RobbieTunes

I picked this bike up today, was advertised as "Titanium Road Race bike $200" Obviously, it's not, and I sure didn't pay that price. Here's the info I have: The bike was bought new at Performance in Chapel Hill NC, assume in the mid-80's. It came from Performance powdercoated as you see it, or else that paint is very thick. It is chro-mo, based on it's weight, which I'd put right there with a Tange 1 or 2. There are lugs on the bb, head tube, seat tube, with a seat stay attachment I've not seen. The dropouts appear to be steel, and note the rounded crown of the fork, then the lugs lower on down.

There are no decals or stickers on the frame, and no serial number. The owner bought it at Performance and said it was a "show bike," whatever that means.

The group is 105 6-sp indexed, and the L shifter ratchets. Crankset is 1050 170mm, but the wheels are Shimano 600 tricolor laced to Mavic Open 4 CD's with no hint of brake wear. I believe the seat post, a fluted Kalloy, is probably aftermarket, as is the Trek women-specific saddle. The stem is Nitto Technomic, and the bars are unmarked Performance sleeved models I've seen before. Calipers and levers are the 105 single pivot. The FD/RD are the two-tone style, dark grey accented.

It's a decent, light bike, shifts just fine, tires are obvious replacements that have been sitting. The bar wrap is gel, so that's been added. The owner thought the OEM tires were "narrower" than the 700x23 Eriliums. Her husband said he had the paperwork from Performance, but wasn't home to give it to me, and she couldn't find it. Frame is a square 57x57 and it fits me fine.

Any help at all either dating that frame or identifying it would be great. I'm not sure what Performance was up to in the mid-80's, but I know their store in Chapel Hill had either yet to get into the "catalog" business or was in the early stages. I've posted pics, and wonder if Performance had an in-house brand back then or this was someone else's doing that Performance decided to powder coat and sell...

Maybe someone was around then? Thanks for looking.

junkfoodjunkie

No ideas here, but it looks nice. Gotta love a splatter paint job.

RobbieTunes

Bump. I really need to find out about this frame, have contacted Performance, too.
Until then, the bike sits, and that's killin' me.

T-Mar

Performance was in the catalog business at least as far back as 1984 and had their own frames even back then. Indexed, 6 speed, 105 should place it 1987-1988. Tange 1 or 2 would use a 26.8mm post. If you're lucky the fork's steerer may have a Tange embossment and a date code. I'm pretty sure that I don't have any Performance catalogs from that era, but I'll check.

RobbieTunes

Thanks, Tom.

I should go with my instincts, I guess. It's as light as my Tange 1 frames, lugged nicely, powder coat is in great shape. I've got a CF fork that'll fit, the components are fine, and I can upgrade to 8-sp STI with some black aero wheels I have and just ride the durned thing.

Or part it out and make about $50

T-Mar

Sorry Robbie, I have no Performance catalogs from that particular era.

RobbieTunes

I'll strip it and weigh the frame, make a decision after that. Since the seller had advertised it as Titanium, that would have been nice, of course. I figured it was more likely a Technium frame, which would have been fine, too. In steel, I'm kind of partial to a certain brand....heh heh...but once I get it apart, I'll figure out something. It may be a pretty nice upgraded bike...

norskagent

magnet test?

RobbieTunes

Steel. Weight indicates chro-mo., just trying to find out if it's a Performance-branded frame (which isn't a bad thing, given the year) or something Performance had powdercoated for some kind of promotion, which is what the seller says...

I tossed some black aero wheels on it with yellow lettering, and it looks pretty good, even to my 14-year old, which is uncommon. I may just sell the 105 group, wheels and all, and build this one.

RobbieTunes

Needs a good WD-40 wipedown, then build or sell.
Haven't decided. Stamped "10-88" on the bb, so I'm assuming 1988.
Couldn't figure out the 105/600 tricolor mismatch.

The 600/Open 4CD wheels are later than the 105 2x6 group.

Either the group was OEM on a 1988 bike, which wasn't too cool, should have been 7, OR
the OEM group was 600 tricolor 2x7 and someone swapped in the 105 2x6, also not too cool.

If I build, it gets 8-sp wheel set, Sora STI's, saddle, black wrap and cables, 600 EX crankset, FD/RD. I keep the seat post, Technomic stem, look for some wider bars. Everything else goes to recover the $100 investment.

If I sell, frame and all goes out separately.

RobbieTunes

BB is stamped "10-88"

junkfoodjunkie

Robbietunes generously passed this mystery frame onto me for a great price. It rides great! It corners great and Excells nicely.
I will take it on a nice hilly ride this weekend and see how it does on good climbs and descents.
The bare frame weighed (hanging digital scale) 4lbs 6oz and the frame and fork weighed 6lbs 4oz.
So the frame itself is pretty light. Still have no idea about its origins.
It seems the fork crown should be a big hint, it's fairly unique.
The wheel base is very tight on this thing. It is a struggle to remove the back wheel with the tire inflated.
Here it is built up with mainly Dura Ace 7400.
It tipped the scales as shown with wire bead tires and an extremely heavy seatpost at 21lbs 6oz.
I will put a nicer 27.2 seatpost as soon as I come across one.

unworthy1

what's the BB threading? I'm just fixating on a few features that make me think "Italian": the brake arch, the forkcrown...I know it's much more likely to be something from Taiwan, but Performance WAS bringing in framesets from Italy, at least I saw a few in the stores (maybe not in catalogs) in the '80s. Did you see any markings on the fork steerer?
Nah, on second look they could be Long-Shen frame bits so it's looking less "italian" to me now.

junkfoodjunkie

English threading. No marks on the steering tube of any kind.