Not an Ideor...........no way. Lugs are totally different. Frame difference
Lawrence
Ron Cooley wrote:
> OK gang, time to play is this a fraud, and if so, what might it really be?
>
> I recently acquired a 70s vintage frame that has been repainted, and had "Asso" decals applied.
> The logo has a yellow spade and the word Asso is flanked by little multi-coloured wings on the down
> tube. You can see the same decals on a very different frame recently sold by the same seller at
> http://ebay.com/
> BASSO decals, but please correct me if I'm wrong. I know that Ideor made a model called the Asso, and
> I see that Chuck has a 50s catalogue available through Velo Retro. My first question is whether
> anybody has actually seen one of the bikes? I'm told (in reply to an earlier query) they were
> imported into Canada for a couple years in the 60s or 70s. Maybe they never had a U.S. importer, but
> since the catalogue is there, I'm betting they were. Anyway it's possible that either the seller or a
> previous owner slapped the Asso decals on a frame of another manufacturer when he repainted. Since the
> frame also has nice chromed long-point prugnat lugs, which were painted over when I got the
> frame(ouch!), I don't like to think about why this might have been done. It also seems just barely
> possible to me that this ASSO is genuine, but nothing to do with the IDEOR ASSO. Maybe a small factory
> private label frame (like Tomaso)? Supporting this theory is the absence of any IDEOR name anywhere on
> the bike.
>
> Eventually I'd like to begin to work out what it really is (if it's not an IDEOR ASSO). I realize
> pictures are crucial, and I'll try to arrange some soon. But for now, in addition to the
> above-described lugs (with angular heart-shaped window cutouts on top, and a side profile very similar
> to the prugnat lugs on the CR website), the clues include 27.0 seatpost size, long concave seatstay
> caps, rear brake-bridge reinforcements with cutouts matching the lugs, long chainstays (over 43 cm),
> campy long dropouts, a slotted italian bottom bracket shell with cable guides on top, brazed-on shifter
> posts but no top tube cable guides. Of course things like the cable guides could have been altered and
> covered up by the repaint. Also (cringe) no serial number, though no obvious signs that one has been
> removed either.
>
> Opinions and speculations welcome. More info forthcoming.
>
> Ron Cooley
> Saskatoon, Canada.