Van Tuyl VT 550
04-11-21, 11:01 AM
#1
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Van Tuyl VT 550
During the first COVID lockdown, about a year ago, I got bored and bought this Van Tuyl VT 550 frame for €40. It is a nice large size, has vertical drop-outs and fender eyelets, is made of Columbus Thron, and Van Tuyl is an interesting brand, to say the least.
So far, I haven't found much information on these frames. Gijs van Tuijl, the original owner of the brand, sourced his frames from all sorts of builders, including big names such as Andrea Pesenti, Vitas Zukauskas and Jan van Dalen, but I have no idea where this came from.
Anyway, I had a Chorus 9-speed group on a bike that was a bit too small for me, and decided that would work nicely.
I had a bit of a struggle getting it all to work. There were eyelets, but there was no clearance for any sort of real fender. I finally dug up a pair of very minimal fenders, which were used by Koga on their fitness bikes some years ago. The Chorus brake calipers didn't reach the rims, so I ended up using Shimano RSX calipers. It also took some juggling to get the threaded steerer to accept an ahead headset.
I finally finished the build today, and this is the end result. I took it for a first spin today, and much to my relief, it felt pretty good. Phew.
So far, I haven't found much information on these frames. Gijs van Tuijl, the original owner of the brand, sourced his frames from all sorts of builders, including big names such as Andrea Pesenti, Vitas Zukauskas and Jan van Dalen, but I have no idea where this came from.
Anyway, I had a Chorus 9-speed group on a bike that was a bit too small for me, and decided that would work nicely.
I had a bit of a struggle getting it all to work. There were eyelets, but there was no clearance for any sort of real fender. I finally dug up a pair of very minimal fenders, which were used by Koga on their fitness bikes some years ago. The Chorus brake calipers didn't reach the rims, so I ended up using Shimano RSX calipers. It also took some juggling to get the threaded steerer to accept an ahead headset.
I finally finished the build today, and this is the end result. I took it for a first spin today, and much to my relief, it felt pretty good. Phew.
04-11-21, 01:29 PM
#2
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I like it but it looks radically modern compared to your other bikes, 
04-11-21, 03:55 PM
#3
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I love my Van Tuyl and there is literally nothing out there about models or anything. You are closer to the action there, but it seems he did a lot of one offs with builders and didn’t bother with models and such? Didn’t he own a shop, lost it then owned another and lost it...?
During the first COVID lockdown, about a year ago, I got bored and bought this Van Tuyl VT 550 frame for €40. It is a nice large size, has vertical drop-outs and fender eyelets, is made of Columbus Thron, and Van Tuyl is an interesting brand, to say the least.
So far, I haven't found much information on these frames. Gijs van Tuijl, the original owner of the brand, sourced his frames from all sorts of builders, including big names such as Andrea Pesenti, Vitas Zukauskas and Jan van Dalen, but I have no idea where this came from.
Anyway, I had a Chorus 9-speed group on a bike that was a bit too small for me, and decided that would work nicely.
I had a bit of a struggle getting it all to work. There were eyelets, but there was no clearance for any sort of real fender. I finally dug up a pair of very minimal fenders, which were used by Koga on their fitness bikes some years ago. The Chorus brake calipers didn't reach the rims, so I ended up using Shimano RSX calipers. It also took some juggling to get the threaded steerer to accept an ahead headset.
I finally finished the build today, and this is the end result. I took it for a first spin today, and much to my relief, it felt pretty good. Phew.
So far, I haven't found much information on these frames. Gijs van Tuijl, the original owner of the brand, sourced his frames from all sorts of builders, including big names such as Andrea Pesenti, Vitas Zukauskas and Jan van Dalen, but I have no idea where this came from.
Anyway, I had a Chorus 9-speed group on a bike that was a bit too small for me, and decided that would work nicely.
I had a bit of a struggle getting it all to work. There were eyelets, but there was no clearance for any sort of real fender. I finally dug up a pair of very minimal fenders, which were used by Koga on their fitness bikes some years ago. The Chorus brake calipers didn't reach the rims, so I ended up using Shimano RSX calipers. It also took some juggling to get the threaded steerer to accept an ahead headset.
I finally finished the build today, and this is the end result. I took it for a first spin today, and much to my relief, it felt pretty good. Phew.
__________________
1987 Crest Cannondale, 1987 Basso Gap, 1992 Rossin Performance EL, 1990ish Van Tuyl, 1985 Trek 670, 1982 AD SLE, 2003 Pinarello Surprise, 1990ish MBK Atlantique, 1987 Peugeot Competition, 1987 Nishiki Tri-A, 1981 Faggin, 1996 Cannondale M500, 1984 Mercian, 1982 AD SuperLeicht, 1985 Massi (model unknown), 1988 Daccordi Griffe , 1989 Fauxsin MTB, 1981 Ciocc Mockba, 1992 Bianchi Giro, 1977 Colnago Super
1987 Crest Cannondale, 1987 Basso Gap, 1992 Rossin Performance EL, 1990ish Van Tuyl, 1985 Trek 670, 1982 AD SLE, 2003 Pinarello Surprise, 1990ish MBK Atlantique, 1987 Peugeot Competition, 1987 Nishiki Tri-A, 1981 Faggin, 1996 Cannondale M500, 1984 Mercian, 1982 AD SuperLeicht, 1985 Massi (model unknown), 1988 Daccordi Griffe , 1989 Fauxsin MTB, 1981 Ciocc Mockba, 1992 Bianchi Giro, 1977 Colnago Super
04-11-21, 06:44 PM
#4
Senior Member
Looking good Mr non fixie. If I ever visit the Netherlands again I know whose door to knock on with my size bikes.
04-11-21, 09:00 PM
#5
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Same boat from owning one for a few years. Here's what little I know.
Gijs Van Tuyl had bike shops in the Netherlands. He built some frames himself and contracted out a boatload of others. Contract & non-contract builds all carried his name, so it's hard to tell lineage, but there are clues.
This 50cm looks a little earlier than yours. Note the "Design Van Tuyl" sticker. Probably an Italian contract build - Cinelli dropouts & BB - with ribbed Columbus SLX tubing. Some of the Italian contract builds went to Pesenti, so there's an outside chance this frame was built by him. The work is excellent, whether it was built by him or not.
04-12-21, 04:13 AM
#6
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Gijs van Tuyl owned since 1980 a shop in the Netherlands, Zaltbommel. In 2004 he sold that shop and the brandname. A few years later his son started a bikeshop in Bruchem, nearby Zaltbommel. Gijs started European Bike Design and was involved with the startup of Quasar-wheels and the bicycle brands Apex and Gilbertson. He died 04-10-20 60 years old, M.Creutzfeldt-Jacob.
