Chuck inquired:
>I recently bought an old frame at a thrift store that I cant identify. It
>included an amazing menagerie of components sort of a cyclocross
>configuration with a wild mix classic European road, Japanese road,
Japanese
>mountain (mtb), and a few other odds and ends. Ive identified most of the
>components that were on this frame. In particular, Ive cleaned up the Zeus
>2000 rear derailleur and Zeus seatpost and will seek information about
these
>in separate emails.
>
>The purpose of this email is to solve the mystery of the frame:
>- Who built it? When?
>- What type tubes and lugs does it have?
>- Is it worth restoring?
>
>Here are the clues Ive gathered so far:
>- classic European road geometry and light-weight steel seat tube
measures
>57cm from center of bottom bracket to top of top tube
>- seat and head tube lugs appear identical to those on my circa 72
Reynolds
>531 Gitane frame
>- bottom bracket lug is nicely shaped but different from the Gitane
serial
>number stamped on the bottom is 1711, or 171, or 17 (hard to distinguish
the
>numbers from the scratches)
>- seat and head tube lugs are unpainted and no longer have much of a chrome
>finish (if they ever had it)
>- stays are chrome at dropout ends, dropouts are the same size and shape as
>the Campy dropouts on my Gitane (i.e., opening forward rather than
downward)
>but appear to have been cut out rather than forged
>- frame appears to have been repainted a smooth name plate on the head
>tube has distinctive shape but has been painted over
BINGO - It appears to be an Italvega based on the headbadge. I just went down to the stable and looked mine over.
See Dale's site for some details on the marque. It is worth building up if you want an italian made Columbus Tretubi bike. Not sure how many models were made. Mine is a 1970 "Nuovo Record" model. Stock build (as far as I can tell) had a variety of equipment: Campagnolo NR derailleurs/shifter, Stronglight 49D crankset, Gnutti hubs, Mafac levers paired with Universal 61 centerpull calipers, Sofatti Professional saddle on a steel pin. Judging from the scratches in my paint, the frame is fully chromed.
Charlie Young
Honeybrook, PA