LucasHartong

New lady in da house: a Cascarsi. Yes, it's Italian, but it's Dutch too. Builder De Meulenreek in The Netherlands ordered the frames in Italy (don't know where exactly, sorry) and sold them in the Benelux and even on the Dutch Antilles, rumor has it. This frame evidently was used by Cycling Team Groenewoud. That is an old bike-club from Nijmegen. This frame is built with Columbus EL (extra leggera)-OS. That was a stronger version of EL and meant 'for professional use'. The bike is nearly complete Shimano Dura Ace (1995/96), except for the rear derailleur that will arrive soon. It's a 7 speed. I'm restoring her now (yes, the pedals will be replaced!) and hope to go out for a ride soon!

unworthy1

Super find! I can't say for sure who built it, but will bet that the PAINT is another "Varnish by Dosenna Carlo" (or "Painted by Carlo Dosenna" we'd write it) since it has the ear-marks of his shop and style.
If I'm correct he did most of his painting for Contract-builders in the "greater Milano region"

LucasHartong

Interesting and thanks for this comment! The search continues

Lascauxcaveman 

A little bit of racing history, nice! Never heard of that marque before. I'd definitely want o get the right RD on there, too. But probably wouldn't do much else besides wrap the bars again

sced

Bellissimo! Heerlijk!

Road Fan

A point: the tubing decal says EL, not ELOS. The ELOS sticker says "ELOS." If the correct sticker is on the bike, then your tubes should be standard diameter: 25.4 mm TT, and 28.4 mm on the ST and downtube. If it's EL then it's very thin-walled, about 0.4 mm between the butted ends for the TT and DT. ST is more than likely 0.6 mm, unless it does not accept 27.2 mm seatpost. If it's ELOS, the TT and ST diameters are 28.6 mm and the DT is 31.8 mm.

What difference does it make? Both tubesets are made of Nivachrome, which is similar in characteristics to 853, TruTemper OX-plat, and the other heat-treated CrMo steels that can be found on bikes today - from 50% to 100% stronger than 531, Columbus Cyclex (SL tubes are made of this) and 4130 CrMo, or anything commonly called "Hi-Ten."

The larger diameter of ELOS results in a stiffer frame than EL. Depending on your preferences this can be good or bad. The smaller diameter of EL makes it more resistant to dings than ELOS. The stiffness of ELOS is (strictly from an engineering point of view) about the same as Columbus SL, but I have an SL Mondonico and an ELOS one and the ELOS seems more responsive and compliant than the SL. ELOS is somewhat lighter, but my lard factor should swamp all of that out. But somehow it doesn't seem to, I still think the ELOS feels better.

So, measure your tube diameters or just compare with a "regular" bike frame.

Great bike!

MauriceMoss

Very nice frame.
AFAIK, the source of the Cascarsi frames in Italy was Pesenti.

LucasHartong

Thanks so much, all of you! I'm pretty sure it's a ELOS, as it is stamped in the bottom bracket. I guess it is the 18th frame built. And thank you, Maurice, for that info. Will look into it this weekend. I've put some new shoes (tyres) on the lady (blue lining), gave her two LOOK-pedals, put new blue bartape on and a blue bottle-cage. Last but not least, a Dura Ace 7402 rear derailleur went on. Done lots of cleaning, greasing and polishing. Will take some pictures soon, when I take her out for a first date.

LucasHartong

First test ride. This bike is SO responsive, incredible! I'm still working a bit on the gearing, but that will work out fine. And I'll have to find a nice saddle. Blue? Yellow? Black? Some pictures:

LucasHartong

And, thanks to Maurice, I found out that Andrea Pesenti built frames for quite a few other (European) workshops/producers and that he made some amazingly beautiful bikes under his own name. He was master builder at Cinelli, where he designed the Laser (see picture, taken from the web). Comparing bikes built by him with my Cascarsi you can see the similarities (not with the Laser though!).

Bianchigirll 

Beautiful!! Love that paint.

Road Fan

The truth of ELOS is not in a sticker or even a BB shell stamping. It's in the use of tubing for the TT and DT that actually are larger in diameter than the ones intended to be used on SL, SLX, or any other standard dimension tubeset. You can see this unequivocally by measuring the outer diameters, not by what the builder stamped on the BB or what decal the painter grabbed from his pile of Columbus stickers. I can't say why they stamped anything they stamped on the BB, but it is not usual to stamp the tubeset identifier on the BB shell. I can't say you're wrong, just that you are not using the key information you have.

But at this point you have a great bike that needs to be taken out for a ride.

fabiofarelli

Mine. The frame was a left-over at the distributor (van de Meulenreek) and it had a rough black spray. Did get a repaint with original decals/stickers.

fabiofarelli

And I got this one too. Everyday-bike (almost). Probably there's a Zullo under this under official repaint. Pesenti build frames for Cascarsi, especcialy the topframes) but others did too. Also from Belgium.

LucasHartong

Nice one! These bikes are built to last and to be driven! I really like the geometry and 'lightness' of the ride. Sometimes I have to check whether it's really made of steel haha.

jdawginsc 

Oddly, my Rossin Performance EL is actually ELOS. It is a rocket...much more bike than I deserve. Sublime, a bit stiff at times, but a rocket.

LucasHartong

Have to agree there!