So is Reynolds Wrap, ya know...foil wrap...is that the same Reynolds that makes Steel tubing?

no

I *think* this might have been a joke?

I seen bikes on craigslist stating "aluminum frame" because there was a reynolds decal on it.

eh, kinda yes, kinda no. It was a question that legitimately occured to me this morning when I saw the roll of tinfoil sitting out in the kitchen, and I thought about it some on my ride to work as well. I asked on the outside chance that I'd get a super obscure story about how They were once the same company or something and then split...but yeah. Wikipedia says No also.

Although I knew there had never been a connection between Reynolds Wrap and Reynolds bicycle tubing, and have often chuckled when I saw an eBay or CL listing for a Reynolds 531 frame stating the material was aluminum, I never bothered to research the histories of the two companies until I read this thread.


kudos to Wikipedia.

Reynolds aluminum foil is made by ALCOA, which purchased Reynolds Metals Company in 2000. Reynolds Metals Company was founded in 1919 as the U.S. Foil Company, headquartered in Louisville, KY, by Richard S. Reynolds, Sr., nephew of tobacco king R.J. Reynolds.

Reynolds bicycle tubing is made by Reynolds Cycle Technology based in Birmingham, England, and established in 1898 as "The Patent Butted Tube Company." The parent company from which The Patent Butted Tube Company was spun off in 1898 was originally founded by John Reynolds in 1841 to manufacture nails.

No, not the same at all, actually.

I prefer to wrap my sashimi-grade Yellowfin in Ishiwata prior to refridgerating.