Tubing

Reynolds 531 road bikes

Reynolds in Birmingham, England, made 531 from 1935. It's a manganese-molybdenum steel, and for decades it was the tube set good British and French frames were built from. The decal tells you how much of the frame is 531. Until 1981 the rectangular decal came in three versions: butted main tubes, all tubes 531, and "531 main tubes", which meant plain-gauge main tubes and nothing else. From 1981 the decals name the set, like 531 Competition, 531 Super Tourist or 531 Professional, and every one came in a French-language version too. A boom-era ten-speed with plain-gauge 531 main tubes is a good bike, but it's a different frame from a fully butted 531 racer, and the price should show it.

12 models we cover.