Can you help to identify these frames, bikes or parts?

Hi, was wondering if anyone knows anything about this lo pro i irrationally bought?

Seems to be a nicely made 90s frame with Reynolds cutout lugs, Columbus fork ends, odd shape track ends, 531c sticker but most crucially it has an 'F' cut out of the seat lug.
This would seem to tie in the the builder being 'Field' as the downtube suggests, though I have never been able to find anything about 'Field' online.

Much appreciated and thanks if you know anything!

4 Attachments

Jfh - nice frame - couldn't quite read the writing around the track ends - are they campag?
The lack of frame serial # makes things a little tricky - have you checked the fork steerer tube?

I'm wary of banging on about bikes being gazelles (see my previous post) - but yours looks a hell of a lot like this http://fivenineclimber.com/bikes/gazelle/track_frames/columbus_track.htm - same BB cutouts, same fork crown, and the right shape headtube badge!!

^No, headtubelugs don't match.. His's are straight, Gazelle's are curviour.. Also cutouts non-consistent..

Frame looks quality though, love that BB, sure looks like a ROTO, which would indicate high quality.. No ROTO stamp though right? Ends Campag stamped?

Jeez, do I look like a Gazelle aspirations killah.. I just shoot every hint of Gazelle..

ends are campy stamped . thanks for your thoughts. i think the only way to identifiy the frame is the combination of the details.

The lack of frame number/gazelle stamp certainly made me wary and you're right about the headtube lug Rodolfo!!

Jonathan - Did you purchase the bike in Germany? If so it's worth considering local manufacturers - especially given the lack of serial#

I've not seen a roto BB shell that doesn't say Roto on it.... which isn't very helpful

Your first photo shows a glimpse of seattube lug - does it have wrapover stays?

no wrapover stays like a gazelle. more like a raleigh. and yes i purchased it near göttingen which is quite the middle of germany. but the guy i bought it from didnt know more than me.

Posted this track bike build up as a roadie a while ago:
http://www.lfgss.com/thread44162-34.html#post2396259
Nobody knew anything.

Now i've removed the paint maybe someone has an idea?
Details:

• 531 Reynolds
  
• Found in Holland
  
• had a campy 165 pista crank
  
• seat post size 27.0
  
• campy track ends (and fork-drop outs)
  
• was probably standard blue before respray
  
• bb was a Sugino 1.37 x 2.47
  
• Nothing stamped on the bb, inside the head tube, on the lugs
  
• Seat tube stamped (upside down) with 'Reynolds 531'
  
• Fork stamped with 'Reynolds 531' (not upside down)
  
• Left side of the fork stamped with '0 5 76'
  
• Right side of the fork stamped with '420 5 6'
  
  

any thoughts?

A bit of help from vintage fans/experts needed here...

I bought the bike (ST56CC) pictured in the following photo album (click here) in 1988 when I was a teen and used it for ~2 years before moving progressively to larger frames (now ST61CC). The frame was not so nicely resprayed and Rossin decals were stuck straight on the topcoat. I then cared about the weight (9.8kg all equipped, not bad at that time), the great components and the ride (just superb) and so made a deal.

Being too small for me, I now hesitate between keeping the bike for the growing kids and putting it on the market. Either way, I wish to find out more about the pedigree of this bike so I can put it right. At the time I bought the bike, I had spotted identical lugs and BB shape/geometry on Olmo frames (Competition model, Columbus tubeset) - the Olmo-pantographed components also push in that direction.

Additional info:
Components: OLN 126mm, Campy SR rear derailleur (Brev. 1981) + front derailleur + Olmo-pantographed crank arms 170mm (1977) + Olmo-pantographed cogs (52/42) + headset, Sachs Maillard 700 Compact freewheel 13/21 BSA 83, 1.375x24TPI, Shimano BB 1.37x24T <52> EF, 3ttt drop bars + stem, Saccon Altex brakeset, Gipiemme seat post 26.4mm, Bio seat
Tubeset: there is no helicoid in the seat/down tube towards the BB suggesting SLX (I am not certain Olmo ever used SLX on a size 56 anyway); the 26.4mm is quite an odd one and may provide a good indication on the tubeset
Branding: there is nothing engraved in the seat stays towards the junction with the seat tube or on the BB - in the 80s, most Italian brands started manufacturing low/medium range models in Asia with engraving performed when reaching Europe; it could also have been filled up with epoxy, which I will confirm as soon as I take the frame for a paint job
Further details commented with the photographs

Any help much appreciated!

awesome!

I think we need to see closer shots of the lugs, stays, BB etc

For what its worth, I am pretty certain thats not an Olmo.

My Olmo Competition, from the early eighties, was engraved with 'Olmo' at the top of the seat stays, a logo on the rear brake bridge, OLMO SPA on the cut out BB shell, and Olmo engraved fork crown. Surely its not all been filled in ? I suspect there are no engravings at all.

As I remember, the only Olmo frames available in the early/mid eighties, in the UK, were Columbus SL. So 27.2. The 26.4 suggests a lower quality tubing. The only importer in Britain was Settle Cycles. Olmo frames were incredibly rare in Britain until the nineties, and were never common. I never saw a cheaper one than the Competition, and never saw one without engravings.

At that time, most, if not all Italian frames were considered quite exotic. Nearly everyone rode handbuilt British frames. Italian frames were unusual on British roads, and as such, were expensive, and engraved. Benotto, Gios, Olmo, Colnago, Pinarello, Tomasini.....all engraved, and all 27.2.

The Olmo chainsets were sold by Settle cycles. They were no more expensive than the standard items, and don't really give any provenance to the frame.

I may be wrong, and my memory may be defective, but I don't think its an Olmo !

Rih

Rih

really? the shop is 10 minutes away... might as well check it next week. But why do you think it is a RIH?

Lugs are awesome!

@ the Gazelle

http://www.classicbikeshop.eu/frame-gazelle-bleu-track.html

Except for the bottom bracket (but also no numbers on the bottom bracket), it looks the same. I think it's a Gazelle. Maybe your's is a bit older/younger

The drilled rear brake bridge and drilled lugs around the head tube are similar to a lot of RIH frames.

https://picasaweb.google.com/106426128611484967039/LeniFriedFrameJungleDesign2003?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I picked up this frame new on US eBay in California for 150$ with carbon fibre forks of unknown brand and American Classic headset. I built it up over the course of 2011 with whatever I thought was cool and whatever I could get my hands on for cheap, so it has a mix 'n match of parts:

Syncros stem
C-Record crankset
Campy Mirage single pivot brakes
Campy Record rear hub
Campy non-indexed shifters
Shimano Ultegra front hub
San Marco Squadra seat
Shimano DX rear derailleur
no name cheap ass seat post
Avid brake levers

I was wondering if anyone could help me identify the make of this frame. The seller only said that it was Japanese. It's not the lightest frame. It even needed a seatpost clamp, makes me think it ain't high end frame. Then again why would anyone go through all the trouble of having a crappy frame handpainted for at least a couple of hundred quid?! The paint job makes this bike stand out from the crowd. Looks like it was hand-painted and then clear coated several times. There is a signature at the drop out: Leni Fried © 2003.

http://www.titaniumarts.com/pages/bikeart/bikeart.html?content=3#

Vintage bike ID confirmation (Olmo?)

@FreeBornAde

Thanks heaps for the info, it helps.

I have edited my original post to make the weblink taking you to the photo album more obvious (click here).

In presence of an obvious cover-up (Rossin decals on non Rossin frame, components mix-up), I could not rely on the Olmo-pantographed components to identify the bike and focused on some frame features instead. I could only find some resemblance between the frame lugs and those used on mid-80s Olmo Columbus frames - kind of a heart shape in the centre of the lugs but not as heart-shaped like the De Rosa lugs.

Not sure who else used lugs similarly shaped in the mid-80s...

If only I had my old Olmo Competition handy, to compare, but its long gone.

The lugs look similar to Olmo, but most Italian frames of that period went for shorter lugs, as shown in your pictures, rather than the longer or fancy lugs of English frames.

I'm certain they didn't use Gipiemme rear brake bridges, as shown in your photos. At least not from when I bought mine, and onwards.

Mine was bought in the winter of 1983, into 1984, so probably came from Italy mid 1983. Maybe yours is an earlier one ?

Olmo were pretty much equal to Colnago at the time. Both sold, from the official importers, for around £240 during 1983. They only used top quality lugs, and as I recall, Gipiemme would have been lower quality.

But Olmo was so rare in Britain, perhaps they used whatever they could get hold of, and built in small batches ? Who knows ?

Your frame could equally be a Benotto, which occasionally turned up in Britain, and sometimes with lower quality tubing. Rumour had it some Benottos were made in Mexico, other rumours suggested they were made by prisoners in Italy. At one time Geoffrey Butler cycles sold a load of Benotto frames through Cycling Weekly. Very nice frames, but lacked the engravings usually found. I bought one, and rode it for several years. Then there were rumours that they weren't real Benottos. I remember the BB was almost impossible to install, it was that tight. Several bike shops failed. Or maybe a Guerciotti ? They went through various bad patches, and produced frames of varying quality, often produced by other manufacturers, so often with variations in lugs etc.

Your quoted weight is quite light, for the time. Mine weighed 19lbs, with Campag Super Record throughout, GL330 rims on Campag hubs, Clement Crit and Strada 66 tyres and turbo saddle. That was as good as you could get, with Columbus SL, in full road racing set up. Most peoples bikes weighed around 21lbs at the time. Most people used Reynolds 531 at the time.

I think it'll be impossible to identify it, unless someone has an exact copy. But maybe somebody like Hilary Stone would be better to ask. I'm not an expert !

**Vintage bike ID confirmation (Olmo?)
**
@FreeBornAde

Thanks for the help - you are pretty knowledgeable for someone who does not consider himself an expert... :)

Agree with you on the Benotto's made in Mexico. I also know of some of the low/medium range Rossin bikes (e.g., RC4000) manufactured in Taiwan towards the end of the 80s. Might be a frame coming from such exotic batches waiting for the final brand engravings.

The accurate weight of the frame will certainly help - I will do that as soon as I can find my Zeus crank arm bolt 16mm wrench - worst case, I will make a new one out of a 16mm thin-walled socket.

With a bit of luck, someone has come across these lugs and BB:

hrm. if you take a close look, none of the lugs is identical with that gazelle frame. the dropouts look different. some things are solved in the same style. and- additionaly , the gazelle frame from the classic bikeshop could be fake. just gazelle decals??? (which i dont believe)
i'd say my frame is as close to a raleigh as to a gazelle.

They're 22.2mm diameter at the ends and I need 25.4mm...

I'm looking for some bars with a similar shape to this but that could work with inversed Dia Compe brake levers.

Most steel versions of that bar (can't tell if that one is) would fit internal shifters/inverse levers.

Most steel versions of that bar (can't tell if that one is) would fit internal shifters/inverse levers.

All I can find is pairs with 22.2mm barend diameters.

Mm, in that case, http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2010/09/dia-compe-inverse-levers-for-222mm-bars.html

Sorry, what I meant was these

Possibly these too