PUCH Mistral Ultima SLX????
08-24-15, 08:53 AM
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PUCH Mistral Ultima SLX????
I am willing to buy a used puch frame, witch is claimed to be a mistral ultima made from columbus SLX tubing. I could not find enough pictures, or description to be sure it was an original one, or just another type of puch frame, with the columbus SLX sticker, but not made from that tubing. I attach some pics, plz help me if u can.
08-24-15, 10:25 AM
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I have my doubts on the SLX. Easy enough to slap that sticker on the bike. I would have expected an SLX bike to have Campy drop outs. Check the inside of the tubing to verify its SLX. Weird paint scheme. Once you repaint a bike, you can badge it as whatever you want. Notice no original PUCH decals either.
Weigh it, check tubing, and get a discount on it. Myself, I would avoid it. Too many questions.
Weigh it, check tubing, and get a discount on it. Myself, I would avoid it. Too many questions.
Last edited by wrk101; 08-24-15 at 10:33 AM.
08-24-15, 11:01 AM
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If i am right, this frame were made in the bianchi manufacture, and they used gipimme do's on their slx tubed frames. I seached the net quite a lot, to find some pics from same frames, and i found 3 from different places, and they had the slx sticker too, but i still have some doubt. Can u tell me what do u mean about checking the tubes inside??
Thx your reply!
Thx your reply!
08-24-15, 03:44 PM
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08-24-15, 04:01 PM
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If i am right, this frame were made in the bianchi manufacture, and they used gipimme do's on their slx tubed frames. I seached the net quite a lot, to find some pics from same frames, and i found 3 from different places, and they had the slx sticker too, but i still have some doubt. Can u tell me what do u mean about checking the tubes inside??
Thx your reply!
Thx your reply!
08-24-15, 10:50 PM
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Your frame may well have been made by the same plant producing lower-end frames for Bianchi.
With this dropout I doubt you have an SLX frame, as the expectation was they would come with a Gipiemme or Campagnolo 1010-style dropout.
As stated by Thrifty Bill, you need to look down the inside of the fork tube and the seat tube to see if there are splines or "rifling" present.
The terms refer to a series of raised spiraling bars visible in the ends of those tubes - the fork will have them close to where the wheel is and the seat tube will have them down by where the crank lives.
I hope you find them but I fear you may not. SLX decals are really cheap on the Internet and there are no corresponding Puch decals. VERY bad sign, sorry...
08-25-15, 05:23 AM
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Sorry, but I don't agree. I've owned 3 or 4 SLX bikes that didn't have Campy dropouts. A low end frame will more than likely have low end lugs and dropouts.
08-25-15, 06:54 AM
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Reading a prior post on this site, hoever, I still think I'm right...lots of detailed shots that do NOT match the OP's frame...
Here are the pictures of my PUCH mistral Ultima restoration/transformation.
My mom is from GRAZ, and as a boy I visited the city many times-many happy memories there.I got the privilege to visit the bicycle factory and watch them building the road racing frames and it was a lasting memory-I had to have one eventually!
I have 2 Puch bikes, the first one I got from Graz, Austria in 2009.
Puch Mistral EL
I paid 125€ before transport, nice seller.
It has puch 2500 tubes, which is 5% nickel
this was their base model on the Mistral range.
Campy chrome dropouts, campy deraileurs and shifters,weinmann brakes,I think silstar cranks. she weighs in at 11.2kgs, I added the pedals, seatpost,seat, and tried my hand at the leather-my first try-8 hours worth.
I dont have the heart to let it go-some Finn will turn it into a bloody fixie.
my Puch Mistral Ultima
This one I got from Vienna and an interesting story at that,
I was surfing with google for it and found a one day old advert in a vienna newspaper, I contacted the seller and asked for pics
"if I have to clean it and take pics I will just throw it in ebay"
"I offer you 400€ sight unseen, can you please take some pics and dont clean it"
pics arrived
"I held my word and 400€ was transferred"
now how to get it home...I contacted a friend with a girlfriend in the city.
bike was taken to her workplace by seller, She had a fit, I found a bike shop willing to pack it 300meters from her office
"ok I will take it there"
The seller regrets closing the deal after he found out it had TI bottom bracket,pedals,and deraileur parts.
Bike finally arrived in Finland in good condition.
the rear tyre was dead-replaced it, and more or less started riding it.
---bike is complete and in working order, its just inside------
the cinelli 1R stem had a hole drilled through it,the bars are no name but bloody light.
Started finding the little bits to put her back together nicely.
another 1R stem
Cinelli Campione del mondo 66-40 bars
Campy globe lever hoods
the Unicanitor seat had to go-just too heavy and hard
replaced with a Sella turbo replica seat -200g
As the wheels did not match I thought I will correct this.
found 2 NOS Mavic Argent 10 rims
NOS Marchiso IKO Sport 7 speed Alloy freewheel
2 used campy low flange record hubs
DT revoloution spokes are in th email
NOS wolber 290 tyres
she will weigh about 9.2 kilos when done...(now how to loose another 200g???!)
I will paint it Puch PROFI GRUN, she will look like this when I am done,
I got the decals from speedbicycles.ch
A Puch Fanatic in Austria with 42 bikes gave me the colorcode.
If all goes to plan she will look like this in another month.
view all the pics of the green bikes here
Mike in Finland
My mom is from GRAZ, and as a boy I visited the city many times-many happy memories there.I got the privilege to visit the bicycle factory and watch them building the road racing frames and it was a lasting memory-I had to have one eventually!
I have 2 Puch bikes, the first one I got from Graz, Austria in 2009.
Puch Mistral EL
I paid 125€ before transport, nice seller.
It has puch 2500 tubes, which is 5% nickel
this was their base model on the Mistral range.
Campy chrome dropouts, campy deraileurs and shifters,weinmann brakes,I think silstar cranks. she weighs in at 11.2kgs, I added the pedals, seatpost,seat, and tried my hand at the leather-my first try-8 hours worth.
I dont have the heart to let it go-some Finn will turn it into a bloody fixie.
my Puch Mistral Ultima
This one I got from Vienna and an interesting story at that,
I was surfing with google for it and found a one day old advert in a vienna newspaper, I contacted the seller and asked for pics
"if I have to clean it and take pics I will just throw it in ebay"
"I offer you 400€ sight unseen, can you please take some pics and dont clean it"
pics arrived
"I held my word and 400€ was transferred"
now how to get it home...I contacted a friend with a girlfriend in the city.
bike was taken to her workplace by seller, She had a fit, I found a bike shop willing to pack it 300meters from her office
"ok I will take it there"
The seller regrets closing the deal after he found out it had TI bottom bracket,pedals,and deraileur parts.
Bike finally arrived in Finland in good condition.
the rear tyre was dead-replaced it, and more or less started riding it.
---bike is complete and in working order, its just inside------
the cinelli 1R stem had a hole drilled through it,the bars are no name but bloody light.
Started finding the little bits to put her back together nicely.
another 1R stem
Cinelli Campione del mondo 66-40 bars
Campy globe lever hoods
the Unicanitor seat had to go-just too heavy and hard
replaced with a Sella turbo replica seat -200g
As the wheels did not match I thought I will correct this.
found 2 NOS Mavic Argent 10 rims
NOS Marchiso IKO Sport 7 speed Alloy freewheel
2 used campy low flange record hubs
DT revoloution spokes are in th email
NOS wolber 290 tyres
she will weigh about 9.2 kilos when done...(now how to loose another 200g???!)
I will paint it Puch PROFI GRUN, she will look like this when I am done,
I got the decals from speedbicycles.ch
A Puch Fanatic in Austria with 42 bikes gave me the colorcode.
If all goes to plan she will look like this in another month.
view all the pics of the green bikes here
Mike in Finland
08-25-15, 03:51 PM
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Both the 1987 and 1988 Puch Ultima built with SLX had internal cable routing in the TT. It should also be a green and white paint scheme. I've owned a few Puchs with Gippieme drops built with 531 from before the switch to SLX in 1987. It could be an Ultima with Reynolds 531 with Gippieme drops, but I don't think the bike in OPs photos is an SLX Puch Ultima.
EDIT: Most importantly, the lack of Puch decals point to a repaint and it seems like someone tried to up it's worth by placing SLX decals on it.
EDIT: Most importantly, the lack of Puch decals point to a repaint and it seems like someone tried to up it's worth by placing SLX decals on it.
Last edited by 88prelude; 08-25-15 at 03:57 PM.
08-26-15, 02:05 AM
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Both the 1987 and 1988 Puch Ultima built with SLX had internal cable routing in the TT. It should also be a green and white paint scheme. I've owned a few Puchs with Gippieme drops built with 531 from before the switch to SLX in 1987. It could be an Ultima with Reynolds 531 with Gippieme drops, but I don't think the bike in OPs photos is an SLX Puch Ultima.
EDIT: Most importantly, the lack of Puch decals point to a repaint and it seems like someone tried to up it's worth by placing SLX decals on it.
EDIT: Most importantly, the lack of Puch decals point to a repaint and it seems like someone tried to up it's worth by placing SLX decals on it.
BIANCHI ? Columbus SLX ? mid 80s | 2VELO
VeloBase.com - Bicycle Model
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/265272/
Today, i am going to check the frame personally, and i'll tell u what i find inside the seat tube's bottom.
08-26-15, 12:51 PM
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First of all, THX for all your comments, i learned a lot from them. Now i am totally confused about this frame. I found this post ( https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...umbus-slx.html ) on bikeforums, and this is a same frame i am intrested in, and it has a same colorpaint, and it has the "puch" decal wich is missing from my frame. The owner of the post says the frame is an SLX. Also there is a story about the frame's history, it made in the bianchi manufactury. So i started to search some bianchi SLX frames on the internet, and i found something pretty strange. Lots of bianchi SLX frame looks like exactly the same as this puch frame. Same DOs, external cable routing, etc.
EDIT: I think the Ultima was only made for US import by Bianchi. I'm not too sure what happened in the Europe market with the brand, and how much longer Bianchi built them after 1988- I believe Bianchi produced Puch bicycles until around 95. It is a cool frame you're looking at, and if it's the right size and price, I hope you get. Perhaps with some better/more pics this mystery can be solved.
EDIT 2: My best guest at the moment is that it is a Mistral, missing all the Puch decals, (not an Ultima) and built probably in the early 90s.
https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=86683
Last edited by 88prelude; 08-26-15 at 02:40 PM.
02-03-18, 08:55 AM
#13
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PUCH Mistral again???
Hi,
I’m looking at an identical frame from Hungary. Quite possibly the exact one shown earlier with the Shimano 105 (which is odd for SLX)
I’m trying to determine conclusively if it is in fact made from SLX tubing. As noted earlier the external cable routing seems at odds with an SLX grade bike.
Also the Columbus Foderi Laminati sticker shown on the forks has a crease, perhaps from being poorly applied? The SLX sticker placement between the shifters is odd too. Dontbthese usualy go on the seat tube? When I look at this sticker closely it appears like it’s been removed and re-glued on as the moisture from the glue seems to have possibly discoloured the sticker.
I’ve looked in what catalogues I could find here and nothing even remotely resembling this paint scheme...
The last picture shows some serial numbers. Maybe it can be conclusively identified from that...?
I’m looking at an identical frame from Hungary. Quite possibly the exact one shown earlier with the Shimano 105 (which is odd for SLX)
I’m trying to determine conclusively if it is in fact made from SLX tubing. As noted earlier the external cable routing seems at odds with an SLX grade bike.
Also the Columbus Foderi Laminati sticker shown on the forks has a crease, perhaps from being poorly applied? The SLX sticker placement between the shifters is odd too. Dontbthese usualy go on the seat tube? When I look at this sticker closely it appears like it’s been removed and re-glued on as the moisture from the glue seems to have possibly discoloured the sticker.
I’ve looked in what catalogues I could find here and nothing even remotely resembling this paint scheme...
The last picture shows some serial numbers. Maybe it can be conclusively identified from that...?
Last edited by CrescentWrench; 02-03-18 at 09:01 AM. Reason: Photos not uploading
02-03-18, 09:40 AM
#14
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Conclusively = get it in your hands, and look for the spiral internal tubing. So until you get it in your hands, you will not know. You pay the money, you take the chances. I have found serial numbers at best tell you the year, not the model. Google Puch serial number, maybe there is something useful there. I doubt it.
Can't see any of your pictures either.
With 105 bits, the value is all in the frame, so pay what the frame is worth TO YOU. Might be worth more or less to someone else. Myself, I would put a relatively low value on a repainted frame, missing decals, with questionable tubing. People don't downgrade their bikes on a repaint. Its not usual to see sudden improvements in model/brand/and tubing on a repaint.
I assisted a friend buying a Paramount recently. It was VERY suspect! Repainted badly, so no serial number to check. Odd decal placement too! So based the value on the parts alone (mishmash parts, most not original, lots of worn out stuff). Value came down to the Dura Ace seat post, DA crank, and nice stem and bars combo. Needless to say, that was a pretty low price. Did some filing on the bottom bracket shell to find the serial number. It turned out to be a Waterford serial number, and it was legit. (Waterford serial numbers are actually pretty useful). Now its off for a repaint, as the paint was bad and it had rust issues too. Buying it was basically like buying a lottery ticket. Downside was protected by a few juicy parts, so the potential loss was small/negligible.
Can't see any of your pictures either.
With 105 bits, the value is all in the frame, so pay what the frame is worth TO YOU. Might be worth more or less to someone else. Myself, I would put a relatively low value on a repainted frame, missing decals, with questionable tubing. People don't downgrade their bikes on a repaint. Its not usual to see sudden improvements in model/brand/and tubing on a repaint.
I assisted a friend buying a Paramount recently. It was VERY suspect! Repainted badly, so no serial number to check. Odd decal placement too! So based the value on the parts alone (mishmash parts, most not original, lots of worn out stuff). Value came down to the Dura Ace seat post, DA crank, and nice stem and bars combo. Needless to say, that was a pretty low price. Did some filing on the bottom bracket shell to find the serial number. It turned out to be a Waterford serial number, and it was legit. (Waterford serial numbers are actually pretty useful). Now its off for a repaint, as the paint was bad and it had rust issues too. Buying it was basically like buying a lottery ticket. Downside was protected by a few juicy parts, so the potential loss was small/negligible.
Last edited by wrk101; 02-03-18 at 09:55 AM.
02-03-18, 12:42 PM
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You are correct about the SLX decal usually affixed on the seat tube, but there were some bike companies that put them near the down tube shifters in the late 80's. Bottecchia was one of them. I'm sure there were more....
Last edited by Chombi1; 01-23-19 at 09:55 AM.
