A few questions on vintage road bikes

[JhnBssll]

I've just bought this, it jumped out at me as needing some TLC

£65 on eBay. Its supposedly an Ian May Reynolds 531 that someone has tried to make look like a Colnago. I'll have a closer look at it when it arrives but then idea would be to strip it back to bare metal and turn it back in to an Ian May, if indeed that's what it originally was

If it turns out to be scrap I'll just hang it on the wall in the garage

 

[carpenter]

You have a lot to do there but it looks like a nice frame - I think that @biggs682 may know a bit about Ian May bikes, sure that I have seen some information about the frames on the web..
To save a little money, can you remove just the Colnago decals rather than stripping back to bare metal?

 

[biggs682]

Thanks @carpenter

@JhnBssll i looked at that as Ian May made frames are rare but all are stamped with IMC and 3 digits on the bottom bracket shall , when i enquired about the one above the seller told me and sent some pictures of the shell and no stampings were present so i don't think it's an Ian May made bike but like my one it will more than likely have been an " Ian May " stickered frame sold in the shop so produced by who knows but worth checking as mine is all Italian threading .

I will try and find some pictures of mine

 

[JhnBssll]

I suspected it wasnt made by Mr May himself, and I wouldn't want the pressure of restoring something rare like that, so am pleased to hear this is potentially one of the rebadged ones I also contacted the seller and asked about the frame number but bought it before they responded as I liked the look of it and thought it was worth making an offer

It would be great to see yours @biggs682 as I'll need to work out what colour to paint it, decals etc

 

[biggs682]

I suspected it wasnt made by Mr May himself, and I wouldn't want the pressure of restoring something rare like that, so am pleased to hear this is potentially one of the rebadged ones I also contacted the seller and asked about the frame number but bought it before they responded as I liked the look of it and thought it was worth making an offer

It would be great to see yours @biggs682 as I'll need to work out what colour to paint it, decals etc

See below pictures , loads more on my In Appreciation of Merseyside Bikes Facebook page

 

[JhnBssll]

See below pictures , loads more on my In Appreciation of Merseyside Bikes Facebook page

View attachment 465739

View attachment 465738

That looks lovely and seems very similar to the original colour of the one I've just purchased. Is the paint scheme original with the white box around the black lettering? If so I will try to recreate it

 

[biggs682]

That looks lovely and seems very similar to the original colour of the one I've just purchased. Is the paint scheme original with the white box around the black lettering? If so I will try to recreate it

yes original paint , might be able to help with the head badge as i had a spare one a while ago

 

[otek59]

Ooh er MR Biggs pure unadulterated bicycle pornography, I think I need a lie down

 

[JhnBssll]

Decided I'm going to go blue with ivory lugs and ivory boxes around the seat tube and down tube decals. I've bought a set of vinyl decals and have paint on the way. The frame should arrive tomorrow all being well

I've ordered a few bits off eBay to start the collection, some campag chorus hubs and brakes. Currently looking at friction shifters, ideally I'll avoid indexed shifters for some old school fun but I'm not sure what mech/freewheel to go for. Lots of investigation to be done as I would like a relatively wide gear range if possible

Exciting times...

 

[Kempstonian]

Decided I'm going to go blue with ivory lugs and ivory boxes around the seat tube and down tube decals. I've bought a set of vinyl decals and have paint on the way. The frame should arrive tomorrow all being well

I've ordered a few bits off eBay to start the collection, some campag chorus hubs and brakes. Currently looking at friction shifters, ideally I'll avoid indexed shifters for some old school fun but I'm not sure what mech/freewheel to go for. Lots of investigation to be done as I would like a relatively wide gear range if possible

Exciting times...

Should look nice. Dark blue or light blue?

 

[JhnBssll]

Ford "deep impact blue" I already had some U-Pol primer and laquer so made sense to get some automotive colour coat of the same type to ensure compatibility. The deep impact blue caught my eye, its a little darker than the blue that the ST fiesta and focus comes in but similar

I received the frame today, all unpacked and inspected and it looks great for what I want to do with it The owner of my lbs had a quick look over it when I popped in earlier and gave it a clean bill of health. Its pretty much exactly as described in the eBay ad - a middle of the road shop made, reynolds tubed frame and it's straight with no dents

I'm off up to Birmingham tomorrow with the Bianchi for the Velo Birmingham event so won't get a chance to play with it for a few days unfortunately, but that will give the colour coat some time to arrive while I ponder my plan of attack

 

[biggs682]

@JhnBssll glad the frame got the thumbs up and enjoy the Velo Birmingham ride

 

[JhnBssll]

A few more sneaky pics of it before I start stripping the old paint off next week...

 

[Gravity Aided]

 

[Gravity Aided]

I think my sister has a 'Stang in that color.