xiaoman1 

Rebecca and I were out this weekend and I got a text from the guy with the "damaged" bike.I had messaged him earlier about what I perceived as a damaged rear drop, I did not get an answer until the next day.
The text read "no damage to the RD, come by if you would like to see it. I was down south and I asked for the address and went to take a look at it, sure enough, no damage, dings or dents just a real dirty frame that had been sitting out in the weather for years. I liked the color and the frame was 22 so almost outside my range limit, but I bought it any way.
I never heard of the make in road bikes but I was familiar with their mountain bikes and they seemed to be mid range to good etc.
I would be happy for any information on the model "Super Triathlon"....

Chain off....seat post iffy, the seat stays are interesting!


Rear Drop and RD Seem alright.


Surprised to see this....no it's not a crack but a spiderweb!

No serial numbers that I can find, here or anywhere else.....the seat post is a 27.2

I will post a few more closeups before I start the tear down......sadly the angles are steeper than I thought so it may be too large for me.
It has a race tag but I wonder if it was a marketing gimmick, the lugs are worked and tapper towards the rear and the REYNOLDS decals seem original....it appears to have been ridden very little....low range, midrange?

Best, Ben

JulesCW 

I'd say mid-upper range -- nice tubing, Cinelli BB shell, interesting fastback seatstays. Likely a nice bike to ride.

smd4

Not very high quality stay ends at the dropouts. Actually crappy. To me. (I realized I need to add this after every statement because someone will invariably respond “I don’t think it’s crappy at all!”). Though recently posted old articles suggest older Italian stuff didn’t have the best workmanship.

SurferRosa

What's the red 531 decal?

xiaoman1 

SR,
I don't know much about it other than it's "special".....Do you happen to anything about this maker or model?

Thanks, Ben

Piff 

Seems like 531 professional to me.

SurferRosa

Yeah, SL was thinner tubing than 531 and was replaced by Pro.

I had a beautiful SL frameset, and unfortunately it was too big. It was the lightest steel frame I've ever had my hands on.

I'm confused though that the Saracen doesn't have SL fork decals.

SoccerBallXan

Bravo! Lovely acquisition!

Nothing "crappy" here. The proof is in the pudding; it's likely a few decades after this machine was built and hardly any work needs to be done to bring it back to life (or so it appears). Personally, I am a sucker for the color, a few damp rags and it'll glisten again.

Reynolds professional is nothing to scoff at, Cinelli shells are always a treat, and the Shimano EF dropouts are just fine. In fact, wouldn't the dropouts lead us to believe this is a 80's bike? I'm not familiar with the 531 timeline and where 531 pro tubing would fit in.

An "upper-mid" range bike one could be proud riding daily.

xiaoman1 

SR,
I saw that too and not sure why but that appear original...maybe no "special" fork decals?....stuff happens, is there any way to tell about the tubing, seat stays?
Best, Ben

SBX,
On initial tear down the frame is very light (to me) and the paint looks to be in great shape other than a few nicks and as you said should polish/clean up nicely....any thoughts on the seat stays?
Best, Ben

SoCaled 

Glad you grabbed this, I had seen the "damage" before I had posted this bike, but was not sure what I was looking at exactly. Now that you have the bike that original picture, we were struggling over, suddenly seems clear - Just a shadow.

xiaoman1 

SoCaled,
Yes, strange how the photos seemed to show damage. I'll post a few more pics later today and start a clean and lube in a few days. I am still not sure what I have, the frame is nice and light with some nice details, but nothing much on the web etc. I am hoping to get a bit more information from forum members.
Best, Ben

unworthy1

When Reynolds revised the line (and graphics on the decals) around '82 and afterward, the tubesets also got some revisions, 531 'Super Lightweight" (AKA Red Label 531) transitioned to "Professional".
Tho the OP's example has the post '82 style frame decal, the original "Red SL" came with green label triangle transfers for the forkblades and presume that Saracen either was being very honest about what blades they built the fork with, or could be they lost the red blade decals (or built this one with mixed vintage).
In any case I don't think it's any frame to sniff at, even if the stay ends were left domed. BTW I don't know who made that seat lug but yest it's interesting and deserves some close-ups. Appears to be IC, which the early-ish Cinelli BB shell is too (that's a SCM model shell, replaced by the CCM with chainstay sockets "rotated 90 degrees")
Congrats on the purchase!

xiaoman1 

A
Red 531 on seat tube

Seat Tube

Rear Brake bridge unworthy1
Best, Ben

SurferRosa

Oh, it's Pro, not SL. Even sweeter. I read that SL was discontinued in '81.

Seems a little strange to see the shifter band and nutted brakes.

xiaoman1 

SR,
I agree, there are few anomalies (racing tab, the seat stay and no serial number etc.), but the original owner said this is the way it came so who know for sure......is "Pro" lighter?
Best, Ben

Kabuki12

That looks like it will clean up nicely. I have never heard of these but it seems to be built well from what I can see. I look forward to updates as you move along with the build.

SurferRosa

In the stays, I think so.

xiaoman1 

unworthy1,
I am a bit embarrassed to say, but I am unfamiliar with acronyms that you are using, will you please clarify?
Best, Ben

Biketiger

Why do you think the stay ends are "crappy"? Your opinion would be more valuable if you offered an explanation.

unworthy1

Ben,
I used some abbreviations like "IC" for investment-casting" which is a modern iteration of the ancient process of "lost-wax" casting for jewelry.
But in this case there isn't a sacrificial wax pattern that gets melted away in the mold, and the casting is with steel, not a precious metal.
Domed ends were what Reynolds did as 'stock' finishing to the ends of the chain and seat stays, so it's considered kind of "generic" and many builders make a point of cutting away the domes and making these joints special and "signature".
I don't know what the CCM and SCM stand for with Cinelli BB shells (maybe Super Corsa Model?) but the early version has the pointed tips of the chain stay sockets at top and bottom which (it is said) sometimes resulted in "can opener" failures of those stays ( I never saw any pix of this) so Cinelli revised the orientation with the CCM version and the points are "sideways".
I think the seat lug is a standard IC unit, might have been sold as "Cinelli" could have been made for them by another outfit but almost certainly Italian, and in this case Saracen just routed the seat stays to the ears and voila: it's a fastback
HTH
(acronym for Hope This Helps)

Chombi1 

Yes, the domed stay ends are what you might find on a not-so-expensive bike like a Peugeot. I wouldn't say they are "crappy", more like "plain".......

avecReynolds531

Interesting find & thread. Through researching the origins of a 531 bike from the early 80s (also with domed ends at the dropouts), I learned of a link between Saracen and Knight Cycles.

One of the original Knight frame builders was said to have emigrated to the USA: a bikeforums post shows an example of the frameset: https://www.bikeforums.net/21987212-post60602.html

Also included is the Classic Lightweights article for reference: https://www.classiclightweights.co.u...knight-cycles/

himespau 

Cool find. Looking forward to seeing it built up.

smd4

Look at the chainstay end in the second photo posted in the first post. It’s not even close to being symmetrical. Crappy workmanship. In my opinion.

xiaoman1 

unworthy1,
Thanks for the clarification, I have heard the phrases many times but did not PTTT (put 2&2 together ) and starting the initial clean up. The parts that I have cleaned are looking good and I really like the color.

A few detail pictures of the seat lug....



Finally got the seat post out

Detail of the seat Lug

Bonus, the Water Bottle has the bikes brand name on it.
Best, Ben