kawasakiguy37

Anybody have any info on the 80s Lotus Excelle? I have one in great condition laying in my garage, thinking about using it for a college commuter or convert to cyclocross for commuting. If it was mid or low level I may just bite the bullet and get a job and save up for something nicer

East Hill

Photos?

East Hill

-holiday76

do a search. I just started a thread on lotuses the other day trying to find info the on Excelle frame I picked up last week. There was a little bit of info there including some catalogue scans.

eagleb

https://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/...log/?g2_page=2

there ya go.

kawasakiguy37

My bike looks a bit different in color, but that seems about right. 27 lbs isnt too bad, although its def not lotus's best

Mine looks like the one on the left

https://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...der/Lotus1.jpg

heres another pic

https://velospace.org/files/ParkRiskSmall.jpg

Ill try to get actual pics of mine, but it looks just like those.

The frame on mine says its manganese-alloy, that brochure says chromoly? Whats the diff?

T-Mar

Chromoly (chromium-molybdenum) is a high strength steel that permits relatively thin walls and therefore a light frame. Manganese-alloy steels are generally slightly weaker steels and therefore result in thicker and heavy tubes, however they are much better than the hi-tensile and plain carbon steels found in entry level models. Some manganese alloy steels, such as Reynolds 531, are comparable to the best chromium-molybdenum steels. It all depends on the actual alloy, but most manganese alloys offered in bicycle use are slightly weaker.

Manganese steels came to prominence in the early to mid-1980s as a more economical offering to chromium-molybdenum. They tolerate higher higher temperatures and retain more strength during brazing than chromoly, making them more suited to automated brazing techniques. They were influential in substantially reducing the cost of quality bicycles during this era.

BTW, the Lotus catalog on the Wool Jersey site is not from 1983. It is 1982 or earlier.

eagleb

I wish there was more info on Lotus, someone out there has to have something!
I know my Odyssey is older than the catalog as it doesn't have the braze-on bottle bosses or rack mounts. But that catalog is really all I can find about the bikes.

Primitive Don

Here's a long thread from MyBikeSite about Lotus Bikes.