Abacus

So, I'm looking at this Olympic 12, branded as a Repco for the Australian Market.



The thing I can't get my head around is that this one is TIG welded. I thought all Olympic 12s were lugged?

Did Nishiki switch to TIG welding the Olympic 12s at some point, or is there something fishy here?

If it is a TIG welded Olympic 12, does anybody know what tubing was used?

roccobike

I've never heard of a TIG welded Nishiki road bike from that era. However, is it possible that Nishiki used a subcontractor to assemble bikes from an alternate frame source for Australia? Beats me whats going on here, but that is not common.

Abacus

It's running 700C wheels as well. I don't know if they were ever fitted to Olympic 12s.

High definition pictures here: https://cgi.ebay.com.au/Repco-Olympic...item5193b23910

The whole bike strikes seems to be a random collection of bits and pieces. I'm really only interested in the frame.

No tubing decals on the frame that I can see. This strikes me as a bit strange.

clubman 

I don't see where the auction says it's a Nishiki?

mcgreivey

Maybe look for info here:

https://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3378

paulmac

I have one, purchsed NOS from the president of a cycle racing club at Blacktown (Sydney). The tubing is Tange 2 and I love it. Built it with D.A. 9 speed with downtube shifters and Mavic CXP33's. I love that bike. Bent the downtube when driving into a carpark while on the roof of my wife's 2 week old new car, purchased a replacement DB tube from a British framebuilder the same spec as Tange 2 and had it welded into the frame, paid for a two pack paint job (now a Bianchi knock off). Almost back on the road now. As a stop-gap I purchased a new Bianchi Pinella, same geometry as the Repco but in Boron Steel. I prefer the Repco to the Bianchi, just better to ride, I cant explain why. Original is (Nishiki from Tiawan) Original welds are perfect. I'm 105kg so still a bit heavy for the 85kg Tange 2 frame. My son has a lugged Tange Prestige - also Repco - Frameset which he is building up. The tubes are extremely thin, almost too thin to braze.

BTW, when discussing steel quality, I cant understand how the Italians can claim to produce the best steel. How many blast furnaces are there in Italy? An engineer and steel fabricator I used to work with, whose partner was a popular custom racing frame builder in Sydney always said Japanese steel was the best quality steel he worked with.