I recently picked up an early '80's, or possibly late '70's Basso Gap frameset. At 55cm, I was surprised to find it weighs a paltry 1755 grams, excluding the fork, and 2390 grams with the fork. I have two other similar, but slightly later Bassos and actually found the framesets to be somewhat heavy, like 2100 grams sans forks, compared to several period Colnago Supers I haved put on the balance, which typically weigh say, 1950 grams. I know, I know, a weird obsession - weighing vintage framesets. But it's kind of interesting - I have a digital scale built in to my bike stand.
The only other vintage frames I own that are of a similar light weight to this Basso are a Raleigh Team Pro built with Reynolds 753, and an Austro Daimler Ultima SL, built with 531 SL, both weighing in the 1700's without forks. I have an early Colnago Mexico (possibly KL) that is slightly heavier, in the neighborhood of something over 1800 grams. My Columbus SL Grandis frame was pretty light when stripped, also in the 1800's. An early '80's crimped tubing Colnago Mexico weighed in the mid 1800's.
The Basso frame is presumably built with Columbus SL tubing, but I can't say for certain. I have no idea why it weighs so much less than my other, circa 1984 Basso Gap framesets, and other Columbus SL frames by other makers. All of the above referenced frames are in the range of 54cm to 56cm. Anyone have any thoughts?
Jeff Pyzyk
Milwaukee, WI