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  • The Raleigh is only plain gauge 531 main tubes. Stays and forks are gaspipe, whatever the seller claims. Its chainset is not suitable for a fixed wheel (it's Biopace which is oval rather than circular), so you'd still need to budget for a new BB and chainset.

    The Ribble is 531 Competition DB tubing throughout, and will be much lighter, and of an entirely higher quality of manufacture. Nice tight geometry (the seller says it has no mudguard clearance) The paint is better too, and it comes with usable Campag 111mm BB and headset. However I don't expect it to stay that cheap in 5 days time.

    The people who tell you that 531 tubing is rubbish are the people who have something better. Obviously. Compared to modern expensive materials like carbon fibre or titanium it is nowhere of course, but compared with most other steel bikes it's great. It's a lot lighter than gaspipe, it's durable, and it's more forgiving and comfortable to ride than the higher-end stuff. It's nice tubing for the money. From the 1930s until the 1980s there was nothing notably better on the market so it can't be all bad. Lightweight tubing is really nice to have when you have to cart your bike up a flight of stairs every evening.

    (I have no idea how Reynolds compares to some of the more exciting products from Columbus. But columbus tubing attracts the same "brand tax" on Ebay anyway.)

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