Danbianchi881

ollo_ollo

Some years ago, guy was selling some NIB on eBay. No one else bid on mine. Stripped everything off & built up a nice Raleigh Super Course then sold the Ross frame. Bare frame weighed 7.5 pounds without fork, so you are only a couple pounds up from a 531 frame. Don't know how it would have ridden. Don

due ruote 

Velo Mule

In the shop that I worked, we had Schwinn, Ross, Panasonic and Fuji. It was difficult to convince a customer that the Ross was a worthy bike. We did sell some and one signature bike. I still remember the signature bike. It was a tan color officially called Toupe.

Anyway, these are nice bikes. We, at the bike shop were impressed when they came in.

thumpism 

You're kidding, right? Not meaning to harsh your mellow, but the bike is no great prize. The best feature is the Shimano group and I hate those brakes. I assembled and sold tons of these things in the shop I worked at locally and they were only slightly nicer than the Gran Tour with steel wheels. Identical frames, I believe.

Do not, repeat DO NOT attempt to align the fork tips using the Park or Campy tools. The factory overcooked them or something and those stupid Safety Fork Ends are incredibly brittle. We always had one or two forks on warranty order because of broken ends, because they were badly aligned when new and the QR skewers would not easily close. Go to tweak them in the stand and *SNAP*.

dddd

I was given one of these back in the late 70's in fair condition, it was really tall so I parted it out, actually used the modified frame and fork as truing stands for my sideline bike repair business.

The headset was nicely engraved "Professional", I had it in my parts stash for decades, it was quite heavy. The wheels went on my Fuji, the brakes went on another build and felt squishy to me.

All in all it was a decent gas-pipe bike, as I never had issues with the fork tips on the one I had. Scary to think of those snapping off, I once had the tip break off of a Motobecane fork as I twisted hard trying to free a stuck stem.

Bianchi84

I used to have a Champagne colored Gran Tour Professional from around the same era. I upgraded some parts - Mavic MA40s, bar-con shifters, etc. I wound up giving it to my brother. I always remind him...do not get rid of it if you stop using it... I'll take it back!

52telecaster

These were reviewed in bicycling magazine or whatever it was in the 70s. They were considered ok at the time.

thumpism 

Truly, I did not want to hurt the OP's feelings, and we all get a little tender about our finds, but judging by the background bikes in his photos I'm surprised he even bothered dragging the SGT home unless he wanted the crank or needed the 27" wheels. I made money for several years working on Ross bikes and the shop owners kept the doors open and the lights on by selling and servicing the brand, so I have some loyalty to and an appreciation of the company's product. I even repped for the company briefly.

However, if the OP wants to get all warm and fuzzy over a Ross he should look for one of the Signature 29x bikes or, even better, one of the Kellogg or Redcay Signature models to go with the rest of his herd.

And seriously, don't touch those goddam fork tips.

Wildwood 

Velo Mule

So, in comparison to similarly priced bikes at the time, it was considered a good value. Not that it rivaled anything with that we normally love. Also, up until that time Ross didn't make anything for us bike enthusiast to even look at. For us there was little difference between an Ross and a rake. This at least made us look.

Oh, yea. We didn't have problems with the fork ends, just didn't like them. I forgot about them.

The Golden Boy 

Just between you and me...

You could stop reading and then posting rude **** here.

It'll make everyone happy.

exmechanic89

Yeah I have to agree. I worked in shop that sold Ross bikes too, and I don't remember any of us thinking they were great bikes. Heavy and marginally constructed is how I remember them.

RiddleOfSteel

I will echo that the 29x Signature models (I owned a 294S) were well made. Any of the Kellogg or Redcay original Signatures would be a fantastic, unicorn-worthy find.

Lascauxcaveman 

My Ross Super Grand "Tour" Professional lived up to only one word of its rather longwinded name.

"Ross."

I have heard good things about the Ross 29x series bikes. This was not one of them. 'nuff said.

taguy4

Another acceptable quality road bike to come out of the Ross stable was the Paragon model. These had the same high quality Ishiwata frames as the Signature models and decent, but not outstanding, components. The only problem with these was Ross put lesser quality forks on them - with unusually shaped stamped dropouts - and very short (6cm) stems. I bought one of these new and it came stock with Suntour Superb derailleurs and a Suntour Ultra-6 freewheel with 13-21 gears. I have never seen one of these listed in any Ross catalog so I get the idea that these were thrown together with leftover parts from the Signatures and whatever else was lying around the factory.

I stripped my frame this year to repaint it and found that it had Campy bottom bracket cable guides of all things! I bought a better fork for it as well as a longer stem to fix the bike's deficiencies. I might put sew-ups on it, too, to see how it does with them. Whatever the case this is a bike worth fixing up and keeping, unlike a lot of the other Ross models unfortunately.

grayEZrider

I bought one new back in 82 . Loaned in out to a couple of my brothers (and back) several times over the years. Found an identical one in 23" so I stripped the (now too tall 25") and rebuilt the 23 with the original parts. Gave to the youngest brother last year. They are reliable as a hammer and easy to work on. But lucked out after several years searching and got a Redcay frame (In the right size!) which I'm repainting and will be modernized. Actually fine American Steel.

eeuuugh

I'm a fan of Ross's early mountain bikes. A few years ago on ebay I stumbled across a Ross I'd never seen before nor since, a "Mt. Hood XC". Cantilever brakes, drop bars with aero levers and SunTour command shifters, 700c wheels with 35mm tires. The rear hub was a SunTour cassette model, another thing I hadn't seen before or since. I think it was a plain gauge cromoly frame. It also had a great paint job, vivid blue with a raised silver lightning bolt effect all throughout. It was in basically unridden condition. I bought it, swapped on a set of stem shifters, and sold it to a friend. Anyone else ever seen one of these?

thumpism 

Web photo. I believe these were in an Interbike booth one year. May have been a one-year model.

Hatchet

Here are some pics of mine - from 1981. When I got it from an Estate sale, it didn't come with the Shimano 600 brake levers, so I put this ones on temporarily. I've also since put on bar tape and a saddle that doesn't squeak.

A pic of it as I got it:


Some pics after I cleaned it up:

Robvolz 

Ok
similar boat

The co-op has one of these Ross bikes with the arabesque. I’m sure I could sell the group for much more than the bike.

It’s a heavy little mother.







Nice clean hoods

merziac

Where's my 10 ft. pole.

repechage

These were just not seen in Southern California. Probably lack of a local warehouse just caused high shipping.

USAZorro

I grew up in New York State (far from NYC) and never heard of them. Later, when I moved to Pennsylvania as an adult, I began to realize they were pretty popular in Eastern PA and New Jersey back in the day.

JoeBass

Here are some shots of my 1982 Super Gran Tour XV. Shimano 600 Arabesque and Ishiwata 024 tubing. I really enjoy the ride, in fact, not too long ago I took it up Mt Hamilton!



Here's a link to the Mt Hamilton ride...