Anyone want to see my Willi ?

otherself":w2dbmvb3 said:

nice bike. what year would it be then?

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I am trying to figure that out.

I guess it might not be possible to find out if this was resprayed at some point. But assuming it's the original paint, and therefore original Reynolds stickers, it suggests it was made after 1985 because of the 'Guaranteed Built with Reynolds, 1935-1985 Winning on 531' anniversary sticker at the top of the downtube. I'm quite sure of the authenticity of the tubing - i.e. it is 531c as the tubing sounds like it's got very thin wall thickness towards the middle, and the whole bike is very light and lively. So I'm assuming they're the original frame stickers, although again, they could have been replaced when the frame was renewed.

The little gold/black/red diamond frame stickers look more 70's though.

The paint certainly looks original, in that there's only primer underneath and no hint at other colours, although it could have been shot blasted.

The other things I'm trying to find out is if it was built as a touring bike by default. I'll probably ask some specific questions on another part of the forum.

Thanks for asking !

Now that is a stunning Willi you must be very proud of it

Quite a sizeable one too. Do you think these old brakes were often over sprung?

Lovely bike!where can I get a stem like that

Lovely stem.Where is it from?Have googled but nothing comes up

Re: Lovely bike!where can I get a stem like that

Ideale":161m4tz9 said:

Lovely stem.Where is it from?Have googled but nothing comes up

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It's particularly nice because the make is very subtly marked on it - not so good for their publicity !

It also doesn't help people like me who don't read things properly.....

....despite what I initially stated, it is in fact made by Token, and not Tektro !

Sorry about that - trying Googling 'Token track stem' and you'll have plenty more success !

I actually ordered mine from Manchester Evans as there's one near work and they're a good bunch of lads there. They got it in 2 days for me.

Iwasgoodonce":3gkrx8g9 said:

Quite a sizeable one too. Do you think these old brakes were often over sprung?

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It is slightly to much on the large size, though not in the 'gate' category at least. I'm 6 foot, and I think the amount of seatpost revealed is just about acceptable from an aesthetic point of view. It's 23 1/2" centre to top, and someone my size could probably manage a 22 1/2" just fine, and still get the same reach. But at least it means I get the bars nice and high without it looking gawky, which with my back problems was a priority. And you could argue that the longer tubes absorb bumps better, and getting a comfy frame was also my priority. So I've got no regrets overall, it's not as if I had much choice in getting an old touring frame made from 531c. And there certainly wasn't any choice in Willi Moores ! (will I ever see another ?)

I haven't noticed that the Mafacs are particularly oversprung, no. They're just about right with my Ergos, hardly distinguishable from other calipers I've owned. They're a bit mushy for my liking though, as I found out when doing an emergency stop for a cat on the ride home from work today !

I asked because the brakes on the Alan feel stiffer to apply. The Alan is also a 23.5"

If I had more room there would be a tourer in my collection too. Love this one.

Iwasgoodonce":btrfw5mc said:

I asked because the brakes on the Alan feel stiffer to apply. The Alan is also a 23.5"

If I had more room there would be a tourer in my collection too. Love this one.

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If you're talking Mafac, then as they made centre-pulls for so many years, I guess you might find some variation in spring tension. There were also different models, so perhaps some are more sprung than others. Mine are the standard 'Racer' version.

Maybe you've got the blocks set to far into the caliper arms, and you're having to pull them in a long way to compensate, and hence pulling against more spring than usual ?

Cheers for the info, I'm after one of those now