Tha Bastard

Hello everyone!

I recently came across a pretty nice bike, it was in the local Ads listed as a ''Ompax Collector's bike'' - Vélo de collection Ompax

The picture of the ad caugth my attention because of the dried out tubulars and the quality looking parts. A click lead me to this nice bike in very good but filthy condition, for a fair 300 can$ (roughly 230$US). Since the crankset, pedals and brakes sell for that amount on ebay I figured it was worth it!

The group is a mix of Dura-Ace ax, EX and 600ax. Everything seems original, the couple that sold it to me told me that the previous owner almost never rode it, and it shows. The crankset is in amazing condition with very little wear con the chainring. I can't wait to clean it up!

Here is the list of components I manged to identify :

Dura-Ace ax : Crankset, pedals, toe clips, RD, headset, stem, brakes, brake levers, even got the aero water bottle and mount, only thing missing here is the brake hoods!

Dura Ace EX hubs laced to araya red tubulars, and what I believe to be a 6spd uniglide cassette, Dura Ace chain

600ax : Seat post (With a old school Kashimax aero!) and FD

Nice Sakae SR Royal 952 dropbars

The frame is defenetly Japanese, made of Tange Champion no.2 steel with no particular panto of any sort, actually really quiet frame despite the color. Serial no is MBK3134 under the BB, Shimano Dropouts

I'm am not really familiar with this brand despite the fact that the compagny was located in my part of the country (Montreal). So if anybody in the know of canadian steeds like @randyjawa can help me pinpoint the year and manufacturer of the frame I would appreciate. From the little information I could get online (whitout any real proof) it seems that the frames were made in japan by Kuwahara, but the serial no doesnt. fit

So here are the pictures AS PURCHASED, enjoy




Shimano dropouts stamped EF




Even got the plastic cap on the headset! And stem is set WAY to high!


There is Tange rifling in the steerer tube, flat fork crown, Heart cutout on the inside of the fork crown (no pics)


Cool steel headbadge


Crankset and FD in really nice condition, even got the original toe straps



Still got the R sticker for Rear brake


This is the worse rust spots, but I think it will clean up nicely




Left lever is set at an angle!




I will post more pics when I get it cleaned-up. I look foward to riding this thing next spring, might be a keeper, altough the frame seem a tad small for me, its a 55 and I usually ride a 57-58
*

markwesti

Wow . nice score . That is a very interesting bike . At 230 .US I think you got a bargain , to bad it's not your size .

Tha Bastard

Interesting indeed, I couldn't find ANY information on the model, and very little on the brand, so my curiosity is triggered

I will try to ride see how it fits me, you never know.

The other option is to find another early 80's japanese aero frame my size and swap the components, but the occurence of those frames is also rare! The frame will also need over BB cable guide and clamp-on FD wich narrows it even more.

clubman 

Finally, another one! I thought I had the only one ever made. I bought an unridden floor model Ompax with full black DA group at the Toronto bike show in the late 90's for $400. The group was dated 75 and the frame was really nice but too big for me so I sold it 16 years ago to someone on the CR list. Full chrome underneath beautiful paint, the workmanship was sweet. I didn't keep the serial number. It came out of a shop in TO. That's all I remember along with these 35 mm snaps.

Tha Bastard

Cool Bike! I actually see a few Ompax bikes for sale in Montreal, but it's all cheap low-enders, I didn't know they offered quality bikes until recently. The compagny was founded in 1974 and also sold parts like reflectors and pedals and stuff, much more of a part ''wholesaler'' (I don't know the right term in english) than an actual bicycle manufacturer.

xiaoman1 

Member macala had an aero frame for sale a while back but not sure if it was your size or if it sold.
Ben

T-Mar

Clubman's frame looks like it may have been a Miki product, as it resembles a Centurion Semi-Pro. However, the OP's serial number format is not consistent with Miki. Offhand, I can't recall a format with a triple alpha prefix. There are several ways it could be reverse engineered but based on the components it's a fairly narrow date range of 1981-1984. I think 1984 can be ruled out, as I've seen documents suggesting that OMPAX folded the bicycle business in 1983 and moved into stuffed toys. The fork looks like it may be a stock Tange fork and if so, may have a date code on the steering column. There are also component date codes that may help to narrow things down.

Many people would call OMPAX an importer or distributor but I prefer calling them a marketing company if they have product contract manufactured under a brand name which they own. OMPAX also marketed bicycles under Romar and Mont-Royal brands. I've seen some of these that were contract manufactured by CCM and others that looked like Vittoria Precision and Procycle product.

Hummer

I have seen this format of serial number on several bicycles. Only two of the bicycles were the same brand name.

It appears that the manufacturer of your Ompax frame made frames for several brand names. I am beginning to see a pattern in the serial numbers for this manufacturer but do not have a big enough sample size.

Ompax bicycles had frames made by several manufacturers.


@clubman your Ompax frame was made by Tsunoda of Japan. Tsunoda frames in North America are most often seen with the Lotus brand name.

Tha Bastard

Thanks for the info T-Mar!

Fork is definetly Tange as the distinctive Tange riffling can be seen at the bottom of the steerer tube, I will check for a date code when I get the fork out, as this bike will receive a full cleaning and troughout overall.
Will also check date code on the shimano parts soon.

Tha Bastard

Well I am more than happy to provide another specimen for your database

I love gathering as much info I can about the bikes I have as well as any other brands and models, and I love to see that I'm not the only one. For me it's a part of the experience along with riding and maintenance. Obviously the better part is the riding. Regrettably, I didn't get to live back when these bikes were around in a brand new state (I'm 26). But I've came to develop a real passion for C&V. Good thing in this is I still have plently of stuff to learn about! I think it is impressive how a few guys in here (every regular reader knows them) have gathered such an impressive amount of knowledge on classic bikes.

And that is why I will keep this thread updated with more pictures during the clean up and any more info I can find. To keep satisfing the passion for knowlegde and devouring curiosity of C&V enthusiasts

Cheers