Superia?

Just obtained a superia 'patric serco' off ebay (sorry if any one was bidding). it has a full shimano 600 groupset. Does any one know much about superia, speciafically this model. I understand they are belgian?

Superia was a very well-known bike company in Belgium, especially in the 1970's.
Road, track and certainly CX riders got big successes on these bikes.

The rider you mean is Patric Sercu, the current "boss" of the 6 days circus.

The ebay seller got the name wrong sorry. thank you for the info, i just wikipediaed Sercu and he raced for superia in 64 65 and 66 and then not again till 78 and 79 so i think this frame must be from one of those two years. Not actually having i yet in my possesion means i cant check serial numbers etc.

Saw him in action last year at the Ghent Six Day - not on the bike, you understand, just bossing people around :-)

Purely in the interest of helping any one else out who in future requires info on superia this is what i found out so far:

Superia was founded by Remi Claeys. Reportedly, his father and grandfather had produced bicycles in their blackshop shop as far back as 1846, though by virtue of the date, this must have been a drasine style machine. In 1926, Remi and his three brothers formed Claeys Brothers, which produced Flandria bicycles. Differences of opinion caused Remi to start his own company Remi Claeys NV/SA. The date of the split is unclear, with some sources stating that the new company was formed in 1949 and that Superia already existed, while others quote 1956 for the birth of Superia. Regardless, the company manufactured its own welded, steel tubing for the bicycles and eventually went on to produce steel and aluminum tubing for various industries. Remi pased away in 1974, by which time the company's two facilities were being managed by his three sons and son-in-law. In 1979, the company was taken over by the government and his since changed ownership at least a couple of times.

Superia and Flandria shared a building in Belgium - for years they were on opposite sides of a common wall. Superia supplied the bikes (or at least the sponsorship) for the Solo team, the mid-60's version of Rik van Looy's "Red Guard." Solo was Merckx's first pro team (1965, I believe) and he had a miserable year because van Looy and his faithful lieutenants were pretty merciless in ragging on the highly touted newbie. (Van Looy was not exactly the sort to encourage an up-and-coming challenger - from what I can gather, Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault are bossom buddies compared to Merckx and van Looy.)

As previously noted, Eddy Merckx rode a Superia for the Solo-Superia team in 1965, his first year as a professional. Other notable Superia riders included Rik van Steenbergen, Rik van Looy and Patrick Sercu.

The Superia models from the 70's had names like: Champion de Belgique, Tour des Flandres, Tour de Liege, Prix de Bruges. They also used European components.

1980's models used japanese components. e.g Shimano and SR. shimano is easlily dated by the two letter stamped letters on it, dates shown here: http://www.vintage-trek.com/component_dates.htm

Shimano 600 is what ultegra was before it was ultegra, for a while it was called shimano 600 ultegra and then the 600 prefix was dropped completley.

My particualr frame is built from ishiwata 022 tubing andrew Muzi has this to say:

I am intimately familiar with Ishiwata and their products, having been in the factory a few times, spec'd many bikes with their steel and built with it. I still use Ishiwata tube for frame repair.
The material [022] is virtually identical to Columbus SP/SL/SLX. The top range of tubes were seamles double butted and the finish quality [as delivered to the builder] was much higher than Columbus. The tubing gauge of the 022 is 0.9/0.6 mm, exatcly the same as Columbus SP. It's called "022" because the frame tube set weighs 2.2 kilos. The same material drawn thinner to 0.8/0.5 mm is called "019" because it weighs 1.9 kilos, just like Columbus SL. Many builders, then and now, mix gauges so a small frame might be all 019 but a 56 would have 022 chainstays and downtube for example.

Trek in the late '70s built three racing frames, one with Ishiwata, one Reynolds 531 and one Columbus. Geometry and weight were identical. The prices were unreasonably different because of the cachet of Italian tubing, making the Ishiwata frame the best value. Marketing took over later as the Ishiwata was dropped completely. With the advent of aluminum, the currency crash and the Japanese depression, Ishiwata closed the doors in the early '90s.

Found here (sheldon):) : http://www.sheldonbrown.com/japan.html
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I have just bought an immaculate Superia Explorer Super from a charity shop (!). It has the previously discussed Shimano 600 groupset and is complete right down to toe clips and straps, sexy blue plastic mudguards and loud bell. Any further info would be most useful. I've dated the Shimano components to 1980.

most professional models were not from the factory but handbuilt by the racers'preferred framebuilder .. the dutch Batavus professional team racers from the 60's used to do the same

some of the late 70's top models were really nice

I found a Patrick Sercu Superia in a charity shop as well, in Crystal Palace. I've been riding it for a couple of years now, and love it. 600EX on it with all it's arabesque finery - such a smooth ride. Biggest issue is the amount of play in the 600EX brake calipers! I've fitted it out for touring, which it will do, but it's NOT it's forte - too much flex in the frame for heavier loads on the back (I'll get a proper touring bike soon). I look forward to riding this one for many years.

Has anyone come across any other examples?

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