Re: [CR] Looking for Romic pictures.

(Example: Racing:Jean Robic)

In-Reply-To: <AANLkTimMsNnbM_dxpqeTTJMxtKQ8rN7SC4uoy2aaE22k@mail.gmail.com>
References:
Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2011 16:58:14 -0800
From: "Mark Bulgier" <bulgiest@gmail.com>
To: Matt Beecher <beech333@gmail.com>
Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR] Looking for Romic pictures.


Matt Beecher wrote:
> I picked up a bike with the understanding that it is a Romic.
>
> http://s969.photobucket.com/albums/ae179/beech332/Blue%20frame/

Matt,

I don't want to insult you if that bike is a favorite of yours, but I seriously doubt it's a Romic. The lugs on the blue bike are thick, with minimal scooping out at the sides, a type usually used for mass-produced frames where the tubes are not mitered to each other -- they're just cut off square, and rely on the strength of the lugs themselves to hold the frame together.

A good hand-built bike could be made with those lugs, but it's unlikely. A builder who goes to the trouble to miter the tubes wouldn't want to hide that fact my using lugs made for unmitered tubes. The thinner, more scooped-out lugs aren't expensive, relative to the benefits, both engineering-wise and to marketing appeal.

I believe that frame was mass-produced in a factory in Asia. The nice forged fork crown and Campy front tips indicate the fork is not original. I'll bet it was a replacement put on by the person who put the Zeus crankset on it -- both are parts you'll not normally see on a frame like this.

Mark Bulgier
Seattle, WA
USA