kevindhaun

Hi,
I own a 1980 Univega Superlight that I bought brand new.The brochure said it was Italian made and the salesman said that the top two or three Univega models were still made in the same foctory where the old Italvegas were made,while the rest of the line was now made in Japan.My bike was originally painted gold with columbus SL double butted tubing, with chrome forks and chainstay. Every component on that bike is Italian, including the custom drilled Campy ones. Finally, It came with a little decal on the bottom of the seat tube above the bottom bracket that said, in black cursive writing,"Made in Italy".
I'm writing because none of the forums I've visited mention any "Italian" Univegas. They all say the entire line switched to Japan when they dropped the Italvega name. I even got in an argument with a man over this who insisted that if My bike says Univega, then it was made in Japan.Who's right? Was all the literature and the salespitch at the shop a lie, and they actually shipped Columbus tubing and Campagnolo dropouts to Japan for frame building? Or am I right, and they actually did make Italian Univegas for a short while?

unworthy1

you might have the "missing link" and so...post some PICS, please!
I'm inclined to think that the transition from Italvega (probably Torpado-made) and Univega was not so cut-and-dried...probably was some slop-over.

realestvin7

I'm thinking about picking up a Univega frameset today, actually. What Columbus tubing is associated with this sticker?

Picchio Special

It's an older, generic Columbus tubing decal, so it's not associated with a particular tubing type. That does look like a pretty early version.

realestvin7

So how would I go about determining the quality of the tubing? It uses a 27.2 seatpost.

Picchio Special

You can be sure it's very good quality. It's what was differentiated as SL/SP, depending on the wall thickness. It's probably the "SL" gauge, with that post size.

realestvin7

Great. I'm picking it up today.

Now back to the OP's issue.

Pics of said bike?

GrayJay

27.2 is a pretty good indicator it likley is good tubing (0.9mm butted thickness) but it is also possible the builder reamed out a 1.0mm thickness tube to make it a 27.2 post.
Check inside the fork steer tube for rifiling, I think that only SL and SP from this era had the fork steer tube rifeling. You can also discern general quality by thumping middle of the tube, listen to the sound of the struck tube. Thinner tubes sound noticeably different. Weight of the stripped frame could also give an indication of tubing quality.

realestvin7

I'm be thumping it today. Lol. Here it is as a whole.

wrk101

Hopefully a poor choice of words: was painted gold = repaint, decals gone, etc. I hear a giant flushing sound on bike value...

canyoneagle

Wow! that is beautiful, and probably pretty uncommon if not rare!

wrk101

Except that is not the OP's bike. +1 that is a beautiful Italvega. Nice!!

As far as who to trust, if you have the original brochure, bought the bike new, etc., who would you trust? Yourself, or some gasbag. Love the"if it is Univega, it must be made in Japan" comment, as I have a 1989 Univega that was made in Taiwan.... Univega, like many brands, did not build bikes. Instead, they sourced them from a variety of manufacturers. The same can be said about countless respected brands: Lotus, Centurion, etc.

rat fink

Nice Italvega! Lawee certainly had an eye for design.

Picchio Special

Even if it's "SP" and would generally take a 27.0 post, it's still "good tubing." It's uncommon for an SP frame to take a 27.2 post, less because of reaming (which usually still yields a 27.0 post), but because of tubing gauge tolerances and commonly occurring distortion to the seat post opening that renders it very slightly out of round.

realestvin7

It has the original Record 27.2 seatpost. It was originally equipped with Campy Nuovo Record I believe. It is an Italvega "Nuovo Record".

TheOtherGuy

Nice frames. Those are SL, and made by Torpado.

old's'cool

That is very eye-catching. Is it just me, or is that frame a little more relaxed than typical contemporary Italian frames?

Picchio Special

I'm guessing it's just you - I think contemporaneous Italian frames tended toward similar geometry.

kevindhaun

Sorry, I can't send pics till I figure out how to compress them. Anyway, I agree, Espesially because of that little "made in Itally" decal.

kevindhaun

Believe me it was a really ugly gold, like the kind you see on a Japanese sedan. It was a cheap paint job that scratched real easy,and the decals rubbed off as soon as you put your hand on them. It looked pretty bad by the time I painted it the first time, 15 years ago, and I knew it would never be a collectable, like a Colnago Mexico, or a Gios Torino, with that beautiful factory blue, so I didn't worry about it. Italian or not, Univegas just don't have the name like the others I mentioned.

unworthy1

True, they don't...yet I sold an Italvega SuperLight frame once and one hopeful (but disappointed) buyer was just slapping himself over the fact it was too big and the wrong color. For somebody, it's a holy grail bike.

kevindhaun

Was the Superlight you sold an Italian one like mine, or the later Japanese one? What kind of frame tubes and componants did it have?

realestvin7

Actually, it's 56 CTC seat tube, 55 CTC top tube. More aggressive than any of my Japanese frames.

unworthy1

it's been too long for my memory, but it was an Italvega, so Italian and it was blue...used the same foil Columbus decal so was SL or an SL/SP mix (probably) since it was a large frame (60cm, IIRC). Frame-only, no components except maybe the BB/HS...thing I remember most is the 2 scary-big holes cut in the BB shell: more air than steel!

Night Tiger

My memory is a bit hazy on this, but a friend has a Univega Superlight and I believe it is kitted out with full Dura Ace EX and had Tange Champion #1 or #2 tubing, so most likely the Japanese version, though the Superlight decal on the top tube of his Univega is the exact same one as featured on the top tube of my (former) Torpado Superlight.