Holdsworth Triath-Elan 531cs with a strange serial number.

Picked up this Holdsworth Triath-elan last night for £50. Thought it make a decent tidy upper. My thoughts after a bit of research are it's 1984, maybe 85. The original parts along with the 531cs tubing makes me think its original but the serial number H130920 stamped on both steerer tube and BB isn't what i expected. From all my online study before picking it up I was expecting to see a 6 digit number with a 0 prefix. Any Holdsworth experts any ideas why it hasn't got this type of serial number?

Frame: Reynolds 531cs
Fork: Reynolds 531
Dropouts: Campagnolo

Headset: Tange Allez
Stem: SR (100mm)
Handlebar: GB
Seatpost: Strong, Japan.

Brake Levers: Weinmann
Brake Calipers: Weinmann 500

Shifters: Suntour
Front Derailleur: Suntour AR
Rear Derailleur: Suntour ARX
Cranks: Takagi Allez
Chainrings: 52/42

Cassette: Not original 7 speed. 14/30
Chain: Not original SRAM
Bottom Bracket: Not original Shimano
Pedals: Not original nasties.
Rims: Not original Rigida Europe
Hubs: Not original Shimano Exage (Oct'89)
Hub skewers: Shimano
Saddle: Not original Sella Royal

Re:

Everything about the geometry, lugs and fixtures on that frame look original to me. I had one for a few years but don't have a record of the frame number. As an aside, 531cs was a relatively short lived tubeset and British Eagle were the only other volume builder that used it, as far as I am aware. Perhaps Holdsworth contracted out the construction to them?

Re: Holdsworth Triath-Elan 531cs with a strange serial number?

So since posting my initial post I've striped and cleaned the bike but kept it as honest as possible during the rebuild. I sourced a few parts to match the original spec but didn't do any paint work. I was going to go white saddle/cables/tape as per original spec but I managed to get a new black planet X Holdsworth saddle from eBay for £9 so black seemed a more obvious colour for the tape. The orange coloured cable set was a nod to its better specd cousins. I've probably worked out that its 1985, one of the last Holdsworths built in the Oakfield Road factory, but with a Marlboro serial number during the transitional period just before the factory shut and production moved north. I think this because of the available online pictures of known Triath-Elans and the '86 Holdsworth catalogue (found here) http://www.nkilgariff.com/HoldsCats/Cat1986/p8.jpg shows quite a different paint scheme and different frame and lugs which perhaps happened with the change of factory.

Frame: Reynolds 531cs
Fork: Reynolds 531
Dropouts: Campagnolo

Headset: Tange Allez
Stem: GB Biba
Handlebar: GB
Seatpost: Strong, Japan.

Brake Levers: Weinmann
Brake Calipers: Weinmann 500

Shifters: Suntour
Front Derailleur: Suntour AR
Rear Derailleur: Suntour ARX
Cranks: Takagi Allez
Pedals: Lyotard 82 with Christophe clips
Chainrings: 52/42

Bottle cage: Specialities TA

Cassette: Not original 7 speed. 14/30
Chain: Not original SRAM
Bottom Bracket: Not original Shimano
Rims: Not original Rigida Europe
Hubs: Not original Shimano Exage (Oct'89)
Hub skewers: Shimano

New Parts
Saddle: Plantet X Holdsworth.
Cableset: Jagwire
Bar tape: Cinelli
Hoods: Dia Compe
Tyres. Shwalbe luganos

Re: Holdsworth Triath-Elan 531cs with a strange serial number?

Beautiful restoration. Well done.

Re:

Nice job. Don't get too fixated about original spec. The frameset alone was also available from Holdsworth. That's how I got mine. I waited 5 weeks and had bought a Campag Triomphe groupset for it by the time it arrived.

Re: Holdsworth Triath-Elan 531cs with a strange serial number?

531 'CS' just wasnt used very much - I think it was replaced by 'Designer select' which basically allowed frame builders to use pretty much whatever they wanted.

Heres a British Eagle 531CS MTB from around 1985

Re: Holdsworth Triath-Elan 531cs with a strange serial number?

I had a 531cs Barry Hoban British/COventry Eagle and it was a nice frameset

Re: Holdsworth Triath-Elan 531cs with a strange serial number?

legrandefromage":rc8ys1pe said:

531 'CS' just wasnt used very much - I think it was replaced by 'Designer select' which basically allowed frame builders to use pretty much whatever they wanted.

Click to expand...

Sorry but have to correct you there. 531CS was a budget alternative to 531c. It was a combination of 531 main tubes and 501 forks and stays. 531 Designer Select wasn't a set of tubes as such. It was a label to attach to a frame made with a full complement of 531 tubes that were individually chosen by a custom builder to match the requirements of the customer. At one time there was a very large selection of tube thicknesses and diameters.

Re: Holdsworth Triath-Elan 531cs with a strange serial number?

Hope you havent been reading that Wikipdia again! 'Budget' 531 would just simply be plain gauge 531 without no ifs or butts whereas club sport had butted tubes so was of sufficient quality. There was 501SL after all.

Theres scant real information on why 531CS was about, plenty of bikes had 501 forks and 531 tubesets without the CS

Heres a useful chart from 1984

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Holdsworth Triath-Elan's have 531 forks instead of the 501s. The main sticker mentions stays as well.