St. Etienne - Could this be 531?
 

I fell prey to an eBay post for a French road bike frame and decided to take the plunge. I have been scouring the internet for information about the St. Etienne brand and between Sheldon and the 1974 Bicycling review, it sounds like a mid-tier brand, likely to have been a part of the conglomerate Cycles France-Loire that also made Mercier. However, in a BF post from a few years ago, T-Mar published photos of his Reynolds 531 St. Etienne.

The bike just arrived today and while the fork is a replacement Tange, the frame feels light for a 61, but has no tubing decal. There is an outline where the tubing decal would be and the dropouts are cast Simplex.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2840/1...a095ff4863.jpg
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3748/1...63509464b8.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3830/1...6838ffb513.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7437/...3df8fc1f75.jpg

The cable brackets all appear to have a Simplex logo except the down tube bracket which is Suntour.

Any insight appreciated.

Seatpost measurement will tell all. 26.4-26.6 = butted 531
I'm not sure what straight-gauge 531 would be, but I'm guessing ~ 25.8.
The sticker remnant could have easily been a 531 decal.

Thanks Ex Pres. Seat post is 25.8 roughly.

Frame weight with cable guides and headset caps comes in at 2470g. Frame size is actually a 64cm from C-T on seat tube and 60cm top tube.

Could be Vitus tubing?

Beautiful frame. Those long point lugs are fantastic. Could be it was built with a mix of tubes, with a heavier seat tube for rigidity. Large frame size and all.

worked on one of these which was reynolds. it looked much the same as this example except the finish was orange and the juy dropouts were of the earlier type. estimate would be that it was two or three years earlier than present frame.

wrt pillar size: if you did not get the original with the frame measurement can be iffy, should a previous owner have had a slightly too small pillar in there and deformed the seat lug when tightening the binder. it can sometimes be helpful to re-round the top of the seat tube with a mandrel and then re-measure.

have a gander down the seat tube to see if all looks smooth and round in there or if it may be slightly ovalised. this appears like too good a quality frame to have a 25.8 measurement.

perhaps a member has a sleeping fork which would be more appropriate to the frame to help you out...

I've had two St. Etienne frame sets come through my fleet (and one stayed; it's set up as a porteur). Both were straight gauge 531 main tubes with a French 531 decal on the down tube exactly where yours shows the outline of a decal just below that lug point.

Nice score Revracer!
Those pointy lugs get me every time! :thumb:

if frame plain gauge reynolds as nierner suggests it would be easy to check chainstays and head to see if they are seamed, as would be likely if it is a three tuber.

That should build up to be a beautiful bike. If I were you I'd try to determine the tubing just so you can get the correct decal, but I wouldn't sweat it otherwise. I bet it turns into a great rider, and if it's relatively light who cares whether it's butted or not?

I suppose tubing knowledge was two fold.

1) I have never ridden a 531 bike and I have read on BF that it is perhaps the best ride (understanding that ride qualities are to each his own). I have an Italian Columbus SL that is a great ride and I had hoped to do my own seat of the chamois comparison.

2) I have a sense of value for 531 that might direct how I would build it. If this were a bike-boom bike, I would take more license to the build (maybe even make this my SS/FG and return my Miyata 110 to its original state). If it were a perfect condition French 531, I might be lured into seeking the better grade Simplex stuff, Normandy hubs and Mavic rims.

Alas, I must also face a small dent in the top tube that I am sure will not affect the ride, but I think my second goal may be dictated by realizing that even a slightly dented frame has little value to anyone from a nostalgic perspective.

As many others have said, there is quite a difference between the French and Italian frames in the detail.

Beautiful! looks pretty good for a '61.

I could be mistaken but I think someone stole the threads from your RD hanger ;)

Sorry, I should have been more specific, 61 is/was the advertised frame size until I measured it to a 64cm. I suspect the age of this bike is mid 70s.

RE: RD hanger, indeed the threads are stolen and perhaps I should chase them (it can only get worse). The interest of Simplex dropouts and whether to tap for standard or find a Simplex RD.

Just found a fork on eBay that would be perfect in every way (French threads, chrome, 20cm HT), but $370 is way beyond what I think this project should endure.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Fren...item35ccfed04e

But I am curious how they managed a Tange fork to fit a French bike. I guess the Frenchness is all in the cups, but I would think the threads on a Tange fork would have been ISO and so would the threaded cap. On the other hand, I am glad it takes a standard 22.2 stem.

The "Frenchness" was all in the steer tube threading: 25mm x 1mm versus 1" x 24tpi. Until recently, replacing a metric thread fork with an ISO fork was often easier than sourcing an appropriate metric thread headset. Now Velo-Orange offers a nice metric headset, if you have enough steer tube to fit.

I picked up a nearly complete bike last year with the IDENTICAL frame: same paint, Simplex dropouts, pointy seat-stay treatment, headbadge, and two bands on the seat tube, but different fork. That project is on hold, but here is a post of the Reynolds decal remaining on the down tube, in exactly the place where the "shadow" of a decal was on your frame:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8ea3b82573.jpg
wanted to post it for posterity before I forgot.....

This is a teaser right? You know we need a pic of the whole bike. Looks like 531 DB main frame.

I’ve had two St. Etienne road bikes over the years. Both were the same color and markings as the OP’s and both had a French Reynolds 531 three main tubes decal. I still have one set up as a 650b single speed porteur with an English-threaded fork.

As noted in the six year old original post, I had a circa 1977 St. Etienne with Reynolds 531 DB main triangle.

My quest to to ID my Mystery Frame and tubing type.

Might be of some interest....might not. YMMV

Link
I
I
V

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...tery-bike.html

I have a falcon with straight guage 531 and i think its a great rider. Congrats.

Well, at least I'm consistent with six years separating those quotes. And now here's a pic of my St. Etienne porteur:

https://live.staticflickr.com/8560/3...ed8ddeaa_c.jpg

nlerner what rack is that?

Custom porteur rack.