The painter wants the decals in hand prior to beginning so that’s where I am. These two look like the best prospects. The thing I want to avoid is the thickness present in all the vinyl that I have seen.

Does anyone have comments or recommendations?

You should include Greg at Cyclomondo when looking.
Then it comes down to who has the ones you want.

Disclosure: I have a customised variation from Greg I ordered a week ago that should be arriving soon.

Velocals offers thin version of all their decals.

I have been happy with both, but HLloyd is not a manufacturer, they have spent a couple generations buying manufacturer's overstock. Pick your poison.

Marc

are you sure?
Nick says otherwise
FAQ page,
who we are and what we do

The decals I have seen from Cyclemondo have been thicker than I want.

I bought some Stallard decals from H Lloyd this spring. Stallard has been out of business for several decades but the decals have all the signs of recent manufacture. They look good although I haven't used them yet. I have used Motobecane decals from Cyclomondo and like them. They stick up a bit I don't mind.

H Lloyd makes decals. I've dealt with Nick Directly,

I've been happy with VeloCals for years.

I had no idea they were making their own now.

Marc

I've bought off the shelf from all three and worked with VeloCals on a custom project. They all delivered a good product.

Top

ive used both Velo Cals and Cyclomondo, and even a few random people on ebay that had the decals i needed, Velocals has higher quality stuff, but you better get your order in. he takes his time with all of his stuff. the first time i ordered from him it took 6 weeks to get the decals and hes in the US. when i ordered from cyclomondo it came in a week, and thats shipping from australia. YMMV

For the record, we are talking about vinyl decals, correct?

I'm fairly certain Velocals and Cyclomondo don't, but does Lloyds offer something other than vinyl?

Interesting note on the LLoyds FAQ
It is all a bit academic unless all (or any) have the decal set sought

Another one to note:

World Cycle Decals ? Index To Available Manufacturers

As for HLloyd (from whom I have ordered more than once, and am happy with what I got) I believe he stocks old decals when they're available, scans them if rare, and makes reproductions as necessary. He sometimes even has reproduction head badges and the like.

I do not think that I want vinyl, although the note from HLloyd gives me pause. My painter says he always uses Cyclomondo but I have seen his work with them and, while the paint is beautiful, I think the thickness of the vinyl spoils the job. To me they look like exactly what they are; clear-coated stickers. I am looking for either dry-transfer or water-slide.

PS the bike is my '73 Raleigh MK IV.

I just received my VELOCALS stickers for a 1970 Gitane Grand Sport de Luxe.
The price was $50 shipped... maybe it's just me, but it's just waay too much. Also, they break apart a set of stickers that come with one bike and sell them separately (see attached pic - they sell this for extra $15 even though it's part of the same set), as if i'm buying stickers for different bikes, so my total came up to about $65 for what should've been a single set of decals for a single bike.

Anyway, the fonts are sloppily matched, they look like original only to a typographically challenged person. If you see no difference, for example, between Arial and Verdana, then it's no problem. Tons of mistakes in colors, width of the lines, etc. Sloppy job. I left them a Positive feedback on ebay, but it's not like if i really had a choice there.

FWIW:
This is Verdana (not Arial)
This is Arial (not Verdana)

I'll preface my remarks on Velocal by saying that their customer service, delivery time, and the quality of their product (aside from below) was excellent.

The only thing I caution is when you receive the decals, make sure you're satisfied with how they actually accurately reproduced the original. Like the poster above, my decals were not very accurate. They look just fine to anyone who isn't familiar with the original decals, but the color of the striping and other non-black graphics, the size of the font, the proportions of font to the other graphics, and lack of a couple of important details (gold pinstriping was missing on the main stripes, for one).

I put the decals on and again, they look OK and the quality of the ink and vinyl is excellent. But I'm working with a local sign shop to make some decals that are much closer to the original. I contacted Velocals about the discrepancies, but they could only offer what they have.

Again, if what you order is a good match to the original, I think you'll be very satisfied with Velocals. But just make sure before you remove and replace the old ones, or at least do an image search on the web to get an idea what they should look lke.

I ordered water slides from Gus Salmon. They are not cheap but they are absolutely perfect in every way. Customer service is A++.

Always been very happy with Nick at H Lloyd - really knowledgeable and helpful, incredible quality - either genuine original stock or totally authentic reproductions. Depending on the materials originally used, the decals are water slide, varnish fix or self adhesive vinyl. In my experience even the reproductions I have used look better than those from other sources, in particular they do not have a raised edge or visible background. Really worth the money. Nick's a busy man - and remember the time difference if you are calling or e-mailing from outside the UK, it can sometimes take a few days to make contact. I've never used VeloCals though, so have no opinion to offer on their products. I have used Greg Softley's and although they are OK, prefer the more genuine look of Lloyd's.

Does anyone offer an accurate French reynolds 531 decal that includes the accent over the "E" in "Renforcés"?

That's a keen eye, Jeirvine. I'll second the above post that H. Lloyd's decals are superlative. But I note even he missed that little detail on his reproductions. As far as I know, Lloyd's was selected by Reynolds as the only authorized source for reproductions.

These are H. Lloyd's water slides. The only issue I would mention, aside from the missing accent, is that the green color is not quite the same as some originals.

Does anyone offer an accurate French Reynolds 531 decal that includes the accent over the "E" in "Renforcés"?

Talk to Gus Salmon.


he missed that little detail on his reproductions.

the green color is not quite the same as some originals.



Talk to Gus Salmon.

I've worked with Gus, thanks. He's a swell guy, but I doubt I'd pursue this with him.