Number Plate Braze-On
 

In my life I've seen very few bikes with the braze-on that were not actually in the pro peleton. I'm sure there are some exceptions, but I rarely noticed in the steel bike era bikes for consumers with the tab.....

They show up, I often think it was to give the impression that the bike WAS from the pro peloton.

I keep a few in stock, but have only used them for an alternative, light weight rack mount.

http://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-...289_NEW-06.jpg

My assumption was anyone could order a racing frame with that little number tab from most builders if they planned ahead. I bet a lot of amateur racers did so for the convenience.

Lots of pro team bike replicas were provided with the racing number tabs in the mid 80's.
They are not really that rare among the top model steel bikes from that time.
If it was to be an accurate "replica", people will of course, expect the bike to be complete with those tabs.

I have been told they were more prevalent on upper end, race oriented bikes in Europe.

But that is hearsay.

I have two, a 1991 Colnago Master with Frans Massen Wordperfect Team sticker and a Pinarello said to be the first non-Italian tube Pinarello with Tange Prestige for the US-based Levis Cycling team headed by Michael Fatka and ridden by Andy Hampsten, Steve Tilford, Roy Nickmann, Thurlow Rogers in the mid-1980s. OP said he bought it in 1991 in Chicago and was told it was not in the '85 TdF as the bikes arrived late.

Where I ride, mostly southern AZ and Portland OR a number boss is extremely rare.

If anyone has any good ideas as to how to prevent the Massen sticker from fading further I would greatly appreciate input.

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/u...DSC_0774_2.jpg

I don't recall seeing them on consumer models that often, even on the high end models from the limited volume manufacturers, unless it was a team replica model. They seemed to be primarily a custom option. One notable exception where they came standard from a mass volume manufacturer, was the Team Miyata, circa 1989-1990. They were also standard on a couple of the high end Steve Bauer from the same era.

I should add the Pinarello was repainted in '91 and has three small dents in the chrome DS chain and seat stays, but the Master obviously not ever repainted and has a 1,000 small paint chips and scratches, which is hard for me to live with on a sweet bike.

I have thought about putting number plate tabs on my randonneuring bike. Looks really pro at PBP, where they make you mount a standard racing number plate with your rider number on it. I figure I could make a number plate with my RUSA number on it for the rest of the time.

We used to use the banded clamps that held the round plastic reflectors on the main tubes. When the race was over, off it came or leave it on just to be cool.

Two of my three Dutch bikes have the tab and both have racing history, but not in the pro peloton.

My '89 Koga-Miyata FullPro had one.

They are very common in Europe----when buying a frame you'd be given a choice of having a pump-peg or a number-hanger.

I'd guess that they are uncommon in the U.S. because these options couldn't be given, it was just easier to put a pump-peg on every frame.

They became popular in these parts in the eighties and early nineties. Gazelle offered them as an add-on to their more expensive frames (AB and up) and Concorde supplied them on their high-end frames (Aquila and Squadra).

They were called "photo finish tabs", BTW.

I have one frame that has a slightly different model. It was sold to me as a Belgian Clemenso:

https://myalbum.com/photo/HrDUBu9o32gj/1k0.jpg

This style is on a late 80's Basso. Picture isn't the best but the tab is flat stock. Often thought about shaving it. I don't use a frame pump and the thing looks like a barb for possible cut.

[IMG]https://c5.staticflickr.com/1/320/31...6f9e1b49_b.jpgIMG_4722 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

For the US market, I think the braze on for a number plate would have marked you as a poser, if that term had been in use at the time. Number plates simply weren't used. Promoters used what they could get, cheap. Best example was one I got left over from a horse show. It had the Purina feed company logo and the tag line " ride with confidence in youself and Purina Horse Chow in your Horse"

I'd like that on my bike :)

BTW, my Van Herwerden (built by Chesini) has one as well.

As bought:

https://myalbum.com/photo/Dh9j9Xow5XoU/1k0.jpg

https://myalbum.com/photo/MrPoJenTAuBR/1k0.jpg