With about 16hours left, this new old stock, new in package Reynolds 531 tubeset is already up to over $400.00:

https://cgi.ebay.com/REYNOLDS-531-TUB...item2c531b6c8a

Item number: 190372867210

I was watching a couple new old stock 531 sets a couple weeks ago that went for only a tad over $100.

What the deal with this particular set? It is the fact that it includes the original technical papers that makes is particularly special? Or just a couple bidders willing to go all-out to have it?

That is really cool, I never would have guessed they were packaged like that. The back of the box shows that the stays are in fact, not butted... that gets brought up from time to time.

So would this have been a higher quality "set" since it includes a steer tube? I was under the impression that many mass producers did not use reynold's steer tubes all of the time.

People are freaking high, that's what's up. You can get the same tubeset at bicycle classics for $150.

The set that is worth some is the SL set, round, oval, round chain stays... Continental forks, unbent...

Vintage Reynolds 531 standard-gauge double-butted tubesets now available!
These are NOS from 1974, and were properly stored indoors after being coated with Cosmolene, so there are no condition problems. Includes all eleven tubes to build a road frameset. Top tubes are .8/.5/.8, seat tubes are .8/.5, down tubes are .9/.6/.9 mm. Fork blades are the early "Imperial Oval" (29 x 16) size, and are pre-raked for about 40 mm or so of finished fork rake. Chainstays are round-oval-round, non-indented, 22 mm at the BB end. We are currently the 531 tubing supplier to several framebuilders around the world that produce some great frames with brand names like Grand Bois and several others.
Item # FTS-E531SET (please specify):
Small (up to approx. 21" c-t),
Medium (up to approx. 23" c-t), or
Large (up to approx. 25" c-t).
1-4 tubesets: $149/set
5-9 tubesets: $139/set
10 or more: $129/set
Note: Orders for five or more sets include the tubing decals at no charge (A $50 value).

I'd understand the price if it was Reynolds 531 Professional...

...which, far as I can see, it isn't.

-Kurt

just get the tubeset, torch, frame jig, complete campy tool kit, shimano 50th new-in-case, and skip all those middle men!

Wouldn't it just be easier to buy a bike with tubing that good? I mean, a Spectrum went here on CL with 883 tubeset, 2x9 Chorus, and even had wheels, for $900....that's a custom bike, great group. I believe he threw in a saddle, seatpost, bar/stem, the whole shebang, already put together.

100% easier, unless you want to make a custom bike for yourself, and then you can find tubing online for much less expensive than that.

Just my 2 cents ... I can understand if you have bulging bank accounts for cool hobbies, or you are a constructor who has been just dying for years to get yer hands on some fresh tubing and try a 531 frame. OTOH ... why not just buy a new Ishiwata set as used for keirin construction here in Japan? Maybe I'm missing something — even though my first love was 531.

You don't need no stinkin' jig!

Hey, nothing wrong with that.



-Kurt

Great if you want to repair frame damage from an accident.

I like your Beatnik Bandit. I met Ed Roth at a model car contest in the sixties. My car won best paint.

He built an updated version shortly before he died.

Always liked the B. Bandit since the HW model. Don't really care that much for the Beatnik II; the design benefited from the headlight shrouds over the top of the lamps.

-Kurt

I agree. I think that the original Bandit was his best work ever. He started with a '55 Oldsmobile!

A frame builder shouldnt use or need a jig, jigs will put some stress on the lugs and everything else if its forcing something to be straight

I don't understand this mentality. How are you supposed to ensure correct frame angles, etc. if you don't at least tack braze a frame in a jig? I do the bulk of the brazing "free", but I tack my lug points while it's still in the jig.

Pete

Pete, you're right; that's the way most builders do it.

They use the jig to ensure everything is accurately aligned, then tack braze the tubes to the lugs and dropouts while the frame is in the jig. The tack brazes keep the tubes in place relative to one another while the builder finish brazes each major cluster after removing it from the jig. After brazing each major cluster, the frame is cold set if necessary on an alignment table to ensure there are no cumulative stresses built into the frame.

Reynolds, in the technical data sheet for 531 recommends this brazing sequence to avoid stress buildup:

"When the tubes are fitted into the lugs, care should be taken that the assembly is not in a state of stress. Brazing should be carried out in the following clockwise sequence:

• bottom bracket
• down tube/head tube joint
• head tube/top tube joint
• top tube/seat tube joint

This sequence obviates the danger of a stress raiser being created at a major shock point.

When brazing frames made from Reynolds 531 Tubing, the joints should be pre-heated, and after brazing the cooling should be controlled and not forced. Brazing must be carried out in a shop free from draughts.

Great care must be taken not to overheat the material, or to heat too large an area of the tube. Overheating will lead to burning or to brass inclusion (where the molten brass or bronze enters the grain of the steel), either of which will make the tube brittle.

Setting, when necessary, should always be done cold."

Frames can be and are built without jigs, but for most builders it takes more time and patience to do it that way.

To quote Richard Sachs:

"Tacking a frame in the jig allows me to take a frame design from paper and make it into a three-dimensional pattern. You have to be careful to tack it and not braze it. When I tack a joint, only ten percent of the area is covered in brazing material. By not fully brazing the joints, you can check the alignment and make changes if you have to."

Here's a photo of Richard from a 1990 issue of Bicycle Guide with a frame in his jig:

$560?! Holy Moly!

I've got just one question for the group: can someone tell me where I can get some of what the winning bidder is smoking? That's gotta be some good stuff I reckon!

He's got more money than brains.

Maybe- this set does come with all the extras that usually don't stay with a box of tubes. The original tech sheets, the original transfers and while not described well, may be round oval round in the chainstay dept. Imperial oval blades which are fashionable as they lost being hip a while ago.

I still think the SL set that was up for auction elsewhere is worth more, but I would do something with it and not keep it in a box, so for me the sets Bicycle Classics has would be better with the exception of the gauge. I will keep my now relatively cheap sets of Columbus SL & SP and Tange Prestige.

DOH! You mean I could have got it cheaper? Any idea what kind of glue I need to join these tubes together, I tried nalining e'm but the nails keep bending! Also I can't remember which tube goes where, there was some sort of diagram but it looked complicated so I threw it away in the box with those black sticker thingies. I thought it would be a lot less trouble to stick a frame together than to have to grind off all those braze on bits......... My brain hurts!!!

The tubeset was probably bought by a collector who will display it in a glass case and never use it. The original box makes huge difference in value to those guys.

That is one bad-ass jig that Richie has there.