The renaissance of Reynolds steel

[merckxman]

Good article, https://road.cc/content/feature/rena...-frames-300667
The renaissance of Reynolds steel — the British framemaking specialists creating a new generation of classic bike afficionados

[Spaghetti Legs]

Well, never knew the basis of the “TI” component of the Raleigh brand until I read this. Too bad they glossed over a lot of the earlier history of the company. There used to be a guy either here or bike forums who worked for Reynolds and often had a lot of insight on the tube sets 70’s thru 90’s.

I have a British path racer frame from 1959-60 in 531. Still need to take on building it up properly. That’s my only 531 frame but I have one Merckx in 653 and another in 753 that are very nice.

[jamesdak]

Nice read although not a whole lot of detail.

For us C&V folks Reynolds never went away. Plenty of their steel in my house, now and in the past.

Heck even my new British Path Racer was made with 531.



GP&GS Lemond-853



Jan De Reus-531c



Bob Jackson-531



Schwinn (Scott) Circuit-853



Lemond Tourmelet-853



Trek 560 Pro-531



Lemond Zurich-853

[witcombusa]

It's great that they are finding a way to keep supplying tubes for builders. Are there production bikes now being built with high end Reynolds? My newest bike with 631 is a Mercian from 2005. Have a 753R bike, a 853 and lots of 531 from the 70's and 80's.
I much prefer the Columbus fork tubes over the Reynolds. The shape is different and they just feel better to me. The Reynolds are squished much thinner in the side to side plane and longer front to back.(talking road forks here) I also think Columbus stayed more current/relevant, not resting on their past laurels.

Lots of great tubes out there now, the good builders have never had so many choices to mix and match for a custom build.

[David Kirk]

I count myself as fortunate to have had a relationship with the people at Reynolds since 1990. A number of good people have come and gone (as they do naturally over time) but one constant has been Keith Noronha. He was the one I dealt with (mostly by fax back in the day) while I worked at Serotta and is still the one I deal with when it comes to tech issues and ideas. When I hung my own shingle 20 years ago he took my calls and answered my emails as if I were the biggest customer he has.

He was instrumental in helping me develop my own chainstays and seat stays (for the Terraplane option) and has worked with me through the adaptation of all stainless models. He never BS’s me and always gives me the straight scoop. Aside from that we trade emails and the occasional call about the state of the world and politics and family and things bigger and more important than making bikes. He’s a good man running a good company and I’m pleased to call Reynolds my main supplier. I would not have made it 20 years without the help of Reynolds and it’s good fun to read the article. Thanks for sharing it.

dave

[spoonrobot]

Originally Posted by witcombusa

Are there production bikes now being built with high end Reynolds?

Fairlight makes everything with Reynolds 853/631. Cotic offers some models but all off-road themed. Niner does some in 853 and Crust does as well. IIRC Kona and All-City were using 853 before they switched to house branding.

Seems like most of the pure road bikes are Columbus/Dedacciai or Tange due to where they're built. Both Italian and Japanese production companies are still making tig and lugged road race bikes in high end steel. The UK doesn't seem to have the same offerings right now, maybe because of the strong custom industry.

[merckxman]

My DeKerf was made with 853 (photo on this page https://forums.thepaceline.net/showt...Dekerf&page=20)

[charliedid]

Thanks for an interesting article....I'm curious to know what and where this perceived market is both in production and consumption?

Small builders? Medium size trying to create something from perceived demand? Something else entirely?

[Andy340]

Seeing a 531 decal brings back good memories!

[El Chaba]

To paraphrase from the article a bit…..I found the part about some of the machinery that they were using from the 1960s is so much better than what they could purchase today from Taiwan (presumably the only viable source) that it enables them to draw tubes to a much thinner gauge….There is something particularly gratifying about that in a throwaway world.

[vespasianus]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

To paraphrase from the article a bit…..I found the part about some of the machinery that they were using from the 1960s is so much better than what they could purchase today from Taiwan (presumably the only viable source) that it enables them to draw tubes to a much thinner gauge….There is something particularly gratifying about that in a throwaway world.

I think that is true for most mechanical things.

I heard a podcast from that guy and was amazed how much of the steel tubing is recycled or made from recycled steel. It hit me when I went to my local carbon repair shop and they had a gigantic pile of un-repairable carbon frames, wheels and forks.