EjustE

This is an update on the frame I posted about in this post, asking about identification as a "mystery frame" and playera nailed it to a T.

From the seller pictures I posted, there were some concerns about DT damage. To my eyes it looked like tape removal lines vs. hairline cracks and this is what has proven to be. Got the frameset last Fri, but too busy to take shots until today. I think that it is a really cool frameset and its obscurity makes it even more interesting to me. Still not sure of what the exact steel might be (the whole frameset with headset in a size 52 weighs 7.4 lbs and it takes a 26.8 seat post). Here are some shots of the DT area (where there was a thought that might be damage), the headbadge (not shown in the previous post in the sellers' pictures) the seat cluster, the drops and the BB (which has a serial number that might mean that it is an '89 frame) :















Not sure how I am going to build this up yet, but

based on the fact that it is practically fluorescent, it will take these bars (with perforated white tape and bar end brakes on the bullhorns - the color is almost a perfect match; the above photos are indoors with flash) :



and I could not help but notice the color pattern on the stripe around the RDM motif:



being an exact match with the one in one of my favorite saddles, it will take this saddle:



Other than that, the build is pretty much undecided, other than the fact that I have a pretty much complete 600EX SIS 2x6 group sitting around

JunkYardBike

Very cool frame with a neat story. You'll have to take it to Columbia to ride one day - just bring a fleet of bodyguards.

If you like those vintage Profile aero bars, I've got a couple sets you can have for free. One in white, which I've rarely seen (not that I keep my eyes peeled for them). Maybe if we ever get a another tri-state ride organized I can bring them.

EjustE

I think that riding in Columbia would be a blast (and I do not see why I would need bodyguards - yeah I understand the associations placed with the place, but I am sure that this is less than 1% of the people there.)

As far as those aero bars go and your so kind offer goes, PM me to schedule a time for me to drive to your place and grab them off your hands And, yes, we gotta schedule a tri-state (NJ-PA-DE or NJ-NY-CT? better make it a Mid Atlantic to avoid confusion) ride.

JunkYardBike

Sorry, my comment about Columbia was a bit tongue-in-cheek. My understanding is that it's a beautiful country, but I've learned from a number of emigrants that it's also a bit turbulent politically.

Let me take a look through what I have and I'll send you a PM. Depending on where you are in the Lehigh Valley, I could be a 2-3 hour drive for you.

EjustE

I am 15 mins away from the Joizee border on 78. Nothing in NJ is a 3 hr drive for me (well maybe those beach areas south of atlantic city).

I hear you about the Colombia ref (and the cocaine associations and i take it as a tongue on the cheek type of reference; and yes my frame was made in Medellín, but I seriously doubt that it had anything to do with the synonymous drug cartel (like 99% of the Colombian people.) And I rode in many places around the work the last 20 years (and had made an idiot of myself trying to speak the local language in many places while answered in English, I have some funny Hungary stories about this... great trains there, btw), but not south america. Methinks I can handle Colombia without bodyguards...

JunkYardBike

Ah, okay, not that far then. I think it takes me 1.25 hours to drive to the T-Town swap meet, so you're probably less than an hour away.

Sounds like you've ridden in quite a few places! I've ridden in NJ, PA and NY! My provincialism is probably why I spelled Colombia incorrectly.

EjustE

as in the "District of?"

JunkYardBike

Nah...Columbia Manufacturing Inc.!

EjustE

Nah. I'd rather handle Colombia (on my own bike(s) ) than the Columbia Manufacturing Inc. products. (even though some of them were ok for what they were targeted towards back then- and this is my bias and ignorance about those 3-speeds)

Charles Wahl

I hope your frame weighs 6.4 rather than 7.4 pounds. The latter is Schwinnesque.

EjustE

scale says 7.4. Some Schwinns are lighter than that. Some are not. I can live with an extra pound over SLX, knowing that it will not fold under me...

T-Mar

So it did turn out to be a mid-range frame, as I suspected. Remove the fork and check the steering tube. There may be a tube manufacturers impression and even a date code. While several manufacturers had tubesets that used 26.8mm posts, the most common was Tange, who used it on most of their CrMo sets.

EjustE

Great idea! The fork was taken apart for the mailing and I had to assemble it. If only I though about looking in the steering tube before I assembled the head set...

EjustE

I forgot to mention this:

I was a tad worried when I saw the "container" used for shipping the frame:



but, fortunately, the tubes and the fork were padded well and the fork and headset were secured in the package. And it seems that UPS did not toss it around a lot. But still... I would suggest that nobody tries to ship a frame this way.

JUDOKILLER

New to the forum. What ever became of this build? I have a Raul Mesa.