Hello vintage biker,
one week ago I could 'save' a Francesco Moser frame. Unfortunality it was colored new (definitely before 1988). The previous owner - who just bought the frame and completed the bike with stored parts had no idea why. So It's not possible to use them as indicators.

Now I'd like to find out which frame is under the 'new' colour?
I googled many hours and watched many pictures but none of them showed the same frame (or resolution was too bad to check them).

I uploaded some pics at flickr to show you the details:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/3299855...rancescomoser/

Would be really fine if you could tell me more about the frame - so I can decide how I will use it in the future.
Basic plan is to use this frame for the Retro Direct power train. If the frame is very rare, old or something special I have to spend more money to start a vintage bike project.

Thanks and Best regards from Austria
»Horst

The best clue as to the date, is the presence of the short Campagnolo Porta Catena dropouts. These were introduced in the 1979 catalog. Though the Porata Catena device itself was still offered in the 1982 catalog, the dropouts were not and both were not offered in the 1984 catalog. Campagnolo's catalogs were typically brought out for the fall trade shows, so the presence of these dropouts would indicate a 1980-1982 model, however there is also the possibility that the manufacturer bought a large supply and the frame could be slightly newer.

The frame appears to have the helical ridges in the bottom of the steerer tube, so for this period it would be either Columbus SL or SP. Given the size of the frame, SP is more likely.

This is a well made, high end frame. Were it in my possession, I would restore it properly.

Hello T-Mar,

thank you for your helpful reply.

@Porta Catena:
Yes, 1979 should be the earliest Porta Catena year https://www.campyonly.com/history/campy_timeline.html and https://www.campyonly.com/history/catalogs.html (Catalog 17a Supplement (1979)) This guy claims that the holes were produced by Campagnolo until early 1990ties https://davesbikeblog.blogspot.com/20...-dropouts.html .
I couldn't find any site which agree or disagree this statement.


@Helical ridges:
Aha, I removed fork to check inside the steerer tube. The fork is marked near bottom steerer bearing with an ellipse which includes the 'COLUMBUS' brand an the bird(?) logo https://www.columbustubi.com/grafica/colomba.gif .
Two fingers above a number is stamped: "1". I hoped to find the frame size in centimetres (seen on some pics) - but nothing.

When I look into the streerer tube I can't see any 'buttet' or 'reinforced' shape. At least I thought I could see/feel 2 diamteres and detect a kind of helical ridge.
So neither Columbus SL nor SP frame?

Also I checked saddle tube and could not see anything too (but this could caused on a film of rust which hide the surface a little bit).

@Restauration:
The closer I look the worse the painting looks and feels. At some areas it's pssible to chip off the colour. And the saddle tube seems to be chromed too (near front dellareur fixing) but also a little bit of rust. Maybe the painter tried to remove the chrome layer with sandpaper (more or less sucessfully).

If I find out how to remove the color from the narrow edges (for example the 'moser' letters) I tend to remove it completely, polish the frame and protect the raw steel parts just with transparent color.

»Horst