Re: What early 70's Italian frame to buy
- From: obs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: 31 May 2006 12:28:57 -0700
Donald Gillies wrote:
obs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
jasonkrantz@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
This is hardly definitive, but I hope it helps:IIRC, BG had several
frames built up by the same builder (I think it was Marinoni, in
Canada). They were identical in all repects save for the tubing, which
ran the gamut from Columbus Aelle (straight gauge, seamed tubing) to
whatever the high-end Columbus tubing of the day was (SLX, maybe?).
All things being equal, I believe you can feel a difference if a bike
is 1 lb lighter. It is difficult to impossible to feel any lesser
difference. The difference between reynolds 531 plain gauge
main-tubes and reynolds 531 db through is not quite 1 pound - it's
something like 10-12 oz.
You can feel a difference between a high-carbon steel frame and a
butted frame. The butting makes more difference than the lightness.
This is the main advantage of reynolds 531 db tubes.
With respect, Don, this is pretty much what the BG guys thought going
in to this blind test. They expected to be able to "feel" the
difference, especially the difference between the hugh-zoot, butted
tubing and the lowly, straight-gauge, seamed Aelle.
A funny thing happened on the way to the test results: they could not
reliably distinguish the high priced stuff from the low end stuff. In
fact, IIRC, in a delicious twist, the Aelle bike was favored by more
testers than any other!
I prefer to buy bikes with 531 db main tubes, 531 forks, and who knows
what is in the rear triangle. These bikes often sell for half the
price of a 531 throughout bike in a liquid used bike market, like
ebay. E.g. Raleigh Gransport/Competition, Peugeot PR-10, motobecane
gran jubilee, etc.
Hmm...I have two Moto Gran Jubiles. The forks that came with them
weren't 531, although I'm using a 531 fork, from a Grand Record, on the
Jubile I ride regularly. The 531 fork weighs a tad less and has very
nice Campy fork ends v. the clunky looking, stamped Moto fork ends on
the other forks. I like to think the 531 fork "rides nicer" than the
other forks, but I know there may not be a noticable difference aside
from appearance.
You can probably measure the difference between a columbus db bike and
a reynolds db bike in a 10 mi timetrial, since the columbus frame is
roughly 100 grams lighter, according to charts I've seen. But you
could not know the difference until you clicked your stopwatch.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA
.
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- Re: What early 70's Italian frame to buy
- From: Donald Gillies
- Re: What early 70's Italian frame to buy
- From: jasonkrantz
- Re: What early 70's Italian frame to buy
- From: obs
- Re: What early 70's Italian frame to buy
- From: Donald Gillies
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