can glean from the serial # and headbadge it was 1976 Nottingham built from 531 tubing. I plan to rebuild it with internal gears and new components for a classy little townie bike for myself. Quite a find since I sold the components for $50 bucks and ended up with a nice vintage Reynolds frame HS and BB for $25.

Those are nice bikes, and with an internally geared hub it'll be great. The earlier Raleigh mixte's came with upright ("allrounder") bars. Are you going to go that route?

I don't believe it's 531, though.

Everybody happy=good trade. Nice going!

I don't know about 531. I'm not saying it's not, but they are certainly few and far between. The only 531 Raleigh Mixte I've ever seen is ridden by my friends wife. Classy classy bike

The Grand Prix did not have 531 frame materials.

I'm just basing that on the serial # information on Sheldon's website, I doubt there is any more reliable information. I was surprised and sceptical also, but it is a light and nimble ride, as much so as my Trek road bike with 501 tubing. Yeah, before it's all over I'll be using some upright bars, just have to decide on the width.

This guy has just what you want: https://fresno.craigslist.org/bik/1278107104.html

.

Awesome! thanks so much! I thought I'd have to settle for a mismatched front wheel. Hopefully he'll agree to mail it to me, I sent him a very polite (near begging) email, he'd have to have a heart of ice to turn me down

Univega Viva Sport picked up at the thrift store. I had a hell of a time with this one. price was not great as the bike is o.k., but I could not leave it because of the 600 group. I just noticed when taking the pictures the empty cable guides on the frame. I guess that this group is not original to this frame? Brakes, levers, derailleurs, and shifters sold me on this one. Any help with the year would be appreciated.

I get that and found a 77 catalog with the same bike listed and it clearly states Raleigh 20-30 steel. But the serial # is WL 6086 on the BB. Here's the information I found on Sheldon Brown's website about their serial # 's, but I agree it makes no sense to build a mixte from 531 or hang those components on it. At any rate, it's a nice ride and will make a great city bike!

"In 1974, an entirely different numbering system was introduced for the higher end (531 and subsequently 753) Raleighs. Serial numbers should begin with a "W", which stands for Worksop, the facility that produced theses frames. This is followed by another alphabet. This alphabet indicates the fortnight in which the frame was built (i.e. A = 1st fortnight, B = 2nd, etc.). The third character is always a numeral. It indicates the year of manufacture, the decade being assumed (i.e. "4" could be '74 or '84; it is up to the interpretor to know enough to tell if the frame is from the 70's or 80's). What then follows is a series of numbers. At this point, these appear to be some sort of sequence, but this has not been substantiated. "

Any ideas?

So are you asking if it's from 1976 or 1986. Definitely closer to 1976.

I don't agree that 531 on a mixte is senseless. It is rare, though, and I suppose that's because people who want that style bike may not want to spend much on it. But I do agree that the components are a bit too cheap for a 531 frame, but only by a little. They are reliable. I was so pleased to see Raleigh replace the cottered steel crank with the cheap alloy cotterless one. And I was just as pleased to see them replace the Simplex gear system with a SunTour one. The brakes were adequate and didn't need changing. The only thing that's not nice on the bike is the steel rims. At the time, alloy rims were pretty expensive and therefore rare on a mid-line bike.

[QUOTE=noglider;9318444]So are you asking if it's from 1976 or 1986. Definitely closer to 1976.

Based on the color it's a '77 and the serial # it was built mid '76. The real question is, if it's not 531, why the serial #. But it's all academic, it's a really cool mixte to play around with. Thanks for the help.

^ One exception is that Concorde Mixte Ben just posted. 531 main frame and some cheapo parts.

Although I agree the Raleigh probably isn't. Wasn't there another older model named something similar that was 531?

I have been working quickly at the Lotus I posted here. It is turning out to be a major frankenbike.

-Wald handlebars
-SR stem
-Campy NR front derailleur
-Shimano 600 arabesque RD to be added
-Suntour barcons
-Sakae cranks
-Shimano Tourney centerpulls
-really beat up Cinelli unicantor saddle
-Sanshin hubs and Araya rims

Tomorrow I am trading for SKS fenders and some other bits.

It looks like a Raleigh Grand Prix Mixte and these were not made with 531 tubes but 20-30 high tensile tubing.

They are still very nice riding bikes.

If it a 531 bike it should have 531 stickers on the frame and perhaps the fork.

I have seen some fairly high end Mixte frames... Kuwahara made very nice models with butted frame sets as did Motobecane who produced a mixte touring version.

Simplex parts from the early 70's are pretty poor in quality and it was sad to see a company that dominated the derailer market for decades hit such lows... most often I replace all the Simplex bits with Suntour parts as even the low end Suntour bits are of very good quality and never seem to fail.

My sister's Kuwahara Mixte (Ishiwata frame) is an exceptionally well made bicycle that came with some very nice parts and has been upgraded even more so that she can use it for touring.

It was a terrific find.

Yes, the Super Course. The men's version had straight gauge three main tubes. I don't remember how the mixte was made. I suppose it was 531 down and seat tubes?

You probably missed the other post, the confusing thing about this Grand Prix is that the serial number on the frame was one supposedly used only for high end 531 frames from the Worksop plant. It's a deal no matter what and a great ride, I'm sure not going to enjoy it any less. There was no 20-30 decal on the seat tube but they were all worse for wear.

On a ride I saw it out in the trash. Someone in the house said "Please take it, we just want it gone!." So i grabbed it and rode away. Put some air in the tires and took a 5 mile ride. After inspecting it i noticed it had Shimano wheels, Sugino cranks, Suntour VX for on rear derailure. So i decided to do a full overhaul. There was a nice coat of dust on it as well, lol. Pics are how it will basically look.

^ That is really sweet, it looks almost exactly like a Nishiki International I had, barcons and all. Those bar end shifters are a lot of fun, nice pick up.