Can anyone help me id this touring frame?

Hi, I bought this off ebay as a gamble - I spotted the lugs and the price was right so I had a punt.
It arrived yesterday and I thought 'oh, when I get that paint off there'll be some identifying marks' but there's nothing.
A couple of features worth noting - 27.2 seat post size, so presumably 531 or equivalent.
Full compliment of touring braze ons.
I think it might be built for 27" wheels, or for very big clearances with 700c.
Long wheel base.
53cm seat tube ctc, 55cm top tube top tube ctc (seems like a weird pairing to me!),
Lovely cut out lug work.
Wraparound seat stay, with an overhang where the seat stays meet.
No brand name on dropouts front or rear.
English threaded BB.

Here are some photos
http://imgur.com/a/b8Sb3

Any advice would be appreciated. Someone's painted it with house paint so it's currently sat covered in a nitromors type thing, but one that doesn't take off proper (enamel) paint work. I've used it before on a frame that had been spray painted and it just took the outer layer off, leaving the original paint - I'm hoping it'll do the same for this one!

There's a bit of rust on the inside of the bottom bracket, which worries me slightly, but the tubes seem solid. Hopefully I'll not find any cracks when I get the 2mm of paint off.

Cheers.

Looks like domed Reynolds stay ends.
I think the Prugnat lugs with cutouts also had windows on the sides of the headtube. Haden had similar cutouts on the points, but no side window.
Have you got a side view of the headtube?

Didn't Orbit use the overlapping stay caps like that?

All the best,

Orbit is a possibility, I'll check the lugs when I get home. Meanwhile...


Quick bit of scraping and I've uncovered some decals - It looks like the person who painted painted straight over the original paint, which seemed to be a rather snazzy metallic blue.

Red and white decals as can just about me made out in the photos here, saying something like 'redmond'. The other side has been eaten by the nitromors, this side survived a bit better!

I'm almost certain that's 'mond' at the end, but can't work out the first bit.

Such a nice colour scheme at one time.

http://i.imgur.com/NnIbBPx.jpg

Richmond ?

Own brand bikes from Richmond Cycles...very similar to Orbit, Revell and Evans.

All the best,

Look like good quality. You need to determine wheel size as the Canti bosses will fit either 27 or 700c, not both

Indeed. I'll try some cantis on there tomorrow to confirm wheel size.
I've emailed the Richmond shop to see if they can shed some light on it.

I'll get the rest of the paint off tomorrow, put some clear coat on and then build it up and see how it rides.

So . . . how did it turn out?

It's a Richmond Cycles frame all right -- or if it isn't, then when I look at your photos and imagine your frame not covered with cleaning goop, it looks remarkably like the frame of my bike:



(that was last year; I've made a couple of changes since). My frame, bought from Richmond Cycles (in Twickenham) in 1987 or so, is for 700C; the previous year I bought a mixte frame for my then-GF, now-missus from the Richmond shop of Richmond Cycles, and the mixte is for 27 inch.

So how did your frame come out of the wash, and how do you enjoy the resulting bike?

Looks much like a mid to late 90's Panasonic touring deluxe but that appears to be Reynolds. Back in that era 80% of the touring frames were Anthracite grey in color,

Yes, mine's "Guaranteed built with Reynolds 531®ST fork blades, stays & butted frame tubes". (Or so it says. I wouldn't know, but the seat post is indeed 27.2 mm.)

Now that I come to examine it, the lugs turn out to be different from those shown by ForestHill. But the seat stays wrap at the top in the same way (they do on the mixte, too).

Mine has a subtle hint of metalflake in the grey paintwork, and there's red lining around the lugs. It's definitely from the 80s.