G'day all

I'd really appreciate some help identifying this frame! I just can't work it out.

It is a lugged steel frame. No derailleur braze ons, no bidon mounts. Pump pegs are on the down tube. Rear brake cable guides run along the TOP of the top tube.

Dimensions:

- head tube - 25.4mm
- seat tube - 25.8mm
- BB shell - 70mm Italian thread
- rear drop out / hub spacing - 125mm

Markings:

- drive side rear drop out is stamped WC3407
- left side rear drop out is stamped 32009
- the frame has been repainted numerous times before I obtained it. There are no decals or other identifying marks on it.

Pics attached. Sorry for the quality of the pics. (Yes it is the same frame, no idea what happened to the colour!) Happy to provide more pics / info if required.

Cheers

Looks like generic 70es entry-level racer-style italian bike.

sure doesn't look that Italian...more Dutch or maybe British. Are you sure that the BB threading is Italian (36 x 24tpi)? BB shell widths can vary...for that matter, shells can be reamed and re-tapped to become Italian.

I was thinking with the 25.4 (1 inch) seat post a Raleigh or one of there clone. Maybe a Raleigh threaded BB also. Different threading than standard English BBs. Roger

Looking at the head tube in the photo, it's clearly larger in diameter than either the top tube or the down tube. Are you measuring with a caliper? I'm guessing the tubes are standard diameter (31.7 mm HT, 25.4 mm TT, 28.6 mm DT, 28.6 mm ST). I don't think I've ever seen a 25.4 mm head tube.

Hi All

Thanks everyone for your replies.

rhenning - yup, definitely Italian thread & a 70mm shell. Doesn't appear to have been re-threaded, but I suppose that is definitely possible.

scooper - my bad. To badly paraphrase an excellent movie - my legs are tired, my eyes are old and bent.... Yes, you are correct. Dimensions should read - steerer tube = 25.4mm, seat post 25.8mm.

Has me baffled.

I was hoping the stamped numbers/letters on the drop outs would help ID the builder, but so far I've found nothing to narrow the field.

A 25.8 mm seatpost would mean very thick walled seat tube if the seat tube O.D. is the standard 28.6 mm.

28.6-25.8=2.8 mm. So, assuming standard 0.2 mm tolerance between the seat tube I.D. and the seatpost O.D., the seat tube wall thickness would be 2.8/2=1.4-0.1 (tolerance)=1.3 mm. 1.3 mm wall thickness in the seat tube is a lot (typical wall thickness is 0.6 mm for 27.2 mm seatposts).

Does the frame seem heavy?

Hi Stan

Not near the frame at the moment to check, but your deductions of the tube thickness sound about right. Yup, she's pretty heavy, though I haven't actually weighed it.

Its definitely not high end, probably a clunker. That said, I'd really just like to crack the code on what it originally was. The curiosity is getting to me!