I do not need this bicycle...

... but last summer @billygoat28 offered this magnificent 531 record ace in "freak of nature" sizing for free and after one week of telling myself you dont need this stay strong it turned out I'm not strong and i caved in and picked it up.

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I'm guessing its a mid to late 70s? Unfortunately the Reynolds sticker is unreadable but others I have seen are 531c, which sounds fast but also means the frame is about as stiff as a fist full of linguine. Al dente, mind, but still slinky AF. Also this would have had 27inch wheels in it's prime and with 700c will need ultra deep drop calipers which I'm not keen on.

Back from the pickup meeting i mocked it up with ratty parts I had flying around and here it is in all its junk yard glory. I actually rode it around the block like this, nearly crashed and decided I def need brakes after all.

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So this is not going to be a retrobike- approved restoration I think. Aesthetics wise somewhere between @Hulsroy s pink Condor (which I love, best ever) and Kevin Kostners Trimaran in Waterworld.

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At this point I'm completely clueless. Must be like using hot glue, yes? So I consult the "IMA FRAMEBUILDER AMA" thread and am getting a silver soldering 101 crash course from @M_V, @PhilDAS, @Hulsroy and others and feel encouraged to actually do this. (many thanks guys for your help & patience!)

Excellent. I’m working on a Record Ace just now too.

Obv, braze some canti posts on there, but you may also be able to find something like a mafac central that’d give you the reach and be way better than a noodle long reach side pull.

If you do decide to whack some canti posts on there, you should be able to do that with mapp and silver. I brazed a set of u brake bosses with mapp I’m sure.

Yes I've been following your thread, frame looks very cool! I'm also considering a second top tube or maybe mixte stays like so:

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So i practiced on some mild steel pipe first and then soldered some cable stops to the frame. Good practice and I can then route the shifter cable along the top tube, cx bike style:

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rear brake bosses next

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And the forks

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wasnt sure if all this is safe so had the chief engineer give it a once over

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Very cool!

Amazing good work

thanks!

To make space for thicker rubber, I gave the chainstays "the squish".

This failed bigtime:

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Had the workshop at work wire out a frame block, then it worked. Now it has space for 38s!

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rideable

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Yes! Brazing looks well good!

Thanks man! Yes I think its strong!

This is a great project

This is so sick, nice work

Good stuff, well done!

Love it, great work

Chefs kiss.

Uff thanks y'all for the compliments! Consensus in the real world seems to be that it looks like something a homeless person would use to transport a mattress.

But I liked the way it looked. Definitely theft proof! The problem was it rode terribly. Firstly the wheels were shot. I got them for free from my neighbour who found them in the scrap metal bin. Turns out the front needed new bearings and the rear had what "the internet" calls the "Mavic death squeal". It manifests itself as a high pitch squeal when freewheeling at higher speeds. Also the cassette rotates in the direction of the wheel rotation and the chain goes slack. I could have taken the freewheel body apart, apparently some thin oil can fix it, but the rims were also too narrow to take 38s. Next, the brand new panaracer tyres had I kid you not 4 flats in 4 commutes. And lastly the gearing was way off to the time- trial end of the scale and the RD had a wimpy spring and let the chain go too slack.

Here's a miserable photo of a miserable commute along the swampy november tow path.

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So if I wanted to make any use of this bike some changes were necessary. I wanted dyno lights, new wheels, guards (this is London England, after all, not London Texas), better gearing, a snappier RD, better puncture protection and... very LFGSS... a front rack.

Up to this

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Ye good work, that looks nice. Did you have previous brazing experience?

None of those issues are insurmountable, some new wheels and a few new drivetrain components and you should be good.