Reynolds 953

Macher

I heard that you had a Reynolds 953 frame at Interbike. If that's true, could we please see some pictures?

Scooper · Joined: 15 Oct 2006 Posts: 178 Location: San Francisco

I've also heard that Waterford showed a 953 frame at Interbike and would love to see some pictures.

Quoted from another bike forum:

"...the lugged and polished 953 frame with chromed 531 fork that Waterford showed at Interbike was a sight to behold! My pictures didn't turn out, and one of my employees only got one blurry photo. But it looked like an old chrome Paramount, (even had red pinstriping around the lugs!) except that it weighed about 3 lbs less!"
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-Stan

my bikes

Dave Hellekson · Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 275 Location: Waterford, WI

Get your napkins ready! This one weighs 1700g for a nominal 62cm frame. We tweaked some Richard Sachs stainless Newvex lugs for this particular individual. Pacenti stainless bottom bracket and created the dropouts from scratch.

As you would expect it is silver-brazed. At this point we don't feel welding is viable due to the required post weld heat-treating that is necessary. This frame-set uses our chromed 531 fork. Retail on this particular full polished package is $3500. (8 whopping hours of polishing!) I must have wiped it down a 100 times during the show. One female fan even felt compelled to lick the top tube! Surprised

Once the frames we have done pass our performance and ride parameters, we expect to not only do full polished frames like this one, but offer polished or brushed 953 tid-bits to our painted lugged frames like: polished head tubes, stays, main tubes, and a wide variety of paint/polish masking that will look amazing and won't cost as much. We are very excited and will keep you posted.

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Dave

Scooper · Joined: 15 Oct 2006 Posts: 178 Location: San Francisco

reflector.collector · Joined: 17 Oct 2006 Posts: 9 Location: Roseville, MN

WOW, thanks for sharing the photos. I personally am really excited about the prospect of a "paint-less" lugged steel bicycle. I'm assuming the fork was "chromed" fork because there is not a suitable stainless tubing drawn in fork legs? This would be the perfect "finish" for a touring frame... Not so much the bright polished fancy-look, but just the more practical brushed or matte finish. Hmmmm....

Painted with bare panels, masked "polished" lettering, Waterford logo. The paintwork and design possibilities should prove to be interesting. It will also be interesting to see what 953 does to the bicycle "market."

Dave Hellekson · Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 275 Location: Waterford, WI

Stan, looks like one of these will be a perfect complement to your '72! I will give the heads up when it is ready for prime time.
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Dave

Dave Hellekson · Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 275 Location: Waterford, WI

Mark Kable's built up steed..

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Dave

Scooper · Joined: 15 Oct 2006 Posts: 178 Location: San Francisco

Dave Hellekson · Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 275 Location: Waterford, WI

Ya know, I just realized you are in San Francisco. Mark's bike went through our friend Dennis at Stone's in Alameda. Give him a shout, perhaps you can see it in person! I'll see if I can get a weight from Dennis.
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Dave

Scooper · Joined: 15 Oct 2006 Posts: 178 Location: San Francisco

Dave, that would be great.

A year ago, I e-mailed Richard asking him if Waterford had any plans to use 953, and this was his reply:

From: Richard Schwinn
To: Stan Cooper
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 5:59 AM
Subject: Re: Reynolds 953 Tube Set

Hi Stan,

Thanks for your e-mail and we regularly make "last bikes" for people.

We're always on the lookout for corrosion resistant materials that perform as well as what we make now. We're not convinced yet that 953 does it. Stainless is generally too ductile to meet the weight requirements. In order to use 953, you must post heat treat the material, a process we're loath to do, since there is a risk of warping the frame. What's more, that stays are a more traditional and lower performance alloy. The bottom line is that your bike won't be lighter and might not even ride straight. That's a lot of work to eliminate rust.

You can address this problem with pretty simple and straightforward maintenance. Wax your bike once a year (twice a year in tougher climates) and keep it clean the rest of the time. Use a spray on internal tube protectant. You'll get the corrosion resistance and a better ride for fewer dollars. As titanium bike owners know, just because it can't rust doesn't mean it shouldn't get maintenance. You should still perform an annual overhaul. Just get your bike waxed while they're working on it.

What kind of riding do you do?
What are you riding now?
What plans do you have for your new bike?
Where do you live?

Thanks,

Richard

I figured you guys would try it sooner or later, so I've been cooling my heels. Mark's bike is gorgeous and appearance-wise could almost be a twin to my chrome '72 P15.
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-Stan

my bikes

mls · Joined: 13 Nov 2005 Posts: 2 Location: L.I N.Y

I think the real ? is how does it ride ?

Scooper · Joined: 15 Oct 2006 Posts: 178 Location: San Francisco

Marc Muller · Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 14

Answers to some of your questions will be forthcoming shortly. As with any new material technology we must move slowly and examine the +'s and -'s of every aspect including manufacturability, strength, ride, etc. We are in the middle of this evaluation period with 953 as we speak.

Richard's year old reply which was just posted, accurately represented our position at a time months before we had any technical data or samples, and was solidly based on previous experiments, some with Reynolds, utilizing stainless alloys. Stay tuned, things will turn interesting! Wink

Scooper · Joined: 15 Oct 2006 Posts: 178 Location: San Francisco

Downhill Racer · Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 1

Is there anything new with the 953 frames? Is the ride quality similar to other steel frames?