Out in the sun: John Perks 531
03-26-20, 09:30 AM
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Out in the sun: John Perks 531
After many happy years with road bikes, I starting looking for a 531 lugged frame, preferably from the Birmingham area in UK (home of Reynolds tubing), and was delighted to find this:
a John Perks (early 80s?) - 531db frame & forks, Prugnat S4 lugs, Vagner DP fork crown, and fluted seat stay top eyes. The seatpost is 27.2mm, fork rake at 2.5 inches, dropouts are Gipiemme and the bottom bracket is stamped M 13.
I would love to know who the frame builder was: from the little I managed to find out, this was most likely built by Knight Cycles of Wolverhampton, or one of the Dawes framebuilders at that time. It is too early to have been an Autostrada or Andy Perks built frame.
When I got it, there was sadly a lot of rust competing with the faded ruby red paint. Shotblasting and a new finish was felt to be the best option.
Most of the original equipment has been kept: Weinmann centrepulls (stamped 7.83), excellent Suntour gearing comprising of Power levers, Cyclone II front derailleur and an ARX long cage rear derailleur. The 5 speed Perfect freewheel is 14 to a dinner plate 34.
I like the Sakae 36/50 double chainset very much.
The wheels are 27" 36 spoked heavy Weinmanns rims with Malliard hubs that are stamped 82. I reckon the frame deserves, and would be transformed with, a light wheelset.
The Selle Italia Anatomic saddle, mudguards and Lyotard pedals needed replacing: the full story of being stuck between keeping it as is, or as was my first & only idea, spring the frame out to 130mm for Campagnolo 10 speed gearing & light 700c wheels, is described on another forum.
I'd be most grateful please, if anyone here at Bike Forums can share knowledge of the Knight Cycles frame builders: Les Holland, Jim Gittins and Mick Hessen have been mentioned, or Dawes frame builders of the late 70s & early 80s.
Any further info, comments and insights on the frame, or more generally, framebuilding in Birmingham & the Black Country at that time, would also be much appreciated.
In any case, it rides beautifully and...
is a joy. As a novice to vintage bikes, that's all I could ask for from this lovely 531 frame.
a John Perks (early 80s?) - 531db frame & forks, Prugnat S4 lugs, Vagner DP fork crown, and fluted seat stay top eyes. The seatpost is 27.2mm, fork rake at 2.5 inches, dropouts are Gipiemme and the bottom bracket is stamped M 13.
I would love to know who the frame builder was: from the little I managed to find out, this was most likely built by Knight Cycles of Wolverhampton, or one of the Dawes framebuilders at that time. It is too early to have been an Autostrada or Andy Perks built frame.
When I got it, there was sadly a lot of rust competing with the faded ruby red paint. Shotblasting and a new finish was felt to be the best option.
Most of the original equipment has been kept: Weinmann centrepulls (stamped 7.83), excellent Suntour gearing comprising of Power levers, Cyclone II front derailleur and an ARX long cage rear derailleur. The 5 speed Perfect freewheel is 14 to a dinner plate 34.
I like the Sakae 36/50 double chainset very much.
The wheels are 27" 36 spoked heavy Weinmanns rims with Malliard hubs that are stamped 82. I reckon the frame deserves, and would be transformed with, a light wheelset.
The Selle Italia Anatomic saddle, mudguards and Lyotard pedals needed replacing: the full story of being stuck between keeping it as is, or as was my first & only idea, spring the frame out to 130mm for Campagnolo 10 speed gearing & light 700c wheels, is described on another forum.
I'd be most grateful please, if anyone here at Bike Forums can share knowledge of the Knight Cycles frame builders: Les Holland, Jim Gittins and Mick Hessen have been mentioned, or Dawes frame builders of the late 70s & early 80s.
Any further info, comments and insights on the frame, or more generally, framebuilding in Birmingham & the Black Country at that time, would also be much appreciated.
In any case, it rides beautifully and...
is a joy. As a novice to vintage bikes, that's all I could ask for from this lovely 531 frame.
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03-26-20, 09:38 AM
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I dig that blue. Nice ride!
03-26-20, 09:54 AM
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Beautiful! There is something about the look of center pull brakes that speaks to me. Love it.
I have no knowledge of Knight Cycles, and very little of Dawes, but I am sure someone here does.
I have no knowledge of Knight Cycles, and very little of Dawes, but I am sure someone here does.
03-26-20, 04:49 PM
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Beautiful bike.
03-26-20, 07:06 PM
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And maybe a link to this other forum and post so you don't repeat yourself. Got any before pics? 531 + lugs is hard to beat. You have a beauty.
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I don't do: disks, tubeless, e-shifting, or bead head nymphs.
I don't do: disks, tubeless, e-shifting, or bead head nymphs.
03-27-20, 02:55 AM
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Thanks for the replies and taking time to contribute - much appreciated. I'll apologise in advance for the amount of links in this post and UK spelling.
A photo of the original paint and down tube decal is attached. The top tube was painfully rusted and the paint blistered - I didn't want to take a picture of it at the time.
The story of the blue paint started with nostalgic memories of the colour used by Saviem and Renault: https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5606...3c7940ac_b.jpg
If I recall correctly, I did include the Saviem photo alongside the idea of "...maybe somewhere between RAL chart numbers 5012 and 5015." https://www.ralcolor.com/
In spite of this mangled, vague instruction, Autostrada carried out the work, and I was very happy with the outcome. Unfortunately, I have no idea how they got to the colour they did!
There's a link here to an Autostrada renovation of a nice Geoffrey Butler frame: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/190968/ It is also right to mention that MIke Kowal was a renowned frame builder in the UK - as quoted by Hilary Stone in LFGSS (July 5th, 2010): 'Mike Kowal is one of the lesser known builders but this early example of his work shows just how good a builder he was - it is really quite superb...'
I'll look out for the lagoon blue Raleighs and a comparison photo.
Finally, the link to the original UK forum post regarding Campagnolo ergolevers working well with Weinmann centre pull brakes (I do love the look of centre pulls too), and a C & V novice's plentiful indecision & lack of knowledge! Out in the sun: John Perks 531 | Retrobike
A photo of the original paint and down tube decal is attached. The top tube was painfully rusted and the paint blistered - I didn't want to take a picture of it at the time.
The story of the blue paint started with nostalgic memories of the colour used by Saviem and Renault: https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5606...3c7940ac_b.jpg
If I recall correctly, I did include the Saviem photo alongside the idea of "...maybe somewhere between RAL chart numbers 5012 and 5015." https://www.ralcolor.com/
In spite of this mangled, vague instruction, Autostrada carried out the work, and I was very happy with the outcome. Unfortunately, I have no idea how they got to the colour they did!
There's a link here to an Autostrada renovation of a nice Geoffrey Butler frame: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/190968/ It is also right to mention that MIke Kowal was a renowned frame builder in the UK - as quoted by Hilary Stone in LFGSS (July 5th, 2010): 'Mike Kowal is one of the lesser known builders but this early example of his work shows just how good a builder he was - it is really quite superb...'
I'll look out for the lagoon blue Raleighs and a comparison photo.
Finally, the link to the original UK forum post regarding Campagnolo ergolevers working well with Weinmann centre pull brakes (I do love the look of centre pulls too), and a C & V novice's plentiful indecision & lack of knowledge! Out in the sun: John Perks 531 | Retrobike
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