What have I bought?

[midlife]

Are your seat stay caps oversized and stick out around the sides? Not sure I can see that in the pics. Unlikely to be from the Raleigh Carlton stable.

 

[southcoast]

Still looks like a Nigel Dean to me.

http://www.users.waitrose.com/~ianclare/deniss nd.htm

 

[Guzzi]

Are your seat stay caps oversized and stick out around the sides? Not sure I can see that in the pics. Unlikely to be from the Raleigh Carlton stable.

The seat stay caps are absolutely flush with the stays, I think paint build up makes them look oversized, I'll upload some images when postimage is back up.

Am I right in guessing Haden lugs?

 

[midlife]

Prugnat S4 lugs?

 

[Guzzi]

Prugnat S4 lugs?

Yes......the haden seat lug has no cut out on the seat tube bit.

The bottom bracket shell (68mm) has no markings whatsoever, and looks suspiciously smooth, except a seam running across it this could be a paint run but it looks too neat.
The cable guide says Raleigh but I know they supplied parts. There is a small ~5mm diameter 1mm deep dimple on the shell as well.
Everything else is under thick paint.

 

[avecReynolds531]

I had a question like that about my 531. I thought three patterns were pretty similar. The Haden cut out shape is different enough from the Bocama & Prugnat. The French lugs seem much closer in design.

1. Haden Royal Sovereign: http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...rials/HadenRoyalSovereignLugs_zps2ac90ecf.jpg

2. Bocama Competition 83 (R3 cutout) - please check the 8th post on this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/1132755-nice-mystery-frame.html

3. Prugnat S4:
View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/90286293@N06/28517893655


I settled that my bike has the Prugnat S4 lug set - shown here:

I notice that the lower points of your head lugs are much longer than the Prugnat S4 points, both on my bike, and the Chris Riley flickr photo.

In any case, the mystery green bike has a lovely frame & lug set regardless.

 

[guybagnall]

my old blown frame has the same lugs and cants 531c eclipse countryman '87 from two wheels good made by orbit

Hi - I have an Eclipse I have had from new, around '85, and giving it a bit of a long-overdue refurb, frame no: 060855, any idea if that would be an Orbit frame (plain 531 frame & forks and Suntour 'drop outs'), and would you have any more Eclipse info?

 

[roley poley]

Hi - I have an Eclipse I have had from new, around '85, and giving it a bit of a long-overdue refurb, frame no: 060855, any idea if that would be an Orbit frame (plain 531 frame & forks and Suntour 'drop outs'), and would you have any more Eclipse info?

hello and welcome to cyclechat I can only point you in the direction of entering eclipse countryman on bike radar for a review and bit of history .What model is it? I have a countryman in the shed with a rear triangle out of line .What are your refurb plans ? any pictures ?

 

[rogerzilla]

Looks a bit like a Nigel Dean tourer?

It's a very Nigel Dean colour. And there is nothing wrong with a Nigel Dean.

 

[southcoast]

It's a very Nigel Dean colour. And there is nothing wrong with a Nigel Dean.

Indeed and he was trained by Dave Russell I believe.

 

[curzons246]

Nobody would build a tourer from 531 Comp, would they? Unless random transfer application, which is more than possible.

My Barron tourer is 531c cheers Bill

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Nobody would build a tourer from 531 Comp, would they?

That rather depends on what the desired ride characteristic was. Not everyone wants a bike frame that is as stiff as an iron girder, despite all the nonsense that gets trotted out about power transfer. Reynolds 531ST was fairly late to the party in the 531 timeline and plenty of non-racing bikes were built with standard Reynolds 531, even during the time the ST tubeset was available. If you compare ST with the regular stuff, it is noticeably beefier, and results in a frame a good half pound heavier.
I've heard ST called a bit unforgiving by a rider describing how their unladen 22 1/2" Dawes Galaxy felt, although I have ridden a ST framed Galaxy and I wouldn't consider it a harsh frame at all - but then I am larger and heavier than the rider I was talking to. For all the different frames I've ridden, I still consider my regular 531 Raleigh Royal to have the most comfortable ride without any question.

 

[roley poley]

As above in previous posts I did find out the hard way that 531c was too "light" to put heavy panniers on and go cycle camping as about 50 miles from home the back wheel began to rub the frame and a forced rebend in the field was called for to get home With panniers stashed in a wood I limped back.Had the frame re- trued at the bike shop I bought it from(Two Wheels Good) but it was never the same and would go out of alignment again after about 4 days of commuting … wheels ok, fork ok, drive train ok , turned into a donor bike for the future

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Sounds like a defective build to me. It takes a fair bit of force to deliberately reset a steel frame, so if it was going out of kilter whilst riding with a normal load and not as a result of any kind of impact damage I would say there was something wrong with the stays. Repeatedly resetting the frame cold will result in a fatigue failure eventually, so I would be wary of doing this too many times. There's a good chance it was first done immediately after fabrication to correct any heat distortion, then you did it in the field, then the bike shop did it again. it all adds up.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

My Barron tourer is 531c cheers Bill

Isn't that well down the 'fast tourer'/audax end of the spectrum though? If speed and not capacity/load was the priority, then you'd want a lighter gauge to ensure the necessary compliance.