Can anybody ID this Birmingham made frame?

[SantaHul]

edit: Big thanks to JHD (Harvey) and Chris Marshall who've helped me identify this bike as a Revell Romany. Unfortunately there's so little information about these bikes out there that I'm not much wiser.

I bought this frame off eBay, but the seller didn't know much about it, and seemed somewhat unfamiliar with old bicycles himself.
He could tell me this much about the frame:
531ST
Bought second hand 20 years ago
Made in Birmingham
Maker was Hayes/Hanes/something like that
None of the components are original, nor is the paint

These facts and what you can see in the photos are all I have to go on. I can't see any serial numbers but the bike has had a low quality respray (including the steerer tube) at some point which may have hidden the numbers. I'll eventually take the paint off but for the time being I'm using it as my commuter so don't want to mess with it too much.

The cabling seems very strange, there's a pair of cable guides welded to the bottom of the bb shell but they guide the cable directly over water bottle holes on the bottom of the down tube, rendering the bottle holder unuseable, so I'm wondering if the frame has been modified at some point. There's also a pair of holes for a concealed dynamo cable on the down tube.

Apologies but I forgot to get a complete shot, and my cameras broken.

 

[SantaHul]

World's most popular post?

I found the serial number: FR866675
Any ideas? Anybody?

 

[walleater]

Unless it's a trick of the camera / computer screen / my glasses, shouldn't the front shift cable be routed inside the frame? That would explain the issue with the cable going over the bottle bosses.

 

[walleater]

Ah, just noticed that you think those holes are for a dynamo cable? Are you sure?

 

[SantaHul]

Well I thought that at first, but then I saw a picture of a concealed dynamo wire (albeit in the top tube) and it looked exactly like this setup (small, shallow hole). Also if you look at concealed brake/gear cables they are much bigger and more supportive of the cable to reduce friction.

Besides, if it ran down the back it would just foul the other end of the bolts :?

 

[SantaHul]

Sort of solved, it's a Revell Romany. Can't find much information about them though. If anybody could help me out with the serial number I'd be most appreciative :?

 

[omegastrada]

Plenty of chat on the subject over here:
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=53136
If it is definitely a Revell Romany (as opposed to an Orbit Romany), it's a superb quality 80s touring frame. As mentioned in the above link, Revell frames were built by various subcontractors including Dave Yates and Mercian.

 

[Featch]

The made in Birmingham bits are the lugs, fork crown and bottom bracket shell made by Haden Bros. If I remember correctly they were their Europa range. The lugs, though good quality, were a touch on the thick side and needed a lot of filing thus reducing their popularity with builders at the time.
It could well be a Revell Romany. I built many frames for Revell back in 1980/1 in the Thompson Bicycle Company days but this isn't one of mine. As previously mentioned they contracted building out to many places.

Andy

 

[SantaHul]

Thanks Featch, any info is interesting. Gonna check with Mercian if it's one of there's as they're local. If it is I'll cream myself.