woodrupjoe

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Hold...item4cfd12f24d

Lot of good things about this one. Never ridden, reasonable shipping, and the Cinelli stem & bars for only $15 additional. Wonder what he'd take through "make an offer".

Capecodder

Make an offer and find out.....

Oldpeddaller

A nice frame but seems a bit expensive for one of the later frames. Would build up into a fine tourer, though I won't be bidding to add it to my fleet of Holdsworths, I've already got a 1970 Mistral!

The Thin Man 

If it only had another eyelet up front, I'd consider it for a porteur build.

balindamood

Perfect! I have been looking for a frame for my next Fixie!! I'm digging out the Dremel tool right now.

Grim

You know we take that stuff kind of seriously around here mr. 4 bedroom 2 bath with a $3800 tax bill last year. Nice red jeep you have, what year is your econoline van? That got a Powerstroke?

I think you need to step away from that dremel....capiche?

woodrupjoe

"A nice frame but seems a bit expensive for one of the later frames."

Really? When you consider what a new Mercian or Rivendell frame would cost? It's too much for me but given the "make an offer" one could maybe pick it up for $250 or less. How much should an unridden 531 frame like that go for? I've sworn off any new bikes for a while, but this one would still tempt me if the price came down a bit. (I've got a tiny mint condition Miyata 710 I picked up for nothing and I could swap the whole works right onto that frame.)

Maybe I'm missing something- isn't this a really good quality 531 frame? I've got a Woodrup from the same era and I've thought of the Bob Jacksons, Holdsworths, Mercians, etc. to be pretty much in the same ballpark. I realize that one or the other sometimes has more cache or desirability, but quality-wise? I'm not sure I could tell the difference if the decals were missing.

cheers, thanks
Joe

neurocop

It's made of 531ST, which is the heavier/thicker "touring" tubes. Depends how you plan to ride it.

jacksbike

Price is very fair for a beautiful English 531 frameset. Like said above, compare to today's costs !

Bianchigirll 

very pretty but too small.

wrk101

Problem is that he only has the one small picture, and not much in the description. Zero/zilch/nadda feedback as a SELLER.

I see this a lot on ebay, there are buyers and there are sellers, but rarely are buyers also sellers, and rarely are sellers also buyers. 1,120 positive feedback, all as buyers. And of course, now that buyers cannot be given negative feedback, such a score means nothing.

Road Fan

That's what I was afraid it meant. I'm looking for a 531 frame in 53 to 56 cm c-t, but I don't want the stiffer tubing. Best for me (in my soooo humble opinion) would be 753 or 531 Competition. My Woodrup, which I now with I still had, was 531 Comp and I liked it quite a bit. I'm into flexy these days.

Hmm, actually the ST as listed (by Jalon Hawk) is only stiffer than 531 C in the downtube. He lists 531 ST (top tube, downtube, seat tube respectively) as 8/5/8, 10/7/10, 8/5, where 531 C is 8/5/8, 9/6/9, 8/5. And Trek's claimed gauges for 531CS and CT are the same as for the 531 ST. The main tubes on this Holdsworth should be the same as on any 1980 thru 1985 (at least) 531 double-butted Trek. Keep in mind the 501 tubesets have a different gauge, 9/6/9 throughout (just like Columbus SL!).

I think my 1984 610 is stiffer than my former Woodrup. But I still wouldn't say the Trek 610 is VERY stiff.

rootboy 

I too bemoan the one tiny picture thing. Why do people do this?

Road Fan

Can you talk about your Woodrups?

Road Fan

Bugs me, too. I've been surfing ebay all morning, and I'm amazed at the drooping quality of the listings. No sizing, no tubing, pictures of parts only, no serial numbers, lack of knowledge about grade of the parts.

gomango

Agreed.

Heck of a time to snare a bargain though.

Road Fan

IMO there's a lot of crap being listed. Good Italian frames, but those prices are rising. As far as flexy, light Brit or Japanese frames, nada, except for the usual specious, ignorang bragging about gaspipe French and Italian frames. Now I LIKE my uo-8, but it's not a PX-10, a Mercian or a Woodrup. And Mangalloy Treks are not in the same class as 710s and 620s.

But it all really depends on how much it takes to get the bike set up. I see loads of rust that I don't want to deal with.

gomango

I took a tip from a post by a Serotta forum member and started to look on Marktplaats.

Noticed an underpriced Merckx frameset and the rest is history.

A friend traveling there helped facilitate, and I now have a MX-Leader Merckx frameset at a great price.

Should be a fun project this spring.

I do hate wading through mundane listings though.

woodrupjoe

Since Road Fan requested, I'll talk about my Woodrup. I bought it new back in 1985 (I think), after getting hit head on by a car running through a left turn. The bike that got crashed was a Motobecane Grand Jubilee that I had bought new in the 70s while I was in college. I put a new front wheel and fork on the Moto but soon realized there was also a bad crack in the seatstay where it met the drive-side dropout. I could have pulled the dropout off with my hand.
So I decided it was time to buy my dream-bike, which had always been a handmade British touring bike w/ Reynolds 531. I didn't have the money to go crazy but the Woodrup was a good deal at that time. I think it was $1200 plus tax and came with all Nuovo Record and Cinelli equipment.
It's not a true touring bike, but rather the Sport Tourer, which I thought was a good compromise for me. I toured on it a little bit, but mostly it was a century ride bike and daily commuter. And it's made with Reynolds 531ST (special touring, I believe?) which made sense since I wasn't racing it, and I wanted to be able to load it up for longer tours. I still love that bike but don't take it out very much lately. I have other bikes that can get locked outside, the Woodrup is now a bike to keep clean and shiny and take out once in a while to show off.
But back to the Holdsworth, you can see why it would catch my eye- it's practically identical to the bike I've already got. (It's even red!) But really, I need another bike like a hole in the head, though it is tempting. If I didn't have $$ and history invested in it I"d probably actually ride it.

Joe

Road Fan

I was planning to get a custom bike built for the summer, but I'm way behind in my schedule. I used my Woodrup (a 1980 in a long-wheelbase high-offset design) on a long organized tour here in Mich back in 2010, then sold it when I decided to go custom. But now I don't expect to have something for this summer. I still have my Trek 610 and a 620 one size larger (a marginally big 56), but if I had not sold my Woodrup that would again be the perfect interim light-tourer. If I found another Woodrup, Mercian, Raleigh International, Jackson, or Mercian, I'd be happier. As far as this Holdsworth goes, I don't see what it offers beyond my Treks.

Yes, it catches the eye of an Anglophile.

woodrupjoe

I've got a tour planned for the spring with my brother. He's got a late 70s Bob Jackson and I'll be riding my Univega Specialissima. But I keep thinking how much cooler my Woodrup would look next to the Bob Jackson. (And Bob Jackson and Maurice Woodrup even started out as partners) They would be a nice classic pair out there on the road.

Yeah, I guess I am an Anglophile. My daily ride is a '74 Raleigh Sports.

kiwigem

Okay.

woodrupjoe

Alright! So who bought it?

kiwigem

C'est moi. I've been looking for something to build up for my husband. It's red, and I should have it done by Valentine's day. : ) Thanks for the tip!

woodrupjoe

Hey Great! Best luck with it. I can't believe I resisted that. Keep us posted.

cheers, Joe