Hello all
I have not posted here much, but there seems to be a few people here who know a bit about Concorde.
Won this on ebay a couple of nights ago.
I had been chasing a Colnago Master but basically got sick of not finding one and started looking at other things.
I missed out on an Australian Institute of Sport Euro frame in my size, but picked this one up today for $305 shipped.
Plan is to build her up with a mix of older Record and 11 speed Athena.
I managed to pick up some silver Record 9/10/11 speed hubs the other day and are currently in the process of lacing them to silver Open Pro rims.
I have a Nitto stem and seatpost sitting here ready to go and am chasing a suitable bar.
Arundel steel cages and bar tape are on their way.
Paint needs some touching up as does the chrome, but for the price, I am not complaining.

But here is the thing.
This bike was advertised as a Concorde Ventana, but I am convinced it is not.
I have found pictures online of 2 different Ventana's, both of which look different to mine (cable guides at the HT, different lug at the ST/TT junction along with Cromor tubing instead of the PRX that mine is made of according to the sticker).
The frame I have purchased also does not have any branding stating that it is a Ventana either and is equipped with a number peg.
Finally, mine has the Ciocc related Italian flag braze on whereas the others I have seen do not.
I am thinking it is actually a Squadra.
What say you?

Concorde Ventana:







versus my frame:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Concorde-Ven ... true&rt=nc

That is a dead link.

Are you talking about this bike, https://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/vie....php?t=103156?

Well, eithe way you got a great deal. The bike was a team bike to start with and those are always painted to please the sponsors and the team so everybody looks the same.

If you got a squadra then great You have an excuse to get it repainted as it should?

Im not too familiar with concorde so no idea if the italian flag thingy must be there or not, some manufacturers were building bikes with whatver they had on hand at the moment and there is no concistency what so ever sometimes between one model and others.

Sorry about the link.
Yes, the one that Chuckk posted is correct.
It is definitely not a Ventana, but what is it?

Ultraman
What I have read here and elsewhere is that the flag was attributed to Billato/Ciocc and was found on the higher end frames such as the Squadra.

Looks similar to this "Prelude."

https://velospace.org/node/40452

Here's an NOS squadra i sold on my site earlier this year. The quality and workmanship was pretty nice. Tubing is TSX and it had nice pentographing in different spots along with that flag on the top tube. It also had internally routed brake cables on the top tube.


It was quite beautiful as i definitely wanted to keep it myself, it was even my size, but i already have too many projects at the moment still.






































as far as your bike goes, it looks like something nicer than just columbus cromor. It's interesting that they would chrome the rear stays for something with lower end tubing. Usually bike companies only chrome the rear stays if it's something in the higher end line of their frames, take the pinarello montello for example. Also the paint job is quite nice as well.

Sorry Mapleleafs, I have confused you.
I am saying mine is made of PRX versus the Ventana which is made of Cromor.
Mine was advertised as being a Ventana, but it obviously isn't.

Been through a heap of information on the Concorde models and I have narrowed this frame to either a Squadra or Prelude.
The Squadra was built from SLX or TSX tubing (same but different name?).
The Prelude is the only model that I have found specifically noting PRX tubing.
However, I have also read that PRX was also sometimes referred to as "new SLX" which has me again chasing my tail.

Those of you who have a Concorde, does it use a British or Italian threaded headset?

I was you and would paint that as a squadra Done.

Did a bit of tidying up on the Concorde.
Will need paint on the top tube as it looks like someone either clamped it in a towball rack or else kept a chain wrapped around the top tube. Rest looks reasonable with maybe some spots to be tidied up.

Looks great Kinda matches the pool, doesn't it?

Looks like the paint might be the famous "varnish by Dosseno Carlo" who painted frames for Guerciotti and many for Titan. Not everybody likes his artistic flights of fancy, but I do (or at least some of them), if it was my frame I'd try to preserve that paint.

Also never heard of a PRX tube set, but judging by all the bizarre one-off Columbus decals ending with "X" on Angel Garcia's Italian Cycling Journal, there were a load of these that appear to be custom sets made just for a frame brand (or at least the decals were!).

Looks great! I'd try to retain the current paint scheme if at all possible, it's really cool.

I did a search on PRX and the information seemed to be that this tubing was also called New SLX.
Doing Google searches it seems that Geurcotti and others used PRX at one time.

Top tube will probably end up completely repainted as it is just plain black anyway, but I think that the downtube and seat tube (which have most of the paint scheme) will just be touched up. I am not even going to replace the decals as I think that this will be too difficult without destroying the paint.

Frame is finally painted and should be in my hands tomorrow.
Cant wait to get hold of it.
May be a late night tomorrow so I can have it rideable for Friday.


Something interesting I was told by Joe Cosgrove (well known painter and frame buider down here in Australia).
PRX tubing stands for Paris Roubaix and is a stiffer tubing designed to cope with those conditions.

looking good!
I think you're taking the right approach to this restro, and I'm sure you'll have a fine riding bike!

Back from paint and halfway built:

I have my eyes on this Squadra. Seller writes it is made of Columbus EL tubing, build in low 90s. It has Shimano 600 group, sti shifters, 2x8 geared.
I've asked for more detailed pictures.



Any notes before I place a bid?

I thought Squadra's were made from SLX tubing?

This picture the seller took doesn't make it any clearer. I'll ask.

Hi there,

Sorry for resurrecting the thread, but i have a bit of a question regarding the headset/bearing replacement for this?

I've picked up an old concorde that is in need of quite some work. I went to a local bike shop today and the guy recommended replacing the entire headset (one of the bearings was, in fact, missing!). His comments suggested that a 1980s frame would need pin bearings and an older style headset. My scant knowledge of the particulars of bike parts didn't fully register what would be so significant about this, or how or where to find these.

What was your approach here?

Cheers,

Alex

If it's a steel Concorde frame with a threaded steer tube, you should be able to use about any 1" ball bearing headset. Shimano, campagnolo, FSA, whatever. They didn't even really use pin bearings back then.

Post a photo of your headset