BL4zD

I just got back into cycling after a 15 year hiatus

I looked around and impulse bought an Olmo frame. I don't have a camera handy, but I'll add photos to this thread once I do. I have a few questions:

The frame looks like this: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...IMG_3963-1.jpg
But the chrome is either not there or painted over. The dropouts on mine are campagnolo.

The wheels are Mavic Montlery with Clement Super Condor tires.

The breaks and levers are gold Mafac 2000.

The handlebars are Japanese. Sakae Road Champions but the neck is 3ttt.

The shifter levers are stamped Campagnolo and have ridged texture around the outer edge of the levers. The front derailleur is Campagnolo and I think the sprocket is, too. The cranks have Specilites TA written on them and the pedals are campagnolo with black sides.

The rear derailleur is Sun Tour Cyclone, though.

The saddle is a dried out Idealle.


My main question is whether I can just pump those tires up and ride them or should I buy new Clements? I would also like to replace the saddle, but I'm not sure if I should replace the Idealle with another Idealle or use a Brooks. *Or* possibly restoring the one I have, if possible.

My other question is I started to look around for vintage Campagnolo rear derailleurs so everything would match, but it looks like the Mafac breaks and Cyclone rear derailleur are as good or better than the Campagnolo gear from the same year. Is my conclusion on that accurate?

Any advice concerning replacing the handlebars?

I'm not going to part this bike out, but I'd like to restore it and ride it and show it off So is it more appealing to have everything be Campagnolo or leave the mix N match that the original owner seems to have done (it looks like everything is coming from early/mid 70's so I'm assuming the original owner put these parts on).

Any advice about what I should do with my new bike before riding it is appreciated.

Otis

If the frame you bought is the same as the one in the photo you posted, then you have bought a late 50's through 1960's frame. If that's the case then all of the parts you have would be incorrect, but should be useable (for a rider).

If the tires hold air and are not dried out you can re-glue them and ride them, but you should be the one making that call as there is no way to see the condition here.

If you really want to restore the bike it's going to be a money pit. 60's Campy parts are not cheap. The frame you show would have been an upper model. It would have had either Gran Sport or Record parts with a Magistroni steel crank, Ambrosio bar/stem, and Univesal or Balilla brakes. A proper restoration would cost far more than the value of a restored Olmo. And if the chrome is gone, even more so.

I would post a pic of the ACTUAL bike you have before we go any further.

jan nikolajsen 

Welcome! Bold move to buy a vintage bike as a means of getting back into cycling! Kudos to you for that. Hopefully you will find it as fun and rewarding as most of us here do.

I would personally go all European, even though mechanically the Suntour RD is phenomenal. Also from a performance viewpoint, those Mafacs are good stoppers, and fitting with the rest of the components you list. Show us a pic of that Ideale before scrapping it. Could be revived. My Ideale is almost as comfy as the Brooks on the other bikes.

Brakes, not breaks.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

If the tires hold air, Squirt Silicon lube in all the various moving parts and take it for a test ride...see what works and what doesn't.

as far as matching components, for the most part its aesthetic ...some folks don't care about that sort of thing and some do and some go to great lengths to make sure everything matches down to the year.

Personally I'd go with a Suntour Cyclone Front and Rear Derailleur...they're some of the best

BL4zD

Thanks for the responses.
I'm not sure what to take a picture of to figure out the age of the frame. I only used that frame because I just noticed it and the decoration on the tubing is similar. But given the parts I think my frame is an early/mid 70's frame rather than a 60's era.

Here are some pictures that I took with my phone:

Otis

I'd want to see better pics of the fork crown, seat-lug/clamp, and rear drop-outs, but it still looks like a 60's frame to me.

You cannot judge anything from those parts, as they're not original to the bike.

kpug505

Welcome to C&V!
Your saddle looks like it's REALLY dry. There are a few threads on the forum about restoring tensioned leather saddles. If the leather is not torn around the rivets I'd give it a go. I've gotten a couple to come back to life by soaking them for a day in water, stuffing the saddle with newspaper to get any indentations out, sticking it in a plastic bag, taping it real tight to get rid of the flared out sides and sitting it someplace warm like on top of the fridge. Ample coatings to both the top and undersides with Brooks Proofide or a similar leather treatment will help retain the moisture necessary after it has dried a bit.
If it were my bike my first concern would be to take care of the rust. Search the forums for oxalic acid. It works great when used properly. I'd also not ride those tires without first re-gluing them assuming the side walls aren't dry rotted. Looks to me like your bike needs a pretty serious overhaul too. New cables, chain, housing, brake pads and all bearings serviced. Get the correct tool for those TA cranks! It's specific to it...
Your brake set kicks a** IMO. I've always wanted a set...Let's get some better close up pics of the frame!

P.S. Have you verified as to whether the stem and seat post will come out?

BL4zD

Yeah, I just pulled the rear seat post out. It's strange. There are no markings on it other than a max height line and the top of it is solid with a tiny pinhole in it. I was concerned about the rust, too. But the area around the neck that looked bad is actually just grimey. There is only light surface rust on the bits that should come off easily with light rubbing.

Otis

I do not reconize that crown, but I'm pretty sure that is a late 60's frame.

umpire54

Welcome! You did good! I really like the bikes color. If you ever decide to sell it contact me. I was wanting an OLMO some day although I need to read and study about them.

Clean it up and you will be surprised how nice it will turn out. The seat can probably be cleaned up and oiled to decent shape. Looks like a Specialites TA crankset. You might want to put a vintage Campy Gran Sport or Nuovo Gran Sport rear derailluer on it.

A good place to look up and date your parts is at this website. It is my favorite place to find things when I get a new bike and try to figure out whats on it. Go to component search and then to brand directory...you then can find the brand names of your components and see when they were made, etc.

https://velobase.com/

Good luck with the clean-up and restoration. Simple green is your friend. Soak chrome as long as you like but don't leave aluminum in very long, get it wet and then scrub it clean and rinse, otherwise it will darken the color of the alloy. Enjoy!

BL4zD

I can't tell what this is on my sprocket

umpire54

Specialites TA I do believe!

https://velobase.com/ListComponentGal...7-56bcd8f3e9e1

BL4zD

Yes, that's them Unfortunately, my set doesn't match any of the ones on that page so I can't find anymore info on them :\

I forgot to mention that my hubs say "Normandy Luxe Competition" and have Mallard quick releases.

I also have this for the neck: https://velobase.com/ViewSingleCompon...b-112c49abe332
3ttt Record.

All the components seem to be coming from the early/mid 70s. If the frame dates from the 60's, perhaps it was a loved frame and upgraded over time by the original owner?

I have found some NOS SR front/rear derailleurs and brake levers/calipers.
https://images.craigslist.org/3n93k13...4ca6bd16fc.jpg
https://images.craigslist.org/3k33od3...1a0d2c1127.jpg

I have also found a vintage Campy crankset.
https://www.intergate.com/~kdlarson/F...pyCrankset.jpg

But I'm torn on replacing what appears to be top-notch gear with Campy gear just to have it all matching.


If anyone has anything to say about the TA Specialites crankset vs. the Campy crankset, I'd like to hear it. I'm tempted to change that out on the basis that I doubt the TA one can be polished anymore than it is without ruining the markings.

kpug505

Super Record components are WAY to new for your bike...The brakes wouldn't work for your frame anyways (if they're cheap get 'em & flip 'em on ebay to fund more purchases...Or just hoard 'em like me!) The TA cranks will polish very well. You can buy brand new chainrings and hardware for them too. Again...Get the right tool to remove 'em!
I think there is a distinct possibility that you front derailleur could be original. If you could verify what model it is at velobase we may be able to date the bike better...I don't know the nuances of Record front derailleur but someone here does...Does it have an integrated cable stop?
The bike needs a Gran Sport rear derailleur.

I think the bike is early 60's...Real early 60's. Nice bike!

kpug505

Oh ya...I think someone parted a pretty darn nice French bike into yours...Ideale saddle, TA cranks, Mafac brakes...Although I do believe Mafacs were spec'd on some Olmo's I just don't think that particular model was.

BL4zD

The front derailer is this one:
https://velobase.com/ViewSingleCompon...m=113&AbsPos=2

That's the only one that matches the emblem and lip, which they're dating around 1978.

kpug505

Hmm...Well that's obviously not original equipment...How 'bout the headset...Any markings?

kpug505

Searching the interebs I found an Olmo that looks a lot like yours...

BL4zD

I was able to make out an 'S' and 'Marque Deposee' on the headset. I searched the S's in velobase and lo and behold I found mine!
https://velobase.com/ViewSingleCompon...=111&AbsPos=21

I can't find a match for my seat post, nor do I know how I'd buy a different saddle! My roommate said he's never seen one like that and the saddles all seem to have two rails instead of the bracket mine has.

The tires are bulging on the sidewalls. I pumped them up to 90 psi and the front one blew out in an hour Scared my roommate in the other room. So I suppose I need new tires, unfortunately.


I think I have figured out the crankset. It looks to be a Specialites TA pro vis 5 (or cyclotouriste).
https://velobase.com/ViewSingleCompon...m=115&AbsPos=1
https://www.blackbirdsf.org/ta/ref1690-2.html
I was able to find the markings on the crank: 52/42. I don't know how that would compare to the 53/39 Campagnolo I found.

The rear freewheel says: "Schwinn Approved France Model F" and is 14-16-20 -24-30.

I've got a Sachs Mallard quick release skewer on the front and a Simplex on the rear.

Peter_B

It's a sixties Olmo as has been said. I've seen early 70s Olmos and they don't look like that. Here's my 1963 Olmo for reference: https://www.peterbrueggeman.com/cr/olmo.htm

BL4zD

The only difference between my frame and all of these 60's is that their fork crowns are straight and mine look like this:

unworthy1

any thoughts that it might be a replaced fork? The few early Olmos I've seen don't have this sort of "Vagner" type crown...though it looks good with those lugs. Check the ends, I'd say they should be forged Campy to match the DOs, if they aren't then it's a strike against the fork being OEM, also check the steerer for any stampings. Seems like that's a repaint, if any remnants of the OEM paint are left on the frame (inside BB shell) and on the fork, check if they match.

due ruote 

Gorgeous bike. Personally I think whoever had the bike before you made some sound - though admittedly eclectic - choices about components. I'd keep the parts you have on it, but I know that's not how everyone thinks. As has been pointed out, the RD is about as good as a friction derailleur gets. The TA crank is a fine piece and will allow you to set up lower gearing than a vintage Campy crank (which may or may not be an issue for you). I'd tear the whole thing down, clean up the frame and wax it, put new grease and balls in all the bearings, and get new brake pads and a new chain. I think new tires would make sense. If those hold air you could carry them as spares, but bear in mind the tire is only as good as the connection between the casing and the base tape. At a minimum I'd get a new front tire. The 3/$50 tubulars from Yellow Jersey seem decent to me and are cheap insurance. As for the saddle, time will tell, but I sure wouldn't tension it before putting lots of Proofide on it and letting it sit for a couple weeks.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Very cool.

I'd take the TA Cranks over Campy. Functionally they're pretty much the same, I just like the look of the TA cranks...i'd be surprised if those cranks didn't clean up with an acid bath and polishing.

The Vintage Bike police aren't gonna come to your house and slap you if you don't have matching components....if you like what you've got and it works, go with it!


I see no reason to replace those gorgeous Mafac 2000 brakes.

BL4zD

I can't make out if the ends have any lettering or if I'm looking at score marks...whatever may have been there at one time is long gone now
I believe this is a repaint because some overspray hit the edge of the Olmo badge, but I can't find any indication of the old paint anywhere.

I'm at a loss as to where these forks came from. Did the owner bend the original forks? Did he have these custom made?
All I can say is that the crown matches the frame too closely to believe they weren't intentionally made with the frame in mind.
Or someone found them and just couldn't resist putting them on and repainting the bike.
Who knows, lol!