I was poking around on craigslist for road bikes and I came across a fixed gear bike that I pretty much decided instantly that I had to have.

I don't know anything about Torelli frames. Can anybody ID this thing?

Its likely mid 80's-90's based on the rear triangle assembly. What brand are those wheels and hubs?

Send an email to Torelli through their web site with the serial number, and they could probably ID it for you. Torelli is an American company that imports frames and other parts from Italy. They generally carry very nice stuff.

I can't seem to find anything that I'd really call a serial number on the bike. There's a marking on the bottom bracket that says "59 B" and there's a sticker close to the seat on the seat post that says "Tretubi", "Columbus", "Tubi Special", and "Renforzati"

And as far as the wheels and hubs go there isn't any writing anywhere on them but there is a depiction of what I believe are three hummingbirds. Sorry for the double post.

"Tretubi" means that the three main tubes are usually Columbus SL, and the rest of the bike is not associated with any of the other Columbus tubesets and are a good quality, high-carbon steel. I have no recollection of what the "renforzati" means....possibly that it's butted tubing? I sold lot's of Torelli bikes back in the 90's and I rode a gold Countach made with Brain tubing....very nice bikes, you should be happy with it!

It's 1980s, but should be pre 1988 and the actual model name was Tre Tubi, which was based on Columbus SL being used only for the three main tubes.

and what with the strong connection between Torelli and Mondonico, you might have a frame built by them for Torelli.

I would call Torelli and speak to them directly. The S/Ns are often vestigial as you've seen, but based on memory they can often bracket it.

I've heard an M on the BB stampings can mean Mondonico made it under contract, and I don't know (wouldn't guess) what the B means. "59" is the frame size, seat tube length c-c.

the "renforzati", I believe refers to the spiral reinforcements to the tubing, so that's SLX?

Decals make it to be late '80's at least, but not that late, as it looks like the head badge is still the little bull graphic, and not the T crest. '87, 88 maybe?

And judging by the amount of chrome, I would say fairly high up in the Torelli line, which would make the odds of it being built by Mondonico much greater, although the seat cluster design is a bit different from the usual Mondonico builds I've seen. Not to say he couldn't have been building them that way at the time.

Tubi Speciali Rinforzati is Italian for 'special butted tubing ' and was used or the SL, SP, MAX and Cromor sets. The SLX, SPX and TSX sets stated Tubi Speciali Superbutted, so we know it's not those. Of the previous sets we can eliminate MAX and Cromor, as those labels specifially stated the tubeset name. Also, plus is visably non-round and fatter, and Cromor used a silver decal. Only early versions of SL or SP did not have the tubeset name on the decal. It's obviously SL or SP or a combination. That, plus the tre tubi statement, indicates it's an upper, mid-range frameset.

Rinforzati is on Columbus stickers that predate SLX by a couple decades as far as I know. I think it indicates butting.

Umm....what T-Mar said.

I'll take a guess: Billato

I have no idea what you guys are saying, I just thought I would say that bike is beautiful. Good pick up.


Parker

No, renforzati just means "butted." You'll see it on Columbus tubing decals pre-dating SLX.

Yes, that's one of the names I was trying to remember. We gotta work on that C&V mind-meld.

Could it have been Bottechia? I guess only Chairman Bill would know if they did any of his Torelli builds.

I almost totally agree with T-mar here (if his luck holds he'll prove me wrong 5 different ways; just watch!). A while back I spoke with Chairman Bill about the tubeset on my early Mondonico, which has the plain Columbus Renforzati label, and a Columbus Dove stamp in the headtube, as to if it could be SL or SP. He was pretty sure Antonio Mondonico was not building any of his named bikes with the heavier SP (corrected from "SL"), although finally checking this claim is nearly impossible.

If it's not a Tretubi tubeset as previously thought, and it has this same label, I'd think it's rather safe to assume it's SL. If it's a Tretubi, I think the guages should be as in the Tretubi charts. The alloy is probably the same as for the SL and SP, I think it was called "Cyclex." Again, hard to test it for confirmation.

My Mondo is quite stiff even as an SL frame.

Either way, either maker, this Torelli is a very fine frame worthy of good use as a fast rider. It is NOT any sort of junker or entry-level.

Road Fan

Not Bottecchia, as that was a brand, not a manufacturer. Bottecchia was built by Carnielli, up until about a decade or so ago.

Billato would be a pretty good guess, as from what I've heard, they're the ones building the Mondonico frames now, under license.