I suspect I might already know the answer but I'll throw this out for your opinions - many old bikes like mine (late '60's - early '70's Bottecchia) with Columbus tubing have a decal that just says 'Tubi Rinforzati Garantiti Columbus -Acciaio Speciale' or something like that with a dove in the middle which I believe says 'Guarantied Columbus Butted Tubing - Special Steel'. Many later bikes had decals that specified SL or SLX or some other specific Columbus tubeset. I've gotten the impression reading through the forums that this is either because the tubeset pre-dates the use of SL, SP etc. as marketing terms or because it is a combination of tubesets like SL and SP and so carries a generic label. Any ideas which might be correct? When was SL first used as a marketing designation? Thanks

-Derrick

1988- maybe not. Here's a couple pre '88.

I thought I had pics of a lower grade tubing paired with a triangular fork decal, but can't seem to put my hands on it.

SL, SP, SLX were used prior to 1988. I have a 1984 Cinelli I bought new and it has an SLX decal on it.

Well I guess I need to edit my earlier post. I thought my '87 frame with the generic decal was the last use of that one.

it seems the generic decal change occurred around the mid 80s... but the designations of SP and SL definitely preceded the actual decal usage. Not sure when SPX and SLX came on the scene.

SLX, SPX were introduced to mitigate the extra stress imposed on the seat tube initially on frames that had the newly introduced Campagnolo braze on front derailluer mount, so 1985-86 as when it was on the market. Later the tube sets included TSX which had internal rib reinforcements on the maint tubes and chainstays.

So if I understand you correctly, TSX is spx/slx with ribs in addition to splines? or are you saying that SPX/SLX tube sets only include reinforcements on the seat tube?

I assume you mean the former as my SPX bike has splines in the seat tube, downtube and chainstay (nearly impossible to check other tubes)

By the (very) late seventies Columbus had specific designation and decals for the different tubesets. I have a frame built with Zeta which I bought secondhand in '81/'82. Zeta was replaced a couple years later by Aelle, but there were also Tenax, Matrix (re-named Cromor) and of course the higher end SL, SP...
which also used the generic decal.
Here's what they had in 1988:

Classic Rendezvous has info on Columbus tubing here:
https://www.classicrendezvous.com/Ita...umbus_main.htm
and here:
https://www.classicrendezvous.com/Ita...models_80s.pdf
More info, and a scan of a late 70's catalog and late 80's tubing can be found here:
https://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/index.html

Evidently SLX was manufactured in the late 70's. As I said in the previous post, I have a 1984 Cinelli that has an SLX decal on it. I am the original owner, so I am positive that by 1984 decals designating SLX were in use.

Columbus SLX and SPX came out on the mid 1980s, I can’t remember the exact year. It had six raised spiral reinforcements inside the tubes at the butted end of the main tubes. In other words about 4 or 5 inches each end of the top and down tubes and the bottom end only on the seat tube. The chainstays also had the internal spirals at the end nearest the bottom bracket.

If you look inside the BB you can see the raised spirals, or you can feel them with your finger. TSX came out a year or two later. The “T” stands for Total and the spirals ran the full length inside the top and down tubes; the seat tube and chainstays remained the same.

Prior to the mid 1980s Columbus always had the spiral reinforcements inside the front fork steerer on their SL and SP tubesets. This confuses some people because they look inside the steering tube, see the spirals at the bottom end and assume they have SLX.

Edit: I notice on post #8 the TSX decal says 5 reinforcing spirals.

This is from memory which is getting dodgier by the minute.

I'm sure that Columbus and maybe Reynolds would only supply one set of designation stickers per tubeset, for repaints and repairs framebuilders were supplied with the generic guarantee stickers to satisfy their customers.

I wish I still had the Winning issue that had that ad in it. I remember the Columbus ads, and most particularly that one, for some reason.

Although I've only seen the repaint decal on classicrendezvous, it's clearly different than the generic sticker.
So it appears that sometime from '79/80 +/- Columbus had different tubesets, but your frame decal may or may not have indicated the specific tubing. I guess the only thing worse would be to try to add the Bianchi/Columbus tubing designations in, too. So pre '88, the adoption of the decals above, you don't necessarily know what kind of Columbus tubing you have?

Wow! Clear as mud so far.

Just to go back to that old decal in the OP: I've GENERALLY seen those (old rectangle foil Columbus sticker) on older bikes (like circa mid-'70s and prior) and was told that this was the generic double-butted tubing that Columbus made back then which was "equivalent" to what became their SL set. I'm sure there were some builders that had so many of these stickers in stock that they continued to be used on new bikes and re-sprayed paint well past the mid-'70s, but by then Columbus had moved on to making and designating their special-application tubesets as SL, SP and so on into the future...I've also been told that the triangular foil sticker maybe predates this rectangular one, or maybe runs concurrent with it, but usually indicates (pick one) either a straight-guage chrome-moly tube, or can be just the 3-main tubes DB, if so written (in Italian of course, but sometimes in French!)...clear now, or just muddier?

Old Columbus tubing designations? They didn't designate, at least in the 60s-70s.

There were a couple of versions of Columbus tubes, SL, SP? Typically builders mixed them to their heart's desire and slapped on the generic, retangular gold foil Columbus sticker. I'm aware of an earlier one, and a 70s one. There was also a triangular gold one, which indicated main tubes only and was commonly in French, even on Italian bikes.

The newer designs date from the 80s, when I believe they started designating the tubing. And I agree with OldFatGuy in regards to SLX. I also have a Cinelli bought new in 84 in SLX tubing. I think it was an early use of it.

The only Columbus decal that I have on my bike ( Ambrosi - Argentina ) is the small upper one

of the three decal set . ('FORCELLA ORIGINALE') It is above the DT shifters .

I presume 'SL' , and the date of 1987 .


Regards ,
J T

I would agree with Oldfatguy and dbakl as I have a 1984 Cinelli with SPX. SPX is a slightly thicker version of SLX and used on larger frames or where the rider is carrying a little more weight (like me). SLX /SPX have rifled reinforcements within the tubes (main tubes I think).

I also have a circa.1980 (I suspect a 1978 build date) Australian frame that is built with SLX. The fork crowns have 2 oval shaped cut outs, around the size of the fork blades, that are plugged with plastic inserts with the Columbus dove logo moulded into them. I have previously had another frame with this same feature.

I suspect that this fork crown feature was supplied with the initial 'batch' of SLX tubing.

Just for the record, my 84 Cinelli is SLX.

Interesting point about the SPX and I'm sure SP as well earlier - I was reviewing some of the tubing specs that have been posted here and elsewhere and noticed quite a bit of 150-lb weight recommendations. I think I passed that mark back in the eigth grade and generally run about 195-lb today (same as when I got out of Army basic training 22 years ago. Ha! ) I suspect the vast majority of us frequenting this forum are over a 150-lbs but I really haven't heard of too many frames breaking aside from a crash of some sort. Seems like they might be hedging their bets for the lawyers with those specs.

I have a Mondonico that I bought used around 1985 from the original owner, and it has an Italian sticker that does not specify a tube type, and no fork stickers. The frame has decent flexiness, so I doubt it's equivelent to SP, which is pretty stiff stuff. I don't know when Mondonico actually built it. He has so much history as a builder who did not put his name on his frames, that I think Unworthy's explanation is very reasonable. He could even have built this one from an old tubeset!

When I haunted bike shops in the early '70s, sales guys told me "such and such was made with Columbus tubing," never specifying SL or SP. I started to hear of those in the later '70s.

Road Fan

I believe it was commented somewhere that the weight designations on desparado are not manufacturer stated. But I could be wrong, either way, I am sure a 200 lb guy could ride an SL or SLX frame for 20 years without if breaking. However, someone who is 200lbs might appreciate the added stiffness of an SPX frame. I for one appreciate the stiffness of my SPX frame when I compare it to 531 frames I have, however the 531 might be my choice on a the century where as the SPX might be my choice for the 50 km ride. For reference I ride 62cm frames so frame stiffness is important to me, I hover around 180lbs. If I were a racer/athlete, I'd probably be closer to 170lbs with less fat and more muscle.

The SL/SP terminology goes back to at least 1978, maybe earlier. However, the decals at his time still appear to be generic. SLX/SPX was introduced in 1984 (1983 if you consider pro peloton frames and the unveiling at the trade shows).

As suggested in an earlier post, I would never try to date a frame, especially an Italian one, based on the decal style. Those old Italian cranftemen built great frames but cared little about housekeeping and stock rotation. If a new supply of tubes came in the, the matching decals would often get thrown in a drawer on top of the existing decals. The decals at the bottom might finally get used up, several years after Columbus stopped making them.