You are reading a single comment by @FreeBornAde and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@FreeBornAde
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 !