Help ID my old roadbike?

V

velocidad

Likes Dirt
oldbike.JPG

Not sure of RB is the right place.. maybe there's a few lurkers that might be able to help ID an old roadbike in my stable, sometime back the original brake levers/rear mech and wheels must have been swapped out for something a little more modern unfortunately but still maybe someone can recognize it?
 
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tmarsh

tmarsh

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I think the one thing you can be confident of is that it's not a Colnago!

Some observations... I think it's not likely to be a commonly imported Japanese made frame of the 80s. The components like Galli and Stronglight weren't commonly spec'd outside of continental Europe. The fork ends appear to be Columbus units, which again makes it more likely to be European in origin. The horizontal rear dropouts look to be either Campagnolos or a copy. The length of the slot puts the age of the bike maybe in the early 80s? I don't think it was ever designed as a racing frame. The fork clearance looks to be massive. The lugs and BB look to be fairly plain, stamped units. Not high-end at all. The seatpost diameter indicates a range of wall thicknesses on the seat tube that is more like 70s-80s than later. From memory it's consistent with Columbus Cromor/SL/SLX of that era. If you can take the seatpost out and shine a torch down the seat tube: can you see spiral grooves down near the BB? If so, then it's pretty likely you've got Columbus SLX tubes which would be a score. But I think that's unlikely given the overall impression of the frame.

My best guess: European made mid-range road frame from the early 80s. Enjoy it for what it is. Worthy of a repaint, but don't get carried away.
 
harmonix1234

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
The frame looks like an apollo toledo from the 80's.
It was their top of the line triple butted crmo one. Not many about now though so hard to find out.
 
V

velocidad

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tmarsh said:
I think the one thing you can be confident of is that it's not a Colnago!

Some observations... I think it's not likely to be a commonly imported Japanese made frame of the 80s. The components like Galli and Stronglight weren't commonly spec'd outside of continental Europe. The fork ends appear to be Columbus units, which again makes it more likely to be European in origin. The horizontal rear dropouts look to be either Campagnolos or a copy. The length of the slot puts the age of the bike maybe in the early 80s? I don't think it was ever designed as a racing frame. The fork clearance looks to be massive. The lugs and BB look to be fairly plain, stamped units. Not high-end at all. The seatpost diameter indicates a range of wall thicknesses on the seat tube that is more like 70s-80s than later. From memory it's consistent with Columbus Cromor/SL/SLX of that era. If you can take the seatpost out and shine a torch down the seat tube: can you see spiral grooves down near the BB? If so, then it's pretty likely you've got Columbus SLX tubes which would be a score. But I think that's unlikely given the overall impression of the frame.

My best guess: European made mid-range road frame from the early 80s. Enjoy it for what it is. Worthy of a repaint, but don't get carried away.
Click to expand...
harmonix1234 said:
The frame looks like an apollo toledo from the 80's.
It was their top of the line triple butted crmo one. Not many about now though so hard to find out.
Click to expand...
thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated. yep came to the same conclusion fairly quickly re: the stickers. :) it was a purchase I made with the view to robbing parts to restore a family heirloom old Farleigh 531 frame, and as its too big for me for even the trainer, i think i'll turn it over. rear dropouts are indeed Columbus, and I put the large fork gap down to having 700x20 wheels on it rather than 27x1" (10mm radius?). I'll pull the sp out tonight and take a peek. I guess an italian BB might be a pointer as well?
 
C

czecharch

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more like early 90's I'd hazard.
I would suggest that it is definitely not Columbus SL or SLX. Both those tube sets were quite high end in the late 80's early 90's. I don't see the quality of the the bottom bracket or the brazing here that I would expect to be associated with such a build.
I'm basing the early '90's based on the stem. That style didn't appear until then.
Maillard is French, and I suspect most of the other componentry is as well. Stronglight certainly is and Galli appears to be associated with both manufacturers.
So to sum up, Early '90's french. Mid range ish.
 
V

velocidad

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yeah i agree the stem is early 90'sish, not so sure it was orig on the bike thats all, ther's signs its been messed with via scoring on the 3T bars. seems out of step with brakes/chainset etc too. oh and def no rifling in the seat tube, might strip it down further this weekend
 
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