Classic & Vintage - Identify year of pinarello prince deluxe

A buddy of mine just got his hands on a Pinarello Prince road bike. The head badge says "Bicycle" on top then "Prince" then "Deluxe" on the bottom. Serial number is P794106. It appears to be either late 70's or early 80's, but that is just a guess.

I have been unable to find any information on the serial number or vintage Pinarello bikes.

Can anyone help?

I'm also very curious. I came across a bike with the same head badge. I'm curious how you figured out it was a Pinarello? Mine didn't have any stickers on it. My serial number is 082014 which was found on the bottom bracket. The only other parts on the bike when I got it were a set of cottered cranks and bottom bracket which I took off (they were beat to all h@&*). Given the frame style and the crankset, I assume it was from the 70's give or take 10 years? Here is a picture:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c213/the_lab/289994322_5c86d25c95.jpg

The power of google ;-) Prince is a common frame name for Pinarello - they still make the prince model.

I was hoping someone could shed more light on the bike.

Terry

ah, your powers of google are mightier than mine. I searched a few times and never turned anything up. I've seen the new Prince models by Pinarello but since it has a different head badge than there other vintage bikes I thought it wasn't a Pinarello... I could be mistaken. Who knows. At any rate, I'm even more curious now that I know someone else out there has one! Do you have any pictures of your friends? If I ever find any information out I'll let you know. I plan to go to the bike-nerd-community type shop here in LA this weekend. Hopefully one of the pros knows whats up.

NOT Pinarellos.
Both.

NOT Pinarellos.
Both.
Care to add more to this comment?

How do you know they are or are not Pinarello?

Bike_nerd - send your picture to Sheldon Brown his email address is on his website. Let me know what you find out.

Care to add more to this comment?

How do you know they are or are not Pinarello?

Bike_nerd - send your picture to Sheldon Brown his email address is on his website. Let me know what you find out.

oh yea... good idea. I just emailed Sheldon. If anyone can answer this mystery, it's him! My fingers are crossed.

Frankly, the headbadge description sounds like someyhing you would find on an early boom era, Japanese bicycle. Have you determined that the bottom bracket threading is Italian? What about the seat post size? Any helical ridges in the bottom of the fork column? What make are the dropouts? Some detail pics would be nice. This will go a long way towards determining the nationality and level. Persoanally, I thought the Prince was a relatively new model from Pinarello (I have a 2002) but I guess they could have resurrected an old model name.

Too "old" for the Prince moniker (relevant to Pinarello), the headbadge would clearly specify Pinarello, and the fork crown would more than likely be a "curved" tubular shape.

well, here's what sheldon says:

Looks like an older, low-end Japanese or Taiwanese frame, nothing special.

All the best,

Sheldon

I'll take some detail pics and post them later. I'm starting to think I might just stick to my mystery (year and make) Schwinn Chicago X-tra Lite steel frameset for my build up if this "Prince" thing is a hunk-o-junk.

Oh well - at least we heard it from the horse's mouth.

Is that an "ultra lite" frame from Schwinn? I know a little something about schwinns unlike Pinarellos ;-)

PM me the serial number and any images you have.

Terry

I did a bit of digging around and there was at one time
a Prince Bicycle, there were a few mentions of it in the
CR list archives. Not much information other than one
or two mentions, poor paint but nice headbadge.
Its also not listed in Lou Deeters Used buyers guide.

I believe that Pinarello did use the prince model name
way before the introduction of the current plastic model.

marty

[QUOTE=lotek]I believe that Pinarello did use the prince model name
way before the introduction of the current plastic model.

Really like that description!

Lotek, where is Lou Deeters price guide? I hunted for it once or twice, no luck at all.

Sammyboy

There's no online version of it but
you can buy it from Lou (not expensive a few bucks for the CD).
He does post entries on CR list just to run down marques he's listed,
and ask for corrections, additions etc.

Marty

Aha, that explains it. Thanks Marty. Being american, it's probably not worthwhile for me to pay for it, since it won't be that relevant to my market. Just would've been worth a look.

oh I think it would be relevant, he lists just about every
marque ever devised. Not just american.
Address of shop (last known) model produced, materials etc.
Here are 2 examples:

HOLLANDS: Hollands Cycles, 1 Main Street, Reistertown MD 21136.
410-526-3983. John Hollands since 1987. From Kent, England. Sloping
fork crown. Custom. 753 & 853 certified. Binder bolt through seat stays.

LOTUS: Lotus/Tsunoda company. Early distributor was Alpha Cycle Supply,
P.O. Box 3, Syosset, NY. Japan/Taiwan. Founded by Sid Start. Now name
owned by Sears.
Models:
Supreme SL
Classique 82 Tange
VS-1 Grand Prix 82 Steel
VS-3 Unique 82 Tange
VS-4 Eclair 82 Tange
Excelle 80-89 Tange Triple Butted
Triomphe 83-86 SL or SP
Legend Comp 84 Columbus
Prestige 84 Tange #2
Supreme 85-86 SLX
Elan 75 87 Prestige
Prestige 87 Prestige
Elite 600 87 Tange #2


Marty

There's no online version of it but
you can buy it from Lou (not expensive a few bucks for the CD).


When I got it, it was $3, and you could get it either on CD, or via
email. 2 documents, one on identifying, inspecting and whatnot (worth
a skim, but not too much new info there) and one thats 140+ pages of
information like Marty sampled. Worth every penny.

Cool. Wrong Holland though.

Cool. Wrong Holland though.

I just pulled a post out of the CR archives. . .
like I would know one holland from the holland tunnel!

marty

OK, so I think I found someone that has one too on FGG. If it's the same, he calls it a "Prince Racer":
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/higgins.htm

and another here:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2006/sept/WillGroves.htm

and if indeed it is a "Prince Racer" someone found a dead one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fieldeffect/99488124/

I found a Prince Racer Deluxe about a year ago from some guy off CL in Texas. The bike was in pretty good condition, original tires, brakes/pads/cabling, and wheels. I bought it to convert it with a flip flop hub, but I noticed nobody has any information on this particular model. I took some pictures today as I was geocaching to possibly get any other ideas of who made it. I'm not sure if it is indeed a Pinarello, it may be just some old Japanese bike. I uploaded the pictures to a new Flickr account, have a look.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneseef/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneseef/