banikek

My first post! Hello to all.

I picked this up about 3 years ago and have been riding it alot. I knew it was a nice vintage lightweight but I have no idea what brand it is. I have brought it in to many shops in the Minneapolis area and even the wily old veterans did not know what it was, so hopefully someone on the interweb can help.

It has Reynolds 531 frame and fork. Bocama lugs. Chrome all under the paint. Shimano dropouts. It is decked out in all clamp-on Dura Ace. I am guessing it is fairly early vintage Dura Ace? Please don't crucify me but I changed the rear derailluer, it used to say "Crane". In my foolishness I took it off and replaced it with a new Dura Ace. I now know what it was. The saddle, bag, and stem are all my doing. It originally had 27" Dura Ace hubs and Mavic rims. I put a set of 700 Dura Ace on it now and moved the 27" wheels to one of my other bikes. The mystery is the head tube badge. It is almost completely rubbed off. It has a stamped serial number under the bottom bracket. I have been told "mid-70's custom bike", "maybe a Paramount/Fuji Racing/Monarch/?"

I love this ride. It shifts crisply i.e. "chunks" right into each gear. It helped me to get back into cycling. I wish I know what to call it. I get a lot of compliments on it, especially from non-bikers. Please let me know if I can provide any other clues?

Thanks,
chris

javal

Dura Ace, Reynolds, Bocama says its intented to be rather high end. The crankset looks mid/late 70´s. Theres a badge with a "crown", that should give someone an indication of making. The crown label could also be found on swedish Monark but your bike isnt one. Is/was there an US brand Monarch?

old and new

You got about as far is I did. Bocoma was French or at least associated with French & other high end bikes. It's a VERY nice bike. I can't nail that badge, I've tried.

OP.. no apologies needed, I can assure you. that bike deserves the best you've got.
7400 series DuraAce is argueably the sharpest functioning der. EVER. I've used it on "worse".

I'll remember this bike and be sure to touch-base when I've ID'd it. I envy you.

YoKev

Not a Monarch, as the crowns are slightly different.

javal

A long shot, but I´ve seen something like a crown on a Mercier head badge...

Noah Scape

Components, dropouts and the crown on the headbadge suggest a Japanese maker.

javal

I agree on Japan. I seem to remember Shimano Crane derailleurs on Miaytas.

cb400bill

My Viscount came with a Crane RD.

Dave Hickey

Do you know if the BB is english or french threaded?

banikek

It has an Sugino BB, English threads. A Campagnolo 1" headset. It does have eyelets for fenders both front and rear so I would think that it rules it out as a true racing frame? Absolutely eveything is clamp-on; no braze-ons (except the fender eyelets). The original gearing was 2 x 5, a true ten speed. The guys down at One On One also suggested it might be a "M" namedue to the crown on the top of the logo looking like it has that letter shaped into it. I have searched pages and pages of headtube badges and not found anything close.
Thanks again,
chris

jacksbike

Boy, this is really interesting. The head badge reminds me of an early Azuki headbadge (forerunner of Nishiki). However, the "M" also could possibly be from a Maruishi brand bike. Everything points to a Japanese made bike " however, I don't ever remember a Japanese bike company using Reynolds 531. They used their own Tange, Ishiwata, Araya 631 tubing. There were lots of Japanese made bikes in the 70's era using these early Dura-Ace parts, and it could be any one of the. Hopefully some expert will nail this one down. I also am very curious to know what brand that it is.

JohnDThompson 

But the lugs and 531 tubing argue against it.

unworthy1

hmmm...I love a good mystery, and this is sure one. The JP components are a red herring, I think, they were available to anyone and might have been added to a bare frame. The telling clues (but they don't tell me) are the 531 tubing, the BCM lugs, the headbadge, combined with Shimano DOs. Even tho the last thing indicates JP, there were several EU makers who used Shimano frame bits. The long serial number tends to rule out a custom builder, likewise the headbadge. I'd like to see a better shot of just the seat cluster and the fork crown.
Last thing: have you tried viewing the badge in a variety of light from many angles? Sometimes you can make out the "ghost" of the worn-off printing if you experiment, and usually sunlight is the best bet.
If I had to just take a stab at it (and I was rash enough to rule out Japan) I'd guess: Benelux.

Ex Pres 

This bike is old enough to post to the CR list, too.

T-Mar

FWIW, the Reynolds decal style places the frame 1974-1976, assuming good stock rotation and originality. The serial number appears to be open fromat, and if so, would place it July 1976. Both are certainly a good match for the parts, with the exception of the 7400 upgrade.

My question to the OP is whether the lugs actually bear Bocama stampings or are they just Bocama styled? Also, given the overall condition of the bicycle and especially the head badge, I'm surpised at the flawless condition of the notoriously fragile Reynolds decal. What size is the seat post? Based on the headbadge alone, it seems to me that the previous owner was purposely trying to disguise the origins of the bicycle.

The presence of dropout eyelets do not rule out a racing frame. Many boom era racing frames had eyelets to allow fenders for training during wet preiods. These gradually fell out of use during the boom. However, in this case the chainstays appear quite long, with lots of tire to seat tube clearance even with the axle forward in the dropout.

MetinUz

The frame is almost certainly Japanese. It has Shimano dropouts, and everything other than chromed lugs looks like a Japanese built Raleigh, including the serial number and use of 531. The fork crown looks French, but I think Japanese builders copied many designs. I am guessing a Panasonic built frame for some other company.

X-LinkedRider

Schwinns were build in Japan from like 70-75 or around there. They all used such similar designs and paint schemes. Whatever it is, it is in fantastic shape.

Noah Scape

My question as well. Could be Tange lugs.

unworthy1

Noah and T-Mar: you raise good points, and we really need to see more/better detail pics...but I have never seen any "copycat" BCM lugs that had those reinforcing rings on them...but I haven't seen 'em all.
The forkcrown bothers me, tho...really want to see a close-up...those do look like Reynolds blade dimensions, at least at this angle.
Does the "open serial numbering format" indicate any particular makers, or rule any out?

banikek

Hope these pics add clues. "73" stamped on top of seat post. I assume the tubing angle? The lugs look like they are stamped "BCM"? Seat post has the two-bolt adjusting for seat angle. Let me know if more pics are needed. Applogies for dirt/grime - I ride this and do a more detailed cleaning in the winter months.
thanks,
chris

unworthy1

Austrian.
it's something out of Puch/Steyr/Austro-Daimler...but never seen that headbadge on any of the typical A-D models.
I'll wager it IS all 531.
see for yourself:
https://www.bulgier.com/pics/bike/Cat...troDaimler/76/
thing is: yours may be earlier than the earliest catalog Mark B. has here ('76), but it's got the right lugs, the right forkcrown, the right 531 tubing, and the right Shimano ends...even has the seatlug with the angle stamped.
Austrian. period.
Why that head badge? maybe another housebranding like they did for Sears, or maybe added by the PO to muddy the waters.

juls

looks like a vista headbadge-same crown..........

rugerben

Flip it.

LOL. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I was just hanging out in the roadie subforum.

Grand Bois

I saw a nice Crane on eBay for $45 BIN if you want to replace yours.

bleukahuna

I argree with juls, it looks like it's probably a Vista head badge. Almost nothing on the net about Vista, we used to see quite a few around here(I'm in Minneapolis to) mostly Schwinn knock offs even had a vertical oval headbadge that said Vista instead of Schwinn IIRC those were actually Columbias. The ones that had a badge similar to yours I had heard were made in Japan for an american marketer.