MacGyverBurrito

Vintage Italvega Gran Turisimo 10 Speed Road Bike

So a friend picked up this bike a year ago
I know nothing about italvegas and wanted to know the history of it
Was it low end?mid?


This is the exact bike he bought. They guy selling it had it listed on different sites.
He gives a lot of information but I don't know much about the component quality
Other than the 600 stuff, which I heard wasn't what it later became in quality
The crank which is 600 looks really nice though.

juvela

This is a midliner with a three tube Columbus frame and stamped ends. Most of the bicycle's original parts have been replaced. Another colour for this model was green flambouyant. The next model up was called Nuovo Record.

The actual manufacturer was Torressini (Torpado). Italvega bicycles were made for the Los Angeles distributor Lawee Co. produced ~1971-76.

Had a green one I built up for myself. Made a nice "sleeper" to lock up because of the stamped ends. A nice rider.

Zinger

My first real road bike was an Italvega that I bought used from a house mate in the late '70s. I never knew what the exact model was but it was brown just like this one. I had no tubing sticker on mine though. And yeah it was a nice rider but just a little short for me.

If it's the same model (And except for the tubing sticker it appears to be) The original shifters and derailleurs were Nuova Record. The Crank was cottered. Mine had Universal centerpulls, Nuova Record hubs and Weinmann rims.



Top of their line was the Super Record I believe.

Univega bought the company in the late '70s and started making the frames in Japan with Japanese parts.

juvela

Zinger -

the lowest model to come stock with NR derailleurs was the NR model. its frame had Campag 1010 dropouts with stamped fork tips. the crankset was Stronglight 49D.

if your example had NR derailleurs then they were either an upgrade or the stock crankset had been replaced with the cottered one.

Univega did not purchase Italvega. it was the creation of Mr. Ben Olken of Lawee. launch was ~1976. Italvega bicycles continued to be offered but only the top all-Campag equipped models.

eschlwc

wiki has a comprehensive history of ben lawee and italvega's model lineup:

Univega - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

juvela

thanks very much for this helpful link eschlwc

the forum has an Italvega/Univega marque enthusiast in the person of member Skip Magnuson. alas, he has not posted in four years.

perhaps he may contribute to the thread if he still reads the forum...

Zinger

OK Thanks
This was like 35 years ago so I'm working with faulty memory here.
Didn't have the Stronglight crank or the Columbus stickers but it did have chrome crown, headlugs, fork bottoms, and rear stay ends. The guy I bought it from wasn't any bike mechanic but the guy he said bought it from years before might have been. I'd seen him riding around in Manitou Springs Colorado. Thing is that the hubs were Campy too and I'd always assumed they were Nuova Record.

When I bought a bike that actually fit me (a 1980 Univega Gran Rally) I parted it out like a fool. I put a 126mm axle in the rear hub and used the hubs in century wheels. I still have the Nuova Record parts.