Unknow frame. Help ID please.
#1
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2021
Posts: 12
Likes: 1
Unknow frame. Help ID please.
Hello, everyone.
I'm on a journey to identify this frame.
The previous owner said this was a copy of some Look design, but made by Leader in aluminum and with Raleigh decals.
It got my attention because the welds are clean.
I reached Leader and they said that never made this type of frame.
I figured that it looks a lot like a Look KG131. Although, I reached them and the answer was the rear brake cable passage in KG121 and KG131 was internal in the horizontal tube with the sheath and not external like mine.
I found a serial number in the left hook its says L501249.
Could anyone help me identify the manufacturer?
Thanks a lot. Here are some pics:




I'm on a journey to identify this frame.
The previous owner said this was a copy of some Look design, but made by Leader in aluminum and with Raleigh decals.
It got my attention because the welds are clean.
I reached Leader and they said that never made this type of frame.
I figured that it looks a lot like a Look KG131. Although, I reached them and the answer was the rear brake cable passage in KG121 and KG131 was internal in the horizontal tube with the sheath and not external like mine.
I found a serial number in the left hook its says L501249.
Could anyone help me identify the manufacturer?
Thanks a lot. Here are some pics:




#4
Senior Member

Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 540
Likes: 761
From: Los Angeles, CA
Bikes: None in ridable condition
Did whoever responded from Look say that they don't believe this frame is a Look at all (based on the serial number) or just that it doesn't look like a KG131?
I'm not a Look marque expert, so I don't know what kind of variation there was in the frame numbering. All the Look frames I've seen so far had a number on the underside of the bb shell. I would like to find out if they ever put serial numbers on the inside of the NDS dropout like on the mystery frame.
Also, have you determined that this frame is actually all aluminum or is it carbon?
Appearance-wise, I think the model that most closely matches what you have there is the Carbolook 660 (from ~1993-95 era). It's interesting that if you look them up online, you'll almost find more resprayed frames than the ones still with original decals.
Here are some pics:




Here are details from the 1995 catalog (of the 4 bikes in the series, only the Carbolook 660 had external cable routing; all the others had internal routing):


You can find a few examples online of frames that are advertised as KG 131, but actually match the mystery frame. Only one of these (that I've found) had a picture of the inside of the left rear dropout, with the number visible (looks like it's E701315):



I'm not a Look marque expert, so I don't know what kind of variation there was in the frame numbering. All the Look frames I've seen so far had a number on the underside of the bb shell. I would like to find out if they ever put serial numbers on the inside of the NDS dropout like on the mystery frame.
Also, have you determined that this frame is actually all aluminum or is it carbon?
Appearance-wise, I think the model that most closely matches what you have there is the Carbolook 660 (from ~1993-95 era). It's interesting that if you look them up online, you'll almost find more resprayed frames than the ones still with original decals.
Here are some pics:




Here are details from the 1995 catalog (of the 4 bikes in the series, only the Carbolook 660 had external cable routing; all the others had internal routing):


You can find a few examples online of frames that are advertised as KG 131, but actually match the mystery frame. Only one of these (that I've found) had a picture of the inside of the left rear dropout, with the number visible (looks like it's E701315):



#5
Senior Member

Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 540
Likes: 761
From: Los Angeles, CA
Bikes: None in ridable condition
One thing I forgot to mention - I'd be cautious about riding (or investing a lot into) this frame - there appears to be a crack on the chainstay/bottom bracket transition:







