hollowman

Here's a page scan from pg. 34 of "Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Upgrading Your Bike" (by Frank. J. Berto, copyright 1988):
(image link)



I can just make out what I think are "Co..." brand/label on the fame's down tube (just above the water-bottle holder).
Is this a Colnago ... or something else??

Remember: this book is from the late 1980s.

Thx!

BobG

Columbine?

https://www.columbinecycle.com/images...rth_to_sky.jpg

cycle_maven

It has u-brakes, which is mighty odd, and only available for a few years on a few marques.

hollowman

Jesus ... I feel so stoopid for not findin' that ...

(Makes sense: Berto is from the SF Bay area ...Columbine Cycle Works
P.O. Box 339 • Mendocino, California 95460-0339)

The brakes are cool ... not sure if they are better than the std. type, tho'???

cyccommute 

Pretty sure you are correct. They put columbines on the seat tube which you can just see in the picture. The company is still in business and you can see the columbines in page 3 of their brochure.

cyccommute 

The brakes look cool but they function horribly. You couldn't pick a worse place to put a brake. U-brake equipped mountain bikes could be stopped dead by just a little bit of mud.

djb

geez louise, look at the jumps between gears, I betcha they are probably 20% between cogs.
and the ol half step, cuz of the 5 or 6 speed tops that it has.

fietsbob

FYI It's steel . Columbine, is a flower in Colorado, a High School site of a Mass Shooting, and a Custom hand made Bike frame company ..

half step + granny crank , rendered non functional with the current fascination of 9 and more speed cassettes ..

U brakes were what was the hot set up for a While ... trends change..

hollowman

Don't you mean DOWN tube?


.

likebike23

I've got a couple of bikes with u-brakes and they stop very well. Yes they can pack with mud while mountain biking, but for road and light trail riding it's not a problem.

bikemig 

No. 1.

likebike23

**********

Edit: I think I see what you're doing there. You are trying to tell me how many bikes I have with u-brakes? I must be an idiot, thanks for correcting me .

unterhausen

irrelevant random word associations are one of the first signs of dementia, so some of ya'll should have that checked. The columbine is Colorado's state flower, let's not go afield from that in inappropriate ways, please.

djb

Thanks unter, glad I'm not the only one who found this disconcerting.

bikemig 

I agree with u about u brakes.

BobG

The columbine flowers are pictured on the seat tube, a bit out of focus in the above photo. A clearer photo is on page 3 of the brochure that cycco links to. You can slightly see them if you blow up the black and white photo you posted. The word "Columbine" is on the down tube.

likebike23

Ok, I still can't figure out what "No. 1." means. I guess I am an idiot after all .

cyccommute 

Thank you.

No, I mean seattube. Look at the catalog I linked to and look at the seattube in the picture you posted. You can make out a blurred columbine on it.

Exactly.

I don't know what your game is but just because a word has several meanings or can be used to evoke certain thoughts doesn't mean that the word has to be used that way. Columbines and Columbine Bicycles evoked much more gentle images prior to April 20, 1999 and the actions of two mentally ill people doesn't change that. "Loaded" also has many more meanings than the one you are using as well.

What are you, 13? Giggling at words wasn't funny when you were a jerky teenager in the back of the class and it's less funny now. Grow up!

indyfabz

I think he may have gotten the convention wrong, typing "No. 1" instesad of ""+1". (Or perhaps autocorrect is to blame.) "+1" in response to a post signifies agreement.

hollowman

But even for late '80s, isn't that bike in the OP a bit awkward (and old-fashioned-- er, anachronistic for the late 80s??). That book, from which the image was taken, was quite a popular title, and pub'd by Bicycling Magazine [MAGAZINE ... luv that word!]. You'd think for the few photos that were included (in that book), they'd use some piece of kit with more agreed-upon concepts ... NOT like those brakes, and that sprocket? WTF!!?

fietsbob

RE: the bicycle .. Biopace outers , round inner , maybe because the biopace granny is 28t, round can be 24t.


with 6 cogs over a range of 13~34 those gaps are bigger if the 6 is 13~23.

CbadRider

Just a friendly reminder - any kind of firearm talk belongs in the Politics & Religion forum, since Bike Forums is about bikes, not firearms.

Thanks for your cooperation.

CbadRider
Forum Admin

likebike23

Thanks. I never considered auto correct as a culprit. Very frustrating on my phone for sure.

cyccommute 

Not old fashioned at all. For the 80s that was fairly cutting edge for touring bikes. If I recall correctly, the crankset was an Avocet touring and Berto had a half-step with granny gearing covering a range from 117 gear inches (52/12) to 19 gear inches (24/34). And the u-brake was the latest craze in mountain biking. It took a few years before manufacturers realized how bad an idea the U-brake was and abandoned it. All pretty cutting edge stuff for the era.

Bicycling Magazine was actually a very useful and informative publication in that time frame. Rather then just an advertising magazine, it provided useful information on bicycle repair, bicycle touring, bicycle racing and bicycle science. Frank Berto was and is an engineer who did analysis for them on many topics.

LesterOfPuppets

I think they are great brakes. So much easier to adjust than most Cantis or Vees. Infinitely adjustable spring tension on both arms is so cool.

They pretty much suck in the mud, though, especially ones mounted under the chainstays, due to cleaning difficulty.

Since I rarely hit mud these days I'll gladly roll U-brakes.