>Libelulla / Columbus: Chrome moly. Stiffer but more brittle. It fatigued
>sooner and had a harsher ride. Thus the blend of tubes on the bikes.At
>first, Columbus had a hell of a time competing with Reynolds. Too light, it
>broke , too heavy , not competitive. Many were the reports of early light
>Columbus tubes silver brazed and coming apart on the rough roads.
Ernest Csuka (Cycles Alex Singer) told me once that when Columbus first was introduced widely in the French market (he thought it was in the early 1970s), a lot of the bikes built with Columbus tubes broke. He had no idea why.
Here is my speculation: It may be that French racing bikes tended to use thinner tubes than many Italian ones. Or some builders tended to overheat the tubes, which was fine with Reynolds tubing, but Columbus was more sensitive. (Anybody able to confirm this urban myth?)
Anyhow, just another datapoint from a different country, indicating there is more to this "early Columbus breaking" than just myth. -- Jan Heine, Seattle Editor/Publisher Vintage Bicycle Quarterly c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles 140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C Seattle WA 98122 http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com