bradtx

Hi All, Looking for some info on my son's frameset. I think it's Columbus SL, but the decal has been murdered by the frame pump. I think the forks are Columbus cro-mo, but will have to use the decals on both sides to piece together what one decal should read. The frame is older than an '85, I think because the rear brake cable uses external routing. S/N on BB is just size and a four digit number. Any comments will be appreciated.

For a little history: I built this frameset for him about 12-13 years ago using what I had in the parts bin, Suntour Blaze w/6S Accushift, Sun Mistral dark anodized rims. This is his French Fit bike (64 cm frame) and while I don't really understand why, he loves the way it fits. He rode it for awhile, but it was stored while he underwent three cross country job transfers in short succession. Now that it looks like he's pretty stable at his current location it's time for an overhaul.

I'll post some photos when I've disassembled and cleaned it up.

Brad

Bianchigirll 

we don't get to see before pics? Is she that bad?

scozim 

+1 - I like Olmo's - let's see a pic.

Giacomo 1 

I guess that's why you don't see to many Olmo's here in the States. All the nice one's I've seen are from guys in Europe.

So, this is the 5th post and still no pics? Boy, this forum is really slipping...

bradtx

Yes, I think it is that bad, BG. It's just overall filthy and the movers weren't all that respectful. Good news it that what I've disassembled is in fine shape.

Brad

bradtx

My son's bike's S/N is 7124, Chuckk. Give me a few days to clean her up and I'll post some photos.

Brad

bradtx

Chuckk, Very lovely, this Olmo also lives in Austin. I think at one time my son's was a complete bike, I bought it at a bike shop as a frameset with a Campagnolo headset. Now o finish the front wheel.

Brad

T-Mar

Check the inside of the bottom of the fork's steerer tube for Columbus's five spiral ridges. If they're present, the fork is at least SL/SP grade.

Chuckk

Competition and Professionista are birds of a feather:



Found this on the resume of BPP's founder son Ross:

Vice President
Bicycle Parts Pacific

Sports industry

January 1989 – March 2000 (11 years 3 months) Grand Junction, Colorado Area

Bicycle Parts Pacific (BPP) was a business founded by Ross's father Clark Barefoot in 1974 in San Diego, California. BPP started out as a regional distributor of bicycle parts and accessories. BPP imported much of its product selection from Europe and Ross acted as the purchasing manager, frequently visiting overseas suppliers and conducting business in Italian and German.

In 1988 Ross assumed the role of general manager and oversaw the physical relocation of the company to Western Colorado. The move was part of a successful plan to reposition BPP as a national specialty distributor for a select group of imported products.

In 1992 Ross taught himself programming in order to create a set of custom business applications to manage BPP's inventory, bill of materials processes, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and general ledger. This suite of applications was still in daily use by the current owners of the company as of December 2011.

The company was sold in 2000 to what now is Mountain Racing Products, which still operates in Grand Junction, Colorado.

bradtx

Chuckk, Great info, thanks very much! It makes sense to use SP tubing in the larger frames and my son is a muscular 200+ pound man...seems a good match.

I'll try to make some sense of the remnants of the Columbus stickers on the fork and post that up for info in a couple of days. For now the wheelset and FD have been overhauled with new tires and tubes mounted. The RD is in pieces on the bench. Had a fight with the seat tube that took some time. My fault to not grease it when I first built it.

Brad

bradtx

Other projects went ahead of the Olmo, but have spent the last couple of days making the frame ready for rebuilding. The chrome has a few small nicks that are impossible to correct, but mostly very good and no peeling. No way to match any of the nicks in the mother of pearl white so she'll be wearing some battle scars. Interesting to see through some nicks in the paint that the seat stays are painted chrome. There are just so many nice and artsy touches from Olmo, but they also required extra care and time when cleaning. Fortunately I caused no additional damage to the decals (some are already damaged) during the cleaning.

Anyway, all of the hardware has been cleaned and lubed and she's smooth as silk. The only changes have been a wider handlebar, RSX DP brakes to replace the DiaComp Blaze S calipers and new tires and tubes.

I hope to be finished by the end of the month. If anyone wants a specific photo, please let me know.

Brad

PS Just a quickly taken photo:

Bianchigirll 

Nice looking Olmo

chrismorg

NICE!!!!! do the front forktops sport the OLMO pantgraphing

scozim 

I agree - very nice looking bike!

bradtx

Thanks for the compliments!

Brad

I took a couple more photos (I don't know what the second picture represents.):

bradtx

One more thing for today...It looks like the remnants of the tubing decal on the seat tube has a character following "SP". Was Columbus SPX tubing available for a 1984 model bike? I'll try to take a decent photo tomorrow.

TIA,
Brad

chrismorg

yea baby

bradtx

Here is a photo of the remnants of the tubing sticker. It's either SPX or SP/?

Brad

unworthy1

SPX...very nice Olmo.
That's the brake bridge (in pic 2 above) and it seems to have a tiny crown in the star.

bradtx

Right, I'm curious what the design on that brake bridge means to Olmo, if anything. I guessed SPX, but wasn't sure. Thanks for the compliment.

Brad

bradtx

BIG forehead slap. The rear brake bridge design is just a recreation of Olmo's Olymic Rings logo. Anyway everything is mounted except for brake cables and housings and the drivetrain's tuned. I did mask off the TT to repaint the rusty rear brake's cable housing guides. After sanding I repainted them matte black and used clear coat to bring in some sheen. Should be fine with the black cable housing that'll be used.

Not sure which bottle bracket cages to use and looking for a tool bag that mounts sideways on the saddle. Suggestions are very welcomed.

Brad

Peter_B

Brad, here's Olmo S/N 7123, right before you. https://s643.photobucket.com/user/cyk...Professionisti

bradtx

Thank you very much, Peter! Interesting that 7123 is also a large SPX frame, providing a little insight into Olmo production.

Brad

bradtx

I see that I didn't post a photo of the finished bike on this thread...

Brad