Retro Cycling Vintage

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Bianchi Steel bikes have been a mainstay of Italian and global cycling for many many years carrying many champions to success in both the one day classics and the Grand Tours. Typically available in Bianchi Celeste colour Bianchi steel frames stand out as a mark of history and quality in cycling. For the most part Bianchi utilize Columbus steel and still sell steel frames amongst a range that seems to be dominated, as most manufacturers are, of carbon and aluminium, which while nice for the modern cyclist don't have quite the same qualities as a steel frame does for a more discerning cyclist.

Remember to check frame spacing if you want to run 9 or 10 speed as some of the older frames would have been made for 7 or 8 speed (or even fewer) and while steel stays can be coerced (or bent as we call it in technical terms!) outwards there may be a limit to how far you can prise old frames apart to fit newer hubs in.

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Reynolds 853 Steel Bikes and Frames For Sale

Reynolds 853 is Reynolds
newer tubing set and ranks as a seamless air hardened heat treated tubeset that also came in an OS oversized flavour making it very popular with mtb purists and tourists alike.

Reynolds 853 has a great following as its been used by some excellent commercial steel builders as well as custom specialists.

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Reynolds 753 Steel Bikes and Frames For Sale

Reynolds 753 tubing was aimed at professional level racers and top amateurs. It's essentially Reynolds 531 with a reduced wall thickness to keep the weight down but heat treated to increase its tensile strength.

You'll notice there is only a small number of 753 frames available. This is because Reynolds 753 frames can only be built by master craftsmen approved by Reynolds.

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Reynolds 653 tubeset came into regular use around the early 1990s with the input of former champion of champions Eddy Merckx who convinced Reynolds that a vanilla 753 frame was too harsh for certain road events. He got Reynolds to combining 753 stays with 531 forks and main tubes which were actually a slightly thinner walled version of regular 531. Reynolds 653 frames are considered one of the most affordable and practical classic frames available.

You may want to check rear hub width if you are intending running 10 speed although it is often possible to bend rear stays out a little bit.

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Reynolds 531 Bikes and Frames For Sale

Reynolds classic 531 steel frameset is the ultimate workhorse for riders who love training, racing, touring or commuting. Whether it's as Reynolds 531c or its touring flavour as Reynolds 531st its been the serious cyclist's tubing of choice for classic frames that can easily stand the test of time.

Prices are quite reasonable for secondhand frames and they last for years due to their easy repairability. They are also easy to strip down and repaint in your chosen colours should you fancy a change

Bear in mind some older frames may not be spaced for 10 speed hubs

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Reynolds 531 Steel Bikes and Frames For Sale

Reynolds 653 Steel Bikes and Frames For Sale

Reynolds 753 Steel Bikes and Frames For Sale

Reynolds 853 Steel Bikes and Frames For Sale

When you think of classic bike frames of the bygone era there is one main frameset tubing supplier that instantly sprinsg to mind... Reynolds.

Their 531 steel frameset has been proven as the ultimate workhorse time and time again. Whether it's in its racing guise as Reynolds 531c or its touring flavour as Reynolds 531st its been the serious cyclist's tubing of choice for classic frames that can easily stand the test of time.

The Reynolds Tube Company as we know it today was founded in 1889 by John Reynolds in Birmingham, England. In 1897, the Reynolds had patented the process for making tubes which are thicker at the ends than in the middle, which we now call butted that allowed frame builders to create frames that were both lightweight and strong. The double-butted tube-set was the 531 which Reynolds introduced in 1934. Unfortunately Reynolds 531 tubing is now only available on special order so if you want a 531 frame you'd be better off looking back to the classics.

There were different variations of 531 tubing for different use -
531ATB and Magnum- Designed for Mountain, All terrain, Off road
531C - Racing- Road, cyclo-cross, track and time trial.
531OS - Oversize
531 Professional - Superseded 531SL, for road racing and time trials.
531SL and Professional - Special lightweight (SL) tubeset
531 Speed Stream - 531SL Oval shaped aerodynamic tube for time trial bikes
531ST and Super Tourist- Stronger touring tubeset

Reynolds 753 tubing was made for professional level racers. It's essentially Reynolds 531 heat treated to increase its tensile strength and with a reduced wall thickness to keep the weight down. It will only be found on frames by built by master craftsmen approved by Reynolds.

Reynolds 653 tubeset came about with the input of former campione di campioni Eddy Merckx. He instructed Reynolds that a vanilla 753 frame was too harsh for certain stages of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia. Combining 753 stays with 531 forks and main tubes which were actually a slightly thinner walled version of regular 531. This combination worked well for the racers and resulted in an ultra stiff efficient frame while at the same time providing a forgiving ride when needed.

Reynolds 853 was a newer addition to the ranks as a seamless air hardened heat treated tubeset that also came in an OS oversized flavour making it very popular with mtb purists.

Reynolds' latest tubing development is the 953 which they have been designing with Carpenter Special Alloys. Based on a stainless steel alloy with very thin tube walls it is currently only used by a few specialist builders.

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Fixed gear frames have become extremely popular lately due to their ease of maintenance, elegant construction and the beautiful ride they give. Experienced club riders have long since switched to riding a fixed gear through the winter as it gives them a more maintenance free ride when the weather is bad and makes them a better rider through developing souplesse.
Couriers have made fixed gears fashionable again for city and suburban riders with many opting to ride custom lightweight frames kitted out with some of the lightest aerodynamic components ever made.

If you want to put your own fixed gear bike for sale you've got several choices - buy one off the peg or get hold of a frame and spec your own components. We prefer the latter - get hold of your own fixed gear frame and either trawl ebay for cheap components or hunt out exotic rare components and make a bike that is both beautiful and unique.

There are four main frame materials you will be looking at - steel, aluminium, titanium and carbon. Our favourite is steel but each have there own pros and cons. Ideally the frame will have rear facing track ends where the rear wheel slots in and allows for adjustment to keep the chain tensioned. You can also use a frame with horizontal sloping dropouts but these can make it a bit harder to get the chain tension right.

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No one could have realised the impact Ernesto Colnago was to have on the design and production of road racing bicycles back when he was a boy on his parent's farm in Cambiago, Northern Italy during the 1940's.
Turning his back on continuing the family's farming traditions he went to work in a local small bicycle factory which he then turned into a shop where he could service the local's bicycles.

Like many young Italian men at that time Ernesto Colnago had dreams of becoming a professional bike racer and enjoyed some success until a particularly bad accident scuppered his dream leaving him with a broken leg. At this point he chose to focus solely on bicycle components and mechanics and joined a racing team as a mechanic. The team enjoyed success and rose to prominence when the famous Eddy Merckx joined - infact it is one of the most iconic teams of its time and one most afficianados of cycle sport have heard of - the mighty Molteni squad.

Ernesto Colnago didn't just service the bikes for Molteni, he started making the frames as well. Originally they were painted in the colours of the team and had the team branding on them but eventually people were clamouring to find out who was making the frames that Eddy Merckx was riding and winning aboard.

With Eddy's compulsive attention to detail and Ernesto's engineering genius an awesome partnership grew - Eddy could tell Ernesto exactly what he needed from a frame in order to be the most successful cyclist that ever raced meaning Ernesto could build it exactly to his specifications and would in turn go on to develop one of the most prestiguous bike brands.

Look out for a future article on the Colnago frames that have been ridden at the very highest levels of the sport

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If we ignore the cheaper supermarket style high tensile steel frames and look at the classic steel alloy frames which are often a mixture with chrome, manganese, nickel etc we can see the the recent successful utilization of aluminium and carbon fibre meant that steel had to raise its game to keep up in the bike frame business.
Go back to the 80s and Reynolds 531 and 753 and Columbus SL and SP dominated the racing market. Look at the 1990s and beyond to see Reynolds and Columbus joined by a multitude of other tubing manufactuers whilst expanding their own offerings of tubesets to satisfy a greater demand of rider's requirements. Touring, mtb, track, time trialing all require slightly different tubesets.
In addition to the wider selection of steels consumers are also faced with a wider choice of tubes made from the materials. Plain guage and double butted have been supplemented by a wide selection of different buttings and profiles.
To a great extent steel had become unfashionable amonst riders which means it becomes fashionable for restorers. Newer materials are often pushed as being 'better' , however its certainly worth remembering that good steel tubes remain eminently suitable for bicycle frames. They also usually offer the answer when the question is quite simply "what frame should I get?"

For: Strong, Cheap, Stiff, Repairable
Against: Rust

Good examples of steel frames for restoration projects

Easy: Raleigh, Bianchi, Colnago, Merckx, Peugeot
Harder to find: Masi, Botecchia, Pinarello, Moser, ciocc, wilier,
Great if you can get one: Legnano, Roberts, Mercian, Hetchins