Icons of cycling: Reynolds 531 tubing

Not only has this legendary British tubing won more Tours de France than any other type, it helped win World War Two

Photo: Cycling Weekly Archive

When it was launched in 1935, Reynolds 531 revolutionised bicycle frame building. The magic numbers, which adorn virtually every classic racing bike with a little sticker on the seat tube, derive from the ratio of the three main elements that are used in the make up of 531’s steel alloy tubes: manganese, carbon and molybdenum.

Reynolds 531 built a frame that had a super-light weight and high strength that had never before been achieved.

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