nemanau

Hello,

I recently bought this bike, but cannot identify what this is. All parts are pretty lightweight, full bike with wheels, centerpull brakes etc weighted just 7.4-7.8kg. Chainrings are 48-41. Shimano 600 headset, 3tt superleggero handlebars. shimano fingertip control shifters. Any ideas?

unworthy1

Never seen one before, but it looks to be a cyclocross frame (CX) from perhaps the mid '80s. Construction details look pretty good (the fork, specifically), it could have been made in Japan and imported/branded for your local market. Any sign of a label that IDs the tubing? One interesting detail: I never saw any component branded "assos" before: is there any sign of that crank having been made in Italy or Switzerland? If I had to make a guess, I'd say it's Austrian with perhaps a Bianchi connection (such as the Puchs contract-built by Bianchi)...but that's purely a guess.

nemanau

nope

I found this - https://www.classicrendezvous.com/Swi...Assos_main.htm. So yeah cranks are swiss and from same company that makes clothing now.

unworthy1

Well there ya go, never occurred to me to check the good old CR website. Do you have the unique Assos BB or is your crank mounted on a conventional square-taper BB? If you can read any info on one of the cups (and measure the BB shell width) it might tell you whether you have an Italian BB (70mm width, 36mm x 24tpi) or an ISO (68mm width, 1.37" x 24tpi). My guess is that this may have ISO given the Shimano ends (something very few Italian builders used) but these were more common on Austrian bikes (like Austro-Daimler/Puch). Another clue is to check for 5 raised ridges inside the bottom of the fork's steerer (flush with the bottom of the fork crown): if you find this then you likely have Columbus tubing. One last clue: what size seatpost?

nemanau

Looks like its some random square-tapered italian BB.


And are you talking about these ridges?:


Seatpost is 27.2mm

unworthy1

Yes and yes: this is an Italian threaded BB (and it's also Shimano, so it matches some of the other Japanese components)
and that's a Columbus steerer so it's almost certain to be Columbus tubing throughout.
Still doesn't answer the question of who built it, but the only thing that I've ever seen that mixes these Shimano bits with Columbus tubing has been the Bianchi/Puchs (well, and maybe a 3Rensho, but that's entirely another topic!). But I've never seen a CX bike labeled as Puch or Austro-Daimler, so it's only a weak guess.
Maybe you should start a new thread with "Austrian" or "Puch" in the title and see if it attracts the attention of some of the Austro-bike fans who post here...they might recognize something that I can't. Of course, it could just be an Italian make that I've never seen before (there must be hundreds) that sourced Shimano bits...a rare practice, but not unheard-of.