Rossin Prestige Team

Hi all,
I have a Rossin Prestige Team frame which i acquired from last year. I have been doing some research in an attempt to date the frame before i commence any restoration.
Here are a few pics to give you the idea what the frame looks like -

I have spoken to Rossin and they have advised that the frame is a team frame and they believed that -
"I've found a technical person that has been working here for a long time, and he has provided me with more information after having seen the pictures you sent:
a. This is a frame that goes back to the mid 80's, and it is a frame that has belonged to a professional team.
b. The number on the fork proves this: this number used to be inscribed in the forks over the years, until the frames became lighter and therefore the number was moved to beneath the BB.
c. This number may be the initials of the rider or of the team.
d. Also the little round metal part attached to the TT near the HT proves the team theory, as this is where the racing numbers were attached.
e. The team might have been Murella Rossin"

I have done some research on the teams but came to a standstill as i don't believe that the info is on the net - perhaps (and i stress PERHAPS) the frame was used by a rider called Stefano Bizzoni who rode for the Murella Rossin team in 1984 and 1985. I think i saw a team list for 1987 which he may have been in - but i have lost the links to this. I should add the forks have 'SB 336' stamped on them hence the focus on this rider.
If anyone has any knowledge of the race bike and/or pics etc i would really appreciate it. There are a few on google but the bikes are not the Prestige.
The Prestige is made of Tange Prestige steel with hexagonal tubing and was available to the public in 1992 (maybe 1991). It was available with Campagnolo Chorus RS or Shimano DA -
"Chorus RS is the second generation C-Record era Chorus group, strictly speaking RS is 1992 only: the RS prefix was dropped for '93 and '94." - thanks to Scilly Suffolk for that info.

The BB has not got the cut-out Rossin 'R' and the cables go through the BB. I have seen a pic of the Rossin brochure for 1987 - 1988 which shows my style of BB.

The rear spacing is 130mm exactly but, and here is where it gets odd, there is a dent (not a ding, a dent) in the chainstay and it might be the case that this was done to increase the width. When i decide the fate of the frame, this can be repaired. I doubt that it would be easy to get the chainstay replaced. Rossin were not able to say when they changed their spacing.

My theory is - this is a 1987 Murella Rossin Team bike but the spacing may prove this wrong (provided the dent was made to increase the spacing) - i originally thought it was 1983/84 but that seems too early - if it was raced before public release that would be a 9 year gap which seems excessive. The later Murella in 1987 makes more sense, but i could be completely wrong!!

So here is the plan -

1. Try and find out a date for the frame
   
2. If it is Murella - restore it in their colours
   
3. If the above fails, restore in a paint scheme of my choice
   The frame has no chrome on it, apparently to keep weight down, i would like some chrome on the build and i have seen some great paintwork on the Mercian site. This is a long (ish) term build, i have a few other projects to complete before i actually begin this. I have gathered up an almost complete Shimano Dura Ace 7400 group set and once painted this will be a quickish build. No doubt there will be many queries from me as this progresses!!!!
   
   

More pics -






This last pic shows the dent in the chainstay.

I have posted in a few forums in an attempt to get info and i really have not been too lucky, there was a suggestion to try and find out when Tange Prestige tubing was available to companies for frames but i was not able to get any further info on this. I also made conttact with an Italian rider from the later 80's but he was not able to assist.

Any info or pointers will, as always, be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Richard

Difficult to say, but the dent may be a crimp to increase crank arm/chainring clearance. depends where it's located. You wouldn't need to dent a chainstay to increase clearance. steel frames can be easily cold set from 126 to 130

I picked up a Prestige about a year ago; seems to be the same era as yours. 130 rear spacing. It also has that boss underneath the top tube: Im after finding your post on the roadbikereview forum, and I gather this boss is for the team plate (I didnt know this, and my LBS were unsure as to what it was for). Is this an indicator of a team bike?
Mine was in pretty bad shape, superficially at least. It had a terrible paint job, with no primer or clear coat, and no decals, and a weird mish mash of parts (105/campagnolo veloce). If it is indeed a team bike, it might have been obtained by a shop and painted/assembled on the cheap.
Ill try to put some photos up later.
I cant tell from your pic, but is the down tube also hex tubing? Ive seen some Prestiges that used hex tubing for only some of the pipes.

Id be interested in contacting Rossin, given that you seemed to find them helpful; care to pass on your contact there?

^^ +1

Cool to get that info from Rossin. Looks like a nice project

Ohmlaut,

That is interesting - i would love to see pics. I presume yours has the same fork crown as mine. The braze on is for the race plate. Have you found any serial numbers? Check the forks if you don't find any on the frame (there may be numbers on the rear chainstay). Also, do your cables run through the BB shell? My frame is all hex tubing.

Richard

The fork crown is the same alright. Theres no serial number on the frame, and I didnt check when i took the fork off to paint it, so Ill have to have a look again.
The cables do run through the BB shell, but the shell doesn´t have the cut out "R". Apart from that though, yours is the most similar to mine that Ive come across so far.

Ohmlaut,

It sounds identical. I would be interested if there is a serial number on the forks. There is a pic of mine above.

Richard

Morning all,

An update - I have obtained a DA 7400ish group set at huge expense for the Rossin. I still need a good headset (if anyone has one), but I can manage with either the 7410 or used 7400 I have. If anyone happens to have the instructions for the 7400, i would appreciate a copy (and pay for it too!!)

I am still stuck with what colour scheme I want and, if you could be bothered, I would appreciate any input you may have. I have no pics of the original scheme so this leaves me with the choice.

Any ideas or links would be great.

Thanks,

Richard

?

Thanks for that - I am sure there was a Rossin splatter frame for sale here last year but it was much darker than that.

Pondering on....

?

The Rossin decals on the white one are shit, these are some much more complementary to the paint.

Of course the century finish group is a must...

As mentioned, I will be sticking with DA so perhaps the splatter paint would not work as well.

I would never have thought this would be so difficult!

Richard

TGR...I was meeting a very nice man yesterday to buy/collect a Moser TT machine and he let me look at his ever reducing collection....I was drawn instantly to this metallic green Rossin with a full record group inc deltas...never seen tubing, bb, fork crown etc like it...the attention to detail was amazing....he has had it from new from the '80s....and its pristine....I thought off nothing else driving up the road, as our parting words were "make me a offer on it and you can have it"!!!

So I started to find out what model it maybe and here I am....are there many other info sites/places you could guide me too please....it is very interesting and exciting to think I might own this lovely piece of engineering
thanks Alan

Hi,

Have you a pic? That would help. I have seen this green one on another site

Richard

So I started to find out what model it maybe and here I am....are there many other info sites/places you could guide me too please....it is very interesting and exciting to think I might own this lovely piece of engineering
thanks Alan

Dont know if thus has been mentioned upthread, but search Prestige here and you'll find a few:
http://rossinproject.blogspot.com.es/

I wonder how many of these Rossin made? Ive trawled fairly extensively online and dont think Ive come across more than 15 or so (online).

Make him an offer and let us know how you get on!

The Dura Ace bits for my Rossin -

I have a used headset and BB and am on the lokout for NOS or close for these parts.

So the last thing to decide is the paint scheme!!!! I wish this was easy.

Richard

Typical, I forgot about the rims - they will be these -

Or these

and probably not these -

I suspect the Nemisis will be the ones on it.

Richard

Damn! You been saving your pocket money?

Dura-Ace bars would set that lot off nicely...

Any thoughts on *who *will be painting it? Any good spray shops over there?

Richard
the picture you have posted is not far away at all....definitely the same green with white decals and the chrome at the rear end is the same, can't remember if the forks were fully chrome.....but yeah a like for the frame but with a campag group....going to ask the man if he will send me some pics....god knows why I didn't take some with my phone....but my head was spinning with the machines on display......I will keep a eye on this thread, its shaping up nicely
thanks Alan

Evening all,

there are no shops here at all!! So I am thinking of Mercian or Argos. I heard that Mercian is the best, then i heard that their paint is a bit thick - and there is another member here who is re-painting a Rossin and he did not have a great experience with them as they seemed uninterested in his work. So I am considering my options. I think if I had a scheme picked, it would be easier to get priced etc I except it could cost over £500 - have a look at Mercian's pricelist then read the small print which says 'add 20% for restorations'. I missed this initially - it adds a load to the the price.

Re the bars, if i was using the DA stem I would use the bars but the Rossin stem is a Cinelli so I am looking for Giro bars - single grooved NOS. I would take the DA bars for another build but as you can see from the above, funds are tight and getting tighter!!!

Alan, I would love to see pics. At a complete guess, you could be looking at £1300 which if you tried to build the bike would be cheap!!!!

Richard

Only pulling your leg about the bars.

Argos do a good job; never heard Mercian mentioned when paint is discussed; Atlantic Boulevard are worth considering if you're after paint on a par with all your NOS kit.

Have you had any personal experience of Atlantic Boulevard? Or do you know anyone who has?

Richard

I wish! To be fair, there are those who slate them.

Colourtech and C&G Finishes (finishers?) also get honourable mentions, as does Mario Vaz.

Have a trawl on here for examples.

Thanks - I will have a look. Still would be easier if I knew what I wanted - cureently i an thinking -
Half chromed forks
Rear stays chromed (price dependent - maybe chainstay)
Dropouts chromed
all pantos painted
three colour scheme - this week i am considering orange, yellow and white

Really it is the last line of the above which is the problem.

Richard