Classic & Vintage - Tommasini Track Bike... the good, the bad, and the rusty

The bike frame arrived Monday evening, and I'm just getting some pictures online now. Luckily there are no dents, and the rust isn't as catastrophic as I feared it could be. I did some scrubbing and put some naval jelly on the lugs to clean it up a little.

Too bad the rust needs to be dealt with, because the paint that managed to stay attached to the steel is beautiful, and I really really like those decals! Does anyone know of someone that makes this particular decal set? Or someone that could print these decals for me if I sent them a file of the images ready to print out?

I only found an "8" stamped off to one side of the bottom bracket, but there's still some cleaning to be done, so some more numbers might be hidden under the crustyness.. The seatpost is a 27.2 size, so the main tubes just might be Columbus SL.

I was planning on throwing it together today and riding it around before I started stripping the paint off, but I hadn't taken into account the tiny brake clearance. from the center of the bolt hole to the center of the braking surface is 34mm. Jeez! Looks like I'm going to have to make myself a drop bolt.

After seeing the frame in person I'm pretty convinced that it's not some sort of phony, but pictures and information on Tommasini track bikes is hard to come by!

Okay, I'm interested to read what you think about this one. I think I can fill some of the pitting with solder, but is the 300-400 decree temperatures enough to damage the frame? Is oxalic acid the best thing to use for cleaning any rust that might be hiding inside the frame?

-Will

I'll put up some images, but the rest are here: http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/jj198/willkrause/

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj198/willkrause/Picture393.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj198/willkrause/Picture397.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj198/willkrause/Picture399.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj198/willkrause/Picture403.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj198/willkrause/Picture408.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj198/willkrause/Picture411.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj198/willkrause/Picture414.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj198/willkrause/Picture420.jpg

looks early to mid 70's to my eyes (based on lug patterns and lack of pantographing)
As I said before (or thought I posted in the original thread) I don't recall seeing a Tommasini
pista model before, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist.

But geez, what does a track frame have to do to be treated so badly and allowed to
practically rust away.

marty

But geez, what does a track frame have to do to be treated so badly and allowed to
practically rust away.

marty

Possibly it was ridden in a triathlon which the athlete tried to turn into a biathlon by riding the bike underwater?

Or maybe between races at the velodrome, it was stored in a shallow grave next to the track?

I'm not sure.

This is one of the few other Tommasinni track bikes that I've been able to find:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70266065@N00/665291675/
Though it has aero tubing (And a COMPLETE 10-pitch setup including dropouts) the rear triangle is similar to my bike, with the flattened seat stays.

I once saw an old Nishiki that I would have sworn was kept in an old humid salt mine. By comparison, this one looks like a buff & shine fixer-upper. :-)

that bb lug looks rough!!! Is there a repair that can be done? It's issues look structural.............

that bb lug looks rough!!! Is there a repair that can be done? It's issues look structural.............

I was thinking about leading it with some solder to fill the pitting, and then filing it flush. I checked the thickness, and it hasn't been thinned much, so I think it will be alright. It still needs to be cleaned up some more, and I think after some filing of the edges of the BB cutouts, it will look okay.

-Will

i´ve never seen a tommasini track frame nor a road frame in person, but there are, and definitley have been both.
fyxomatosis had one for sale and cicliberlinetta.de has currently one, which is by the way really nice.
after looking at it i´m not sure if it is structurally save.
try to remove all the rust, take something made of metal and hit every tube to check the sound.
i´m no native speaker and i´m lacking the right word to name it but there shouldn´t be a thud or dull noise rather than a clinging, bright and twanging tone.
and try to prevent further rust.

take something made of metal and hit every tube to check the sound.
i´m no native speaker and i´m lacking the right word to name it but there shouldn´t be a thud or dull noise rather than a clinging, bright and twanging tone.
and try to prevent further rust.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I tapped the frame, and it rang like a tuning fork... I think these pictures make the rust look worse than it actually is... kind of like electron-microscope pictures of insects.

-Will

I stripped the paint off of my bike yesterday, and luckily this has been one of the few times where I've had a project where the rust actually turned out less bad than I had feared it would be! I think it will actually clean up well enough for it to be chromed.

I'll be stopping by a chrome plater here in Brooklyn tomorrow morning, and I'll put up some more photos and let you all know how it goes in case anyone else needs some chrome plating done locally. In the meantime, here's a thread about how I've been trying to make images of the decals, so that I can get copies printed.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=418178