3alarmer 

I snagged this off the Bay area CL yesterday, even
though I had to drive to Santa Clara and back to do so.

In violation of the basic CL principle that the farther you drive,
the more the probability of some major malfunction in the transaction,
this one turned out to be pretty much as advertised.

I do not know all that much about these, having never actually seen
one in the flesh, but looks like the genuine article to me, although
i suspect it has been reworked with all Campy parts (possibly the
original owner bought it as a frameset rather than a complete bike?)

23.5" c-c or 24'' c-top. Needless to say i am reasonably pleased.
I'm curious if anyone can interpret the tubing sticker for me? Seems
to indicate a three tube 531 frame (possibly straight gauge?). The
catalogs seem to say most of these were made with DB tubesets.

Don't be afraid to hurt my feelings, because at my weight (235#) i
am not certain i might not prefer straight gauge Reynolds as it
performs for me with less flexibility. I am obviously not a weight
weenie. Also, it appears to be sporting 27" rims laced to the
Campy hubs, which is a first for me.

I'm guessing early 80's, but anyone who wants to take a shot at
educating me on these and this one, I await your reply with eager
anticipation. I do not anticipate changing much except the Cheng
Shin tires and some of the bearing adjustments, which are a
little loose for my tastes.

LeicaLad 

Eager to see the photos. . .

3alarmer 

Ask and it shall be given unto thee:

Oldpeddaller

Please post photos - my two Holdsworths are great - and I like to see more! Seriously though, if you can post clear photos of the frame, drop outs, lugs, fork crown etc. we can probably identify and date it for you. What's the Serial number?

Oldpeddaller

Oops! accident of timing! Nice bike. Same colour blue as my 1970 Mistral - originally sold as "Campagnolo Blue", Same fork crown and seat cluster as well. The Reynolds label doesn't look right - the fork labels are the same but the down tube label should be the English "Tubes, Forks & Stays" version. Looks like a later Mistral than mine.

3alarmer 

The rear dropouts, at least, are fairly deep horizontal Campy, the fork crown is pretty flat,
and don't i have to pull the fork to find the Serial number?

Because a cursory glance yields nothing by way of a stamping that I can see.

Edit: I'll pull it apart for overhaul this week or next and come back with whatever
numbers I find inside the head tube on the fork. This is about as happy as I've been
on a new bike since I cannot remember, because the geometry on this looks
really promising.

3alarmer 

Top tube clearly labeled "Special" with small decals on both sides,
so I'm going with that or an extremely clever forgery for now.

sced

I think the French decals were added later, and that it originally had an English language decal. Mine came new in 1973 with the decal looking simply like it was added on the way out the door even though it was a custom, and it didn't last long. With the Campy dropouts it is probably double butted 531.

A very pretty bike indeed. Congrats.

unworthy1

Headbadge (or holes for one)? and I'm surprised there's no serial number on the BB shell, a Holdsworth of this vintage (has to be '70s with no braze-ons except the one cable stop) should have a number. The French 531 labels look to be re-pops...wonder if this is a repaint and therefore...is it a Holdsworth? Looks to be a good British bike, regardless of make.
Does it have one set of WB bosses? If so, they have to be added later.

3alarmer 

If you look at the catalogs here : https://homepage.ntlworld.com/nkilgariff/

you see that by the time they went to sidepulls, they were pretty much into
the 80's. And They were pretty late in adopting cable braze ons.

No, there are no WB fittings, so that was not reworked.

This was made, I'm pretty sure, late 70's or earliest 80's
(80 maybe, by 81 looks like they had cable braze ons),
even though it's 5speed cluster and looks to all appearances
to be 70's. the 27 " rims are kind of a mystery, but what's
life without a little mystery?

Certainly a repaint was the first thing that came to mind,
but I dunno any more. they were using decals instead of
headbadges by this time, anyway......no holes.

3alarmer 

From the 78 catalog:



from the 81 catalog:



I can't get the 76 catalog pictures to load.
1975 is the first mention I see of a "Special" designation.

Maybe the tubing sticker was just something somebody
had handy that had Reynolds 531 on it?

unworthy1

OK, I'm convinced. I thought they were using headbadges later, but cable guides earlier. The 531 decals usually perished easily, long before any others would. Somebody just replaced those with French language re-pops, and maybe used the 3-main-tubes version on a frame that's actually all 531DB.

bloom87

the french labels says the 3 maintubes are DB

trois tubes renforcés

avec plaisir les amis !

verktyg 

The unofficial Holdsworth website mentions that they did not put Reynolds decals on their frames unless specifically requested. That was most likely during the 70s. Bikes and frames coming to the US probably had Reynolds decals on them.

It's in here, you just have to look around for the info:

https://www.nkilgariff.com/

The Reynolds decals on your bike are definitely French language re-pops and probably never would have been found on ANY Brit bike! Also, the 3 TUBES RENFORCE frame decal indicated that only the 3 main frame tubes were made of Reynolds 531 tubing. The rest of the frame would have usually been made of gas pipe tubing!

eBay seller Greg Softly listing as Cyclomondo sells sets with 3 Tubes Reynolds decals plus a pair of Reynolds fork decals. Those who don't know gleefully paste the Reynolds stickers everywhere and claim that their frame is "ALL" Reynolds 531! Ignorance is not bliss!

That said, I have several all Reynolds 531 Motobecanes with 3 Tubes Renforce main frame stickers and Reynolds fork decals. Is it wrong or just French?


By the mid 70s the Reynolds self adhesive decals were a little more robust than the earlier water slide decals.

My guess it that your bike is a real Holdsworth Special made of Reynolds 531 that never had decals from the factory.

Holdsworth sold complete bikes plus bare frames so components are not necessarily a good way to judge the age of the complete bike.

Seeing as how it's equipped with Campy NR components it either came that way from Holdsworth or someone built it up that way. With all of those expensive components it doesn't make sense that someone would hang them of a cheap frame.


I have a 1973 Holdsworth Competizione that I bought on eBay about 4 years back. The seller was trying to bill it as a top of the line Holdsworth Team Professional. I knew that it wasn't but bought it for the components plus the frame in orange and blue Team Kit.

The Competizione was described as "Built with good quality tubing" what ever that means? My guess is that it has straight gage Reynolds 531 main tubes and who knows whatever the rest is. I bet it weighs over 25 Lbs. It takes a 26.6mm or 26.8mm seatpost.

If your bike has a 27.0mm or 27.2mm seatpost then it's most likely butted Reynolds 531 tubing (only the 3 main tubes and the steerer are butted, the rest are not - see picture).




Here's some pictures of my 1973 Competizione that I just posted on Flickr.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/2826722...7627858982976/


Whatever model your Holdsworth is, it should be a great riding bike, enjoy! :-)

BTW, where's POSAW???

Chas. verktyg

sced

Nice looking bike and great pics.

rekmeyata

In this photo: https://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...6&d=1317939474 there appears to be a crack in the either the paint or the weld at the spoon where it's attached to the seat tube lug, or it could be an illusion by the camera. Have you looked at that closely in person?

verktyg 

Sharp eyes... I saw that too but the front side fillet braze looks good. Cracks in that area are not all that uncommon and can be easily repaired (but will require some repainting).

If it looks superficial, just keep and eye on the area for any crack growth.

Chas. verktyg

3alarmer 

Thanks very much for all this, and the warning with regard to possible
seat stay weld issue. I shall inspect it tomorrow, when I finally get
a chance to put it on the stand and begin the overhaul. With any luck,
I may even find a number on the fork.

POSAW is a reference to this older thread from the P+R, when I had to
take a short leave of absence.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...3-Adios-Amigos

I now commute between there and Sacramento, depending on various obligations.

nuovo_record

the steerer tube will also have the serial number stamped onto it, my '82 nuovo record has a reynolds sticker on it too.
my super mistral hasn't as i had to respray - maybe i should get some stickers to go on it, nice idea!