What Kind of Rossin is This?
 

I picked up this NOS frame from La Bicicletta in Toronto, but they didn't have any old Rossin catalogs left. Any ideas where it stands in Rossin's product hirearchy?

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~mkuredji/img-1.jpg
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~mkuredji/img-2.jpg
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~mkuredji/img-3.jpg
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~mkuredji/img-4.jpg
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~mkuredji/img-5.jpg

is it aluminum?

it looks to be one of the more recent Rossins...?

It is certainly steel, as evidenced by the minor oxidation in the BB shell. The shop owner (I think), Henry, seemed to remember it being SL or dedacciai tubing.

I'd be surprised if it were SL...

Dedaccai seems plausible...

Looks very similar to mine with the braze-ons, minus lugs and paint.

Quite hard to pull up info on rossin's unless they're top of the line SLX...

I almost bought a similar looking Rossin from labicecletta a few years ago (but purple, it was ugly).

It is difficult to find much info on the later Rossins... just a few photos of Genius's and TSX's and then the post-sale frames.

You wouldn't have good luck tigging SL. There are Columbus tubes that you can weld, but not SL. Dedaccai makes weldable tubes as well.

The frameset is very light; I haven't weighed it yet, but the build should come in well under 20lbs. I plan to build it with Campy Veloce and Fulcrum F7 wheels. No idea what it will ride like yet; might be stiff like my CAAD9 or it might be smooth like my Concorde and OCR2. I'm betting it will feel like a smoother CAAD; the seat stays bear resemblance to the Cannondale, but this frame has a longer wheelbase.

Very excited about this build, because its my first. If everything turns out, I will wide the Heart & Stroke 75km on this bike.

BTW, La Bicicletta offered my a new/used grouppo for $600 with the following components:
Used Record cranks (square taper)
Used chorus brakes w/new pads
Used chorus FD
New Chorus ergo levers
New Chorus RD
New Chorus cassette

What does the internet think about this?

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, see if they'd throw in a chain.

I'll try and get a stem and seat post out of them, also. I think the chain was included.

I'm sorry, but that is one of the worst tig welded 'high end' frames I've ever seen. I hope it was cheap. The gruppo sounds like it may be decent, though. For $1000 you could have had this (just sayin'):
http://lh5.google.com/A2UsedBikes/R0...0/PB291134.JPG

yea, those tig welds are absolutely terrible

tiawan robots or whoever builds the cheap steel bikes from the orient can weld 100x better than that

What's the basis for claiming bad TIG welds? When I think of bad TIG welds, low end GIANT and Trek frames come to mind, because they're left with a lot of excess in the joint. I don't see that on this frame.

Edit: I'm starting to notice this frame must be a "transitionary" model; There are newer features, combined with older styles. For example, the bosses for downtube shifting are retro, but the TIG welds are modern. Likewise, the seatpost bolt is retro, yet the frame has internal cable routing for the rear brake. Lastly, the stays are wishbone'd, which is a modern design; however, the drive-side chain stay is chromed, which is anachronistic. Very strange, indeed, and now I'm curious to see how it rides.

I don't think its a bad frame at all, but, rather, more of an oddity. As to the welds, there's no way I know of to tell if they're good (safe) by internet JPEGs. Variation in the welds is giving me the impression it was a hand-made job.

it's surprising they didn't do a more thorough clean up of the joints after welding... keep in mind after 92 the name had been sold.

the late 80s SLX bikes had internal brake routing for the rear...

one way or another I'll be interested to hear what you think of it and see it built-up...

Hrm, the welds are kinda crappy but the one directly connecting the top-tube to the seat-tube looks like it has been smoothed out a bit better than the other ones. Perhaps Rossin did what other Italian frame-makers of the day were known to do, outsource their frames to cheaper facilities? That paint-job is very nice but it is not typical of a Rossin...my Colnago Sport probably didn't come from the Colnago plant in Italy but it rides well.

Do you have some pics of the headtube?

edit: Oh, I didn't know that Rossin was sold, this frame looks to be an early '90s frame judging from the stays and other things kergin mentioned.

Here's an F Moser I used to have, to give you an idea of nice TIG welds (sorry for small pics)
Attachment 60892

Attachment 60893

You sure those aren't fillets?

they certainly appear to be

Well, yeah, they are. Which is how a top steel frame should be done, if it's not externally lugged! JMO

Isn't it TIG welded, then fillet brazed? I may just be unclear on the concept. Wouldn't be the first time!

Fillet brazing and TIG welding are two different processes, if that's what you're asking.

I...I think you just wanted an excuse to post a pic of your bike...;)

As requested, a pic of the head tube:

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~mkuredji/img_0458.jpg

In all, the frame wasn't much money; $430 for the frame, CF fork, Shimano 600 headset, installation, and chasing + facing of the BB shell.

My bad.

No problem. For a TIG welded frame, I think the Rossin looks pretty good.

I have a don walker frame that is made with columbus life tubing, welded, and it looks every bit as good as any fillet brazing that I've ever seen. Walker charges a very tidy sum (about $3K) for his new product, so he has some time to address the cosmetic issues...I don't think that unfinished TIGs are any less trustworthy, just a little less esthetically pleasing.