Gary Fountain

There's not much information in the Classic and Vintage forum regarding Rossin bikes. Seems like a good excuse to show off my Rossin.

Its a Rossin Prestige that was probably built around 1990. I put it together with Campy bits and pieces mainly from the C-Record era. I love ITM stems and just happened to have my favourite stem and bar handy - so on it went. Concor Profil saddle too.

The frame seat tube is 59cm c to c and the top tube is 58cm c to c - my perfect size. Tubing is Tange Prestige which has been specially shaped with 6 facets. Every tube, stay and fork blade have 6 facets that blend into a round section - except for the steerer tube which is just a plain old round in section. All tubes end in a lug of some sort or other. I love it - so finicky; so Rossin.

The colour is hard to describe - sort of a metallic pinky, coppery, brown. I think it is a colour you would see on a classic Rolls Royce from the 70's or 80's - or it that just pride talking?

Here's some photos (of course):



















As you can imagine, any bike handbuilt at Rossin (probably under the direct supervision of Mario Rossin) rides really nicely.

Late update: I had posted photos with photobucket but after their change of direction, I re-posted some similar but updated photos through imgur.

ftwelder

Very nice bike. Is the paint original?

Gary Fountain

Thanks ftwelder and yes, the paint is original. Chrome is in perfect condition as well.

gomango

Gary,

Such a beautiful bike.

I'll make sure to show this at the shop today. Big Rossin fans!

Italuminium

Between that Pogliaghi, the post about super corsa's on eBay and this bike it's a very drool-inducing day at BF! I love the colour and yes, some Rolls Royces (as well as Jaguars, Rovers and Daimlers) were painted like that.

Roger M

+1. Beautiful. I've never seen dropouts like that with the cable stop incorporated.

Those wheels(and the whole group) look right at home on that bicycle.

Real impressive.

mapleleafs-13 

yea the rear dropouts look amazing

Gary Fountain

The fork crown is interesting as well but my photo is unclear. Here's a better view of the crown:



It 'kicks up' at the back like a spoiler on a car.

teambhultima

Beautiful, functional art! Very cool bike - thanks for the pics!

realestvin7

Ballin Rossin. I dig it. Lots of neat features.

Maddox

I'm glad you told us you ride it, because that bike is unbelievably clean. I couldn't possibly keep one of my bikes that clean for long! Thanks for posting the photos - an unbelievably designed bike.

Bianchigirll 

I love it! the stay caps, the dropouts, lugs and that squared off tubing is fabulous!!

Rocket-Sauce 

Stunning.

Gary Fountain

Newly built. I cleaned it that day so I thought I would take some photos while it was clean. If you look closely at the components (I know you can't in the photos) you will see that they are getting a bit worn so there is no problem about it being ridden.

I haven't measured the frame angles but perhaps I should. It is quite a responsive and stiff frame and fun to ride.

Thanks everyone for your positive input.

-holiday76

that's a really neat looking bike. I've never seen anything like it!

Now we need a pic of you riding it!

elprez

Love this bike. Gary, would you mind if I added some of the photos to my Rossin Blog? https://rossinproject.blogspot.com/
Also wondered if you happened to know the weight of the frame and/or complete bike?
Thanks,
ElPrez

cehowardGS

Just took a tour of your blog. It was a real treat!!

elprez

Thanks!

Gary Fountain

Hi ElPrez,

Please feel free to use my photos. I must look at your blog - sounds interesting.

The weight of the bike is 23 lb (built-up). I didn't weigh the frame before it was built-up. I think it is a little heavy for a pure racing bike of that era but I feel these frames were designed to showcase the Rossin marque and weight may have been a secondary consideration. The frame size and full lug set as well as the C-record components can combine to build a slightly heavier bike. I would expect a top level racing bike of that era to weigh in the 21 lb to 22 lb range. I'm sure the Rossin Ghibli would weigh lighter.

The seat tube angle is 74 degrees while the head tube angle is 76 degrees. I think these angles are indicative of bikes of that era and built with criterium's in mind. That said, it doesn't seem to ride 'twitchy'. I find the bike to be wonderful to ride - very 'neutral' in its handling characteristics and the extra pound in weight is negligible - If i wanted to save weight I could easily shed a few pounds myself.

T-Mar

I have the US distributor price lists for 1990 and 1991, and there is no model with a Tange Prestige tubeset. The Prestige model does appear in 1991, but spec'd with a Columbus SLX tubeset. I don't know if this indicates that the OP's frame is newer than suspected or if it simply reflects differences in the models between the Australian and USA distributors. Regardless, I thought I'd post the info.

BTW, I particulary like the BB shell and the chroming on the back of the dropouts. The latter reminds me of my 1974 Scapin.

blaise_f

Truly a great bike.

Wino Ryder

Yeah thats a nice looking bike. I like everything about it.

Henry III

There isn't a single thing I would change about that bike. Those are my favorite cranks besides the new Ultra-Torque of any crankset made ever. Then those wheels...I would love to have a set of those beauts. Are they tubulars also? The only thing that's debatable is the saddle but that's just a preference thing. I have one but my butt bones just don't give with them after ten miles or so. They are nicely sculpted pieces...are like a scalpel...an ass scalpel. lol. Beautiful nevertheless.

Gary Fountain

Thanks guys for your positive comments. Its a lovely day here and I'm going to take it for a spin soon. I just love it.

Henry III, I agree, there's nothing that can spoil a ride quicker than a saddle that really doesn't suit your butt. Yes, the Shamals are tubular - 94 models I think.

T-Mar, thanks for your input (as usual) - it is always informative. I don't know the build date of the frame but I am leaning towards the early 90's. I have only ever come across the Prestige model frames built with a specially shaped Tange Prestige tubeset. It was really interesting to read that the 1991 brochure had them specked with Columbus SLX - my favourite tubeset. I wonder if Rossin eventually used the Tange Prestige tubeset to complement their Prestige frames? Might be a good indication of the frames build date as you suggest.

My frame is built with a Columbus head tube - I can see the Columbus stamp under the paint - which is interesting.

Since the photos were taken I have reverted back to using the 'correct' Delta brake blocks.

T-Mar

The presence of a Columbus head tube is interesting. While it's possible that this is an error due to factory stocking practice, I would not rule out the possibility that the tubing decal is in error, given that this model was also known to be built with a Columbus tubeset. I'd be doing at least one more cursory check.

Remove the front wheel and count the number of helical reinforcement ridges inside the bottom of the fork's steerer. Columbus used five ridges, while Tange used six. If it turns out to be a Columbus steerer, I'd be pulling the bottom bracket and checking the inside the tubes.