Danmozy66

Good day, all. I am considering buying what appears to be an 1980s F.Moser bike, contingent on if I am able to confirm that it has high end Columbus tubing (i.e. SL/SLX/SP, etc). Anything lower than that, for instance Oria, Aella, etc. and I'll probably pass. It's been a tough one to crack so far and there's not much info out there or on these forums yet.
It will be my first real road bike, and I've been doing a lot of research and have been hunting for one like this for some time now.

You'll note the decal (included below) shows "Costruzione Telai Speciali - RACER - F.Moser".

I think the model is a '51.151' (nod to the world record km distance he set in one hour) and it wears those nice engraved markings over the forks etc. It has campy crank and parts. The owner has said that the seat post measures 2.7.2mm so that means it's looking pretty good so far, right?

Again, I'm looking for help to ID the type of Columbus frame on this bike. Any info is much appreciated. Opinions as far as value of the bike are welcome as well. Thanks in advance and thanks for enabling my new addiction!

unworthy1

since the seatpost is 27.2 then at least the seat tube is likely DB seamless, and since the decal is a "nod" or "homage" to Columbus you'd tend to think that tube is SL, but what's "Racer"? I'd say check out the steerer's interior base for "rifling" and report back. It might turn out to be a "tre-tubi" with SL in 3 mains...maybe better, but that's my guess based on current info

jiangshi

Looks like a mid range Moser from the pictures. They are generally decent frames.

Danmozy66

jiangshi
Interesting - anything in particular that makes you think that?

Danmozy66

Cool, good info thank you. Hopefully it's SL. Tretubi and I'd have to think about it. But I don't think it's realistic to get the seller to remove the stuff to peek down the steering tube. Any other ideas?

NatusEstInSuht

That's quite then handsome bike. If it fits you and the price is right, you should buy it as it appears to be in very good condition for its age. It looks like it was hanged on wall or left in a corner, instead of being ridden. I hope you realize the rims are for tubular tires.

Given the single chromed chainstay, this could be a Corsa or Giro model from the early to mid-1980s. They're not at the top of the pecking order in the Francesco Moser catalogue, but they're still pretty damn good.

The decal has nothing to with Columbus. In English, 'Costruzione Telai Speciali' translates to 'Special Frame Construction'. I'm thinking this frame uses Oria Special TT08 or TT09 tubing as Moser was quite ambitious in using Oria tubing in many of its frames. I would say that TT08 or 09 are the equivalent to Columbus Gara/Aelle, Ishiwata 024, Reynolds 501, Vitus 181 and Tange Champion No. 3. I would not get too hung-up over it not being SL or SP. It's more about the skill of the frame builder than the name on the tubing decal.

MauriceMoss

Oria had some nice tubing back in the day. Most of the higher end Mosers (at least in late 80s/early 90s) were built using different types of Oria tubing, so I don't think it should be considered much inferior to the Columbus offering at the time.

Anyway, the gold/blue decal with "Costruzione Telai Speciali" is not a tubing decal but denotes the model (even though it resembles Columbus tubing decals). Aside from Racer, there were also Junior, Sprint, Leader (with a number of variations), Corsa, Neo Pro, Pro, Team SLX, Team RC, etc:





Usually there is a secondary decal with the tubing information but I guess it must have peeled off the OP's frame.

"Racer" was probably a lower mid range offering. There aren't that many of those around and the few I've seen all wore Columbus Matrix decals. According to the only catalog scan I have, Racers were built either with 3 tubes being SL or with Matrix:




Of course, if the Racer model was offered over multiple years, other styles of tubing could have been used (but I would assume something similar to what's specced in the catalog above).

Old Fireleg

Although I only have Columbus tubular bikes except for one Reynolds 531, I don’t think the Oria tubes would be weaker than the Columbus. The Oria also had a wide selection, as did the Columbus. They had professional tubes and were ordinary. Its history is really shorter than that of Columbus, I just feel the basis for emotional differentiation.

T-Mar

Given the Victory group, a late 1980s model with Columbus Matrix/Cromor would be appropriate.

Charles Wahl

I'd reject the frame in the first post for having a downward-sloping top tube. And a crappy brush-applied repaint. And seat post installed above the minimum insertion line.

jiangshi

See t-mar’s post

Danmozy66

Thank you everyone for the quick feedback! Lots of good info here to digest. I admittedly hadn't considered that these tyres would be tubular, and I think I might have been wrong to be dismissive of Oria off of the bat without knowing enough about their line of stuff. I'm always learning more through y'all and that's part of the fun. I think I'll keep hunting! It was more of a FMV thing anyway and wasn't a steal of a price by any means.

T-Mar

For future reference, all that has to be done to verify the presence of a Columbus steerer tube, is to remove the front wheel and look inside the bottom of the steerer tube for the presence of five helical ridges. After Columbus' patent expired other companies introduced ridge reinforced steerer tubes but they used use straight or different numbers of ridges.

Danmozy66

ah that makes so much more sense than I thought. Good to know. And that picture makes it clear what these helical ridges look like, I always wondered. thanks tmar, you’re a legend

Charles Wahl

Here's what looks like a decent reference to lots of Columbus tubing, ca. late 1980s:
The Bicycle Info Project :: Columbus tubing chart

Spaghetti Legs 

I have a 51.151 Moser that is Columbus SL. I bought it several years ago as a parts donor, but liked it so much I kept it. I rode it at Eroica California last year. Major difference with mine is spray on graphics with “Francesco Moser” rather than “F. moser”. I’ve guessed mine is ‘84, maybe ‘85 based on the 51.151 markings and no seat tube bottle cage bosses.