70's Colnago Super 531c

753 and SL, yes, but 'c' ?

I have a sneaking suspicion that "c" was in the 70's...........although was the first Reynolds decal with a wing in the 80's.

Shaun

There is somewhere on here a pic of Mrs Keith on her 531 Colnago which we got from JD Whisker in 1971. It's fairly stiff but she did some of her best time trials on it. Normally using 8 ounce rims with 6 ounce Clement silks, and geared 55x53 and 13,14 15,17,19.
We still have it.

Just did a quick search- seems nobody is quite sure of when 531c was introduced, or named as such, anyway..
I remember the '70s as being 531db, with 753 & 531sl from about 1975/6?

My memory tells me that sometime- I reckon no way was it before Thatcher got into Downing Street- 531 got divided up into 'Professional', 'C', and 'ST', each tubeset getting a different decal. Before that, 531db had always been available in different gauges, I think, so really it was just a bit of marketing- typical of the '80s... I could be wrong!

Keithglos- was that Whiskers in Kilburn or in Goff's Oak? May have been somewhere else altogether in '71... Before my time. Whiskers got the lion's share of my paper-round money in the second half of the '70s. I've still got a lot of the stuff I traded it for on my bike right now..

torqueless":3890mgow said:

Keithglos- was that Whiskers in Kilburn or in Goff's Oak? May have been somewhere else altogether in '71... Before my time. Whiskers got the lion's share of my paper-round money in the second half of the '70s. I've still got a lot of the stuff I traded it for on my bike right now..

Click to expand...

Kilburn.
In the 1960s I had a direct account with Brooks (and others), and was able to get saddles for Whisker. After leaving the cycle trade I bought our Clement tubulars from him. I suppose it would be normal now, but the door was always locked.

Torqueless.

Just looked through a pile of Cycling magazines from the 70's...........if 531c tubing was about someone would be selling one, either as a private sale or a trade advert.

Found out that Ian Cammish came second on the Kettering Friendly "25" July 1978.............but no mention of 531c up to the end of 1978.

After 1978 the trail went cold as I went to University and canceled my cycling mag subscription.

Deffo later than 78 then

Shaun

Your detective work has narrowed it down, Shaun... now we just need someone with a stack of comic from late '70s through mid '80s to continue the research?

1978- or thereabouts.... For me it was never quite the same after Merckx and Ocana retired, although I missed most of their heyday. A bit later, Campag. NR/SR going out of production was the last straw.. Sorry Hilldodger for hijacking the thread in the interests of tubeset-dating...

http://www.hlloydcycles.com/531%20history.pdf

Try here for Reynolds transfer time line.

Looked at that site the 531c decal just says it was the first one with a wing.............. not when it was introduced.

Good thinking Torqueless, I'll have a hunt around the bike brochures on t'internet and see when 531c frames were advertised.........

Shaun