killsurfcity

did they ever make anything decent? i'm looking for a winter beater and i have one available to me. logistics involved with getting it are going to be a little bit of a pain. could it possibly be worth it, or is it 90%+ likely that it is just a bike shaped tugboat anchor?

genericbikedude

dude, if you want a crappy 10 speed in philly just go to bike church

coelcanth

there were some Ross Signature series bikes built by Jim Redcay

Serendipper 

My Ross is a piece of ****. Gas pipe at it's ugliest. It was built by blind fingerless orcs in the mines of Moria.

Worst $5.50 ever spent on transportation.

mattface 

I had a Ross Professional that was not total poo. It was your basic early 80s crude lugs with stamped dropouts, but came with full Shimano 600, and weighed slightly less than a boat anchor. If you find one of those it's worth the hassle even if just to strip the parts.

killsurfcity

i've been meaning to, but time has not permitted.

goldener

who cares? It's a winter beater!

Blender

I think they are better than all the varsity's and Conti's I see running around that have been fixed.

Stripped and painted they should make a fine riding town/beater bike.
Not the lightest but you won't feel guilty about converting one of these over.

I just was given a 25" Ross Professional and it rides very nice. Better than the 25" Raliegh Technium frame that is lighter.

I'm going to strip it and weigh the frame

bitpartinyrlife

I've got a professional as a beater as well. Its not like a stunning amazing bike but nothing stands out as particularly bad in my book. It takes a heavy beating and still stays on the road, geometry is comfortable, and while its certainly not light its not prohibitively heavy either. I'm debating whether to turn it into a full-on snow bike as well (more specifically debating whether I can swing the $ or not). Its a great beater really--decent enough that you don't completely mind having to ride the thing, but ****ty and cheap enough that you're not gonna go into a three month depression if it gets jacked (and most people aren't gonna wanna jack it anyway).

Anyway I'd be interested to hear what that frame weighs Blender.

piratelove

My first conversion was a Ross, I still have it built up as a winter beater, too. I'm not sure what model it is, but it's actually lighter than my Soma frame, which is odd. It's been alright for me. It was free!
Mine had all the cable stops/holders/whatevers removed when I got it too.

Zum1

My very first bike, (this is an interesteing thread idea actually) bought for me by my struggling single father, was a Ross Carrerra... I saw it on the porch and I flipped f'n lid. Not total poo either... in fact... 18 years later that same frame has been my winter fixie for over 7 philadelphia winters... and I have bullied that poor frame... get it... good stuff made right up the road in Allentown PA...

killsurfcity

good words in here... thanks fellas!

roughrider504

There not bad. A bit heavy, but I rode mine fixed for a while. Changed it back. Black bike in sig BTW.

mezza

If a frame is heavy but solid then there should be no problem.

I'd much rather a solid frame with a bit of extra weight than a weight weenie flexy piece of carbon fibre shyt.

Serendipper 

It's not the heavy frame, it's the shyte components. I think Ross made the cheapest stuff ever in life, next to Murray.

My Ralegh 3-speed weighs a ton, but descends like nobody's business, due to the awesome wheels and great components. The frame is awesome as well---those Ross gas pipes do you no favours.

piratelove

You guys are nuts, my Ross fully built with crap parts is lighter than my Soma with good parts! (if not lighter, the same weight)

The frame is way light...

Blender

Tore it down tonight
this is a 25 inch ( 64mm Frame)
Rough bathroom scale weights: 9.5 -10 pounds with fork & 8 with fork removed
decal says 1020 tubing
Except for the Centerpull diacomps & alloy stem the components are trash. steel wheels, eagle derailer, and 165mm cheap alloy cranks. 165 on a 25" bike?

Are these Big frames common anymore? No plans for this frame if anyone needs a Frame























?

Rikardi151

weird, we have a super big chrome Ross MTB at the bike church. must be about a 64cm too. We even have an identical one that is human sized.

killsurfcity

1020 is gas pipe is it not? i keep seeing that on lower end frames. I really don't want anything too heavy, as i'm (of course) planning on using fenders. I think i just need to go to bike church after all. i'm just fooling myself thinking i could really buy a frame based on pictures and shakey info.

Ricky, when do the evening hours start tonight?

Aeroplane

Anything that isn't 4130 or has a brand name (Reynolds, Columbus, Tange, etc.) is most likely garbage hi-tensile steel. Super-heavy and not worth your time.

killsurfcity

duely noted

Blender

For a beater Bike- arond town SS/FG winter rider - Econobuild **********?? It's perfect. Unless you like to jump a lot it aint going to break it
Find a 4130 Decal and make your frame happy. ( no one will know)

Fugazi Dave

Started life as a Ross ten-speed. Pretty decent little singlespeed, and while heavy not unreasonably so either.

SyntaxPC

If you can find one that was built in Allentown, it is my understanding that they are decent (and the higher-end models are even quite good). If you've got a mid-to-high end Ross from the '70s or early '80s you're probably in good shape. In the mid-to-late '80s I believe they started outsourcing to Asia, and I think that's when the bikes started going to crap.

Blender

Nice Ride. I see you kept the Centerpulls.

The one I have has Chrome Fork ends with an Allentown stamped headbadge and Alentown Decal
SN stamped on rear dropout but I cant find a Ross SN cross reference chart for thy exact year