What does team issue frame mean?
 

I have a 1989 Trek 440 with a True Temper steel frame. The brochure from that same year posts that the 660 was also made by True Temper but designated as "team issue". How would a team issue frame differ from a standard frame made by the same company.

Thanks in advance for the information.

I believe that when a frame is called "team issue" it what the company, in this case trek, uses to supply teams it is sponsering in various ways. it wiuld be made with same materiels and paint scheme but not really a special geomentry

It could also be marketing jargon. Rockshox, for example, sells a model of their Reba fork called the "Reba Team".

sometimes they have special geometries not listed on the brochure.
Team miyata frames are a good example, where they varied from road to track geometry even with the same 'Team Miyata' logo.

Thanks all. I take it that the material is the same quality.

By about $1000, I'd say.

I wouldn't assume anything about what "Team Issue" might infer as it's a marketing term.

IMHO, you would need to contact the manufacturer of a given "Team Issue" item to ascertain exactly what significance they have attached to the the term. It could be made to the same spec, or it could be a replica sporting a paint job.

For example, I have a '98 Bianchi MegaXL Mercatone Uno "Team" frame that looks very much like the frames ridden by Marco Pantani & his team in the TdF but I'm not sure the fork is correct. It 'looks' like a Team bike.... and it's certainly made from the same tubing... but that's all I know for certain.

Team issue is supposed to mean that you're getting the same version frame that is used by their sponsored team. The reality is that not all riders ride identical bikes, and many top riders prefer to ride bikes built by the builder of their choice, and to their personal specs.

Team issue today really means that it has the graphics of the teams bikes, but don't count on much more than that.

Usually it's a paint job. A couple decades ago, you could get a "team issue" Trek that had "Huffy" painted all over it. Various manufacturers supplied the 7-11 team with "team issue" bikes that had the same colour-scheme and paint-job. I liked the Serotta ones best.

Looking at the 1989 catalog, in this case Team Issue appears to be part of the name of the tube set used to build the frame.

I'm not a True Temper tube set expert, but there could be some differences. Shorter butted sections perhaps...

True Temper RC is good stuff if yours has a little RC on it. Do you have a pic of your True Temper sticker?

Oh, and I don't believe True Temper ever made frames, just supplied framebuilders with tubing, AFAIK.

Here is the sticker. What does RC mean? I thought is had to do with the 4130 steel material used in the frame.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/IMG_1987.jpg

Thanks again for the replies.

My road bike.
According to the previous owner it was custom built for a member of the 2002 ColoCyclist team.
Since I could find no record of any production Litespeed by that name, I'm inclined to believe him.
Also, the frame measures about 65cm (to top of seat tube).

I've looked high and low and have yet to find out what the difference is between RC and RC Team Issue tubesets. I think you're right to guess that they are of similar quality. I did find out that RC tubing is .89/.64/.89 mm thick in the top and down tubes, .89/.69 mm thick in the ST. Thinner than True Temper's RGR, but thicker than their RCX.

Woefully, there's no mention of the team issue. I'm still inclined to think shorter butts, but yet unconfirmed.

Nice looking bike, Shimagnolo. Thank you for the information.

Thank you again for your trouble. If the frames are the same the only difference between the 660 and 440 that years had to be the difference between Shimano and Sun Tour components as far as I can determine.

BTW, you said TT was good material. What do you based that on?

4130 chromoly has ultimate-strength in the range of 60-80kpsi regardless of who manufactured it. Back then, Columbus, Easton, Tange, Hexcel, Reynolds, Ishiwatta, Kaisei, Dedacciai, Ancotech all made chromoly tubing and they were of comparable strength and quality for the same weight tubeset. The quality of a frameset has more to do with the manufacturer and the process they used to assemble the bike rather than the tubeset material itself.