landrover4

This bike was raced on the track until just recently when I bought it here in Paris. It was raced in Riems, France until the track closed a few years ago and then it came here to Paris. I believe it's from the 70s from it's geometry and componets: Dura Ace 165mm track cranks datecoded January 1977, (47 tooth Dura Ace chainring with same datecode), Dura Ace bottom bracket datecoded August 1976 and period Shimano 600 headset. Hubs are Campag Record Pista.

The manufacturer's sticker is as follows "O.M.A.S. Officina Meccanica Armando Simoni, Bologna, Italy." This is a fancy pen manufacturer recently bought out by Louis Vuitton. What they were doing making bikes is anyone's guess. Also, on the front of the bike there is a black clover with colored stripes behind it with the word "Collard". Just like the Colnago insignia. If anyone has heard of this company I'd love to know about it. Other photos available. Thank you very much.

tbk

OMAS might be making pens now, but they used to manufacture hubs, headsets and bottom brackets. They supplied transfers with these. /that is probably what is on the frame.

landrover4

Thanks for your message. Yes, OMAS made components yet this company O.M.A.S. has, according to their website ( www.omas.com ) always made pens. Really. It's a pen company like Montblanc.

landrover4

If anyone has heard of this company I'd love to know about it. Other photos available. Thank you very much.

suntreader

Beautiful bike. Nice photo, too!

luker

Swiped from Classic Rendezvous

From the 1984 Bicycle Parts Pacific catalog, courtesy Chuck Schmidt:

THE O.M.A.S. STORY

O.M.A.S. was established near Bologna, Italy in 1960. Initially they manufactured special automobile carburation parts for the world-famous E. WEBER carburator company, a relationship that continues to this day. In 1962, O.M.A.S. began to supply the firm Ruota Amadori, a maker of top-quality magnesium-aloy wheels for cars and motorcycles. This firm eventually was absorbed by the Vincenza company, Brevetta Internazionale Campagnolo. O.M.A.S. then began to manufacture various components of the Campagnolo group, collaborating with Campagnolo until 1977. (They supplied the titanium bolts and ti pedal and BB axles for the Super Record group --ed)

Meanwhile, in 1974, some avid cyclists had proposed that O.M.A.S. make some pieces in special light alloys in order to lighten their bikes. Finding that the components did well in rigorous competition, O.M.A.S. decided to manufacture them in 1975, using the same severe standards required by the carburation industry.

Since then, O.M.A.S. has expanded their line to include hubs, headsets, bottle cages, crank and bottom bracket sets -- with other components in the works. O.M.A.S. research and development rests to a large degree on the advice of world class cyclists, but this advice is combined with the most advanced metallurgy and engineering techniques, along with unbelievable quality-control (O.M.A.S. allows not less than one year between initial experimentation and production, and not less than one-and-a-half years before commercial marketing). This combination produces bicycle components that have quickly established a new industry standard for excellence".

They made a particularly good titanium bottom bracket; an excellent headset, a crankset, a cluster of bolts and fastners that replaced the steel bits on a record/nuovo record grouppo, and who knows what else. The parts are sought after nowadays and a really cool alternative to Campy. I haven't ever seen an OMAS bicycle, although there's a lot of stuff I've never seen...

look171

OMAS made super light components, but only bit and pieces, never a complete gruppo (sp?). I had a head set and was much nicer then campy. I also heard that they made helicopter parts. They also make wheels for cars. Seen a Ferrari wheel lately. I don't know about the new ones, but some of the older ones are stamped Campagnolo.

^oZ

Why would anyone sell a bike like this...

landrover4

So there was this company called O.M.A.S. in Bologna, Italy that made bike parts, but apparently no one has heard of them actually making a bike. There there is another company called O.M.A.S. in Bologna, Italy, that has been making high-end fountain pens since 1919, www.omas.com but no one has heard of them making bicycles either. Very strange. And finally, what's with the "Collard" insignia copied from Colnago??? See photo attached. Any ideas?

luker

Well, that is odd! Colnago made Colner and kept the clover symbol, mostly so that they could field bikes to two professional teams (rules at the time). Colners are really nice bikes, since they are actually Colnagos. This looks like someone's idea of an insider joke, though. What does it say on the front of the forks?

landrover4

Thanks very much for your info! The bike shop that originally sold this bike (I say originally but who really knows) was called "Mill'Cycles" located in Riems, France. It has since disappeared, not long after the velodrome (indoor bike track) closed which was when this bike came up here to Paris. On the front forks is the name of the shop in red letters over the chrome.

I have included a close up of the lug work at the seatpost under which you can see the bike shop's sticker "M'Cycles" with the phone number. Why on earth would they use the same color stripes and black clover as Colnago? Is this bizarre or what? The other thing that is so bizarre is the fact that there were/are two companies in Bologna, Italy called O.M.A.S. -- They must be or have been connected in someway. I imagine that the founder of O.M.A.S. who was making high end pens must have had a brother or nephew who wanted to make bikes, or else the bicycle component company, OMAS, was an off-shoot of this pen company. What's your take on all this?

landrover4

Here is the OMAS Label "Prodotti Speciali Cicli Corsa O.M.A.S. S. Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, Italy."

"S.Lazzaro di Savena" is a hamlet in Bologna, apparently.

frameteam2003

Most likely the same company,different divisions.Many companies have produced bicycle parts inaddition to their main product.Gen.Motors,Ford,Dodge,Opel,Lots of sewing machine companies,airo-space companies,and I guess pin companies too.

TheOtherGuy

That OMAS decal came with every set of hubs, bolt kits, headsets, etc. that you bought. People stuck 'em on their bikes, just like the Campagnolo decals. I'm sure OMAS had nothing to do with the frame, the bike probably just had OMAS parts on it.
From the style and finish of the seat cluster and head lug that I see, I'd say it's probably not related to Colnago; my guess is that it was a house brand built by a builder local to the shop that sold it. Was "M Cycles" the shop?

phidauex

I don't know anything about it, I just wanted to let you know I think its a really pretty bike! Its in great shape, and the build looks high quality. How does it ride?

peace,
sam

phidauex

Oh, and this is just a random guess about the logo, but sometimes Italian companies will use as their logo a 'regional logo', which is like a crest for that town, or that region. For instance, Aprilia is a high-end motorcycle manufacturer in the Naples region. There is also a cigarette company based in the same area. They both use this very distinctive 'lion' logo. Its also been spotted on various other things from the region. At first I thought it was a sponsorship thing, like one company was sponsered by the other so they are using their logo, but it kept showing up in odd places that didn't seem 'sponsorish'. I was later informed by a native of the region that people there aren't as 'grabby' about their logos as we are in the US, and many regions had a regional icon that many companies used as their logo, or part of their logo.

So anyway, thats just a guess, but it could explain why more than one company is using that clubs logo.



peace,
sam

luker

Those super-duper long point fine-filed lugs look vaguely French to me...dunno why I think so, tho.

landrover4

Thanks very much for your note. About 4 hours ago I came to the same conclusion. There is another decal on the bike from Gipiemme and it says more or less the same thing "componenti speciali cicli corsa" even though the bike doesn't have a single Gipiemme part on it now. I realized that the OMAS sticker was just a sticker that somebody stuck on it like the Gipiemme sticker. OMAS had nothing whatsoever to do with building the frame. However, Gipiemme and OMAS parts were originally on the bike if those stickers are there, and that means that the datecoded Dura Ace Track cranks/chainring from January 1977 were not original, nor was the 1976 bottom bracket. So the bike must be older -- by several years I guess -- than these cranks.

Mill'Cycles (or M'Cycles) was indeed a bike shop in Riems, France until just recently. I don't know if they built their own bikes or had the work farmed out somewhere else. The bike could be French though the paint would suggest italian enamel -- they kind that chips off easily. Or perhaps the French paint jobs suffered the same fate as the Italian ones.

As for the "Collard" sticker, it's highly unlikely that someone would try to copy Colnago with the exact same color stripes, alignment and black clover. Maybe Colnago had the work done by a subcontracter (i.e. a guy in his garage) for the French market. Collard is a French name.

Thanks again for your input. . . .

landrover4

I think those lugs are supposed to be in the shape of little Eiffel Towers . . .

landrover4

Okay folks, look at these two photos of the lug work on a 70s Gitane track. Looks just like mine. Same supplier of lugs or same manufacturer of frames?

TheOtherGuy

Not the same lug, nor the same builder. Just sorta' similar in appearance.
I believe the Gitane has BCM (Bocama) lugs. The red frame may have long point Prugnat, or possibly also Bocama, though a different lug than the Gitane...

luker

Hey, I'd try it if I could get a printer that'd shoot durable pigment instead of dye. I think a Colluker would be pretty cool...

landrover4

I see your point, but 2005 is lightyears away from 1975 in terms of ease of forgery, etc . . .

landrover4

My untrained eye can't tell the difference . . .