dunrobin

I picked up a couple of inexpensive road frames recently.. One a fake pinarello that looks like a nice aelle frame with intact pinarello decals... And this battaglin.
I assumed the battaglin was aelle, and it was priced as such. The lugs were nothing special and the frame appears to have been powder coated. I weighed the frameset.. Frame was 1880gms and fork 650. The fork has aero features and spirals in the head tube.
The frame takes a 27.2 seatpost and is too light for cromor? The bottom bracket is Italian and the dropouts are gipiemme.
It also has 1984 los Angeles stamped on top of the bottom bracket. The top brake cable is internal through plain drilled holes?
What is this thing?

merziac

dunrobin

No expert but that is a real deal of some sort, panto on the BB is legit so I would reach out to Alex and get the info from the source.

They are usually very good about helping.

That is cool as heck, hope it fits you.

brian3069

Maybe there's some connection to the 1984 summer Olympics that were held in L.A.

TimmyT 

I would guess that it's a commemorative frame for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. It does not have a number hanger. Either that was cut off or it was never raced.

dunrobin

Thanks all. It's my size, 52 by an aggressive 54. It just seems kinda odd... Some nice features and some not so nice lugs and brake cable drilled holes. I'm gonna build it up with some campy 10 speed stuff and see how she rides. The bottom bracket has a B cutout.

merziac

Glad its your size.
All the Battaglin hallmarks add up to a cool bike regardless. The cable holes are a bit but if they are correct then so be it.

Like I said, I would reach out to them and see.

Are the holes big enough for the plastic inserts that are sometimes used?

If they are not original, I would have them patched and move on, they are scary to me on a good day.

dunrobin

No their not the kind that can accept an insert. They are just big enough for cables and they are indented on the appropriate side for cable flow. I know this can accelerate failure but its cheap enough not to fret.

merziac

I would seal them with clear shoe goo when you put the cable in, it would be tough and mostly invisible.

I realize this frame seems to be not that special but they have great history and are doing fantastic work these days, its still part of a stellar legacy and no slouch in its own right.

dunrobin

Originally I had questioned the frames quality because the fork appears be slx, helical ridges, and the frame weight would appear to be sl, while having questionable finishing touches. There might have been cable guides on top that were removed before the refinish but there are no marks. I can't believe an italian mid 80s frame would come out of the factory with holes punched in the top tube.
I have some clear silicone I can use.. It can't hurt. Thanks for the advice...

merziac

Anytime, I would use shoo goo, I don't trust silicone with the cable pushing and pulling. I would get some frame saver in there after its all set up as well.

merziac

Yeah, some of their earlier stuff seams a little bit not refined but they were learning, they only been at it for a few years.

I think they're current frames are phenomenal, got to see one in person a few weeks ago, it was fantastic, their prices are good and they are on my short list if I ever (not likely) have another frame built.

The new owner wasn't even going to ride it just hang it in the living room.

dunrobin

I doubt anything you can get would subplant that incredible strawberry you had built.. It is a beauty.

merziac

Tx, you may be right but that may not stop me from trying. I've got a line a on a couple more Merz's that may have to come into the fold.

Old Fireleg

Hi,
what is the thread of the BB shell, English or Italian?

SJX426 

dunrobin Nice find. Are those dents in the fork legs just below the crown? Looks like the shadows reveal them.

mech986 

OP mentioned in first post the BB is Italian.

velomateo

https://www.flickr.com/photos/vintag...ream/lightbox/

The head tube lugs on this frame don’t seem to match the bottom bracket at all. Head tube joints are crude, where the BB is very nicely done. I think this frame has been repaired. I found this image of a Battaglin 1984 on flickr.

T-Mar

Given the shell embossing, it would appear that it is a reference to the LA Olympics and that the frame is either 1984 or 1985 and intended for USA distribution. At the time, the USA importer and distributor was Italia Velo Sport, located in Miami. While I don't have any of their catalogues for these years, they did advertise regularly in the cycling magazines of the day. The only models mentioned for either year are the Giro d-Italia and Triathlon, unfortunately with no pictures after 1983.

The Giro d'Italia was essentially their team model, as they supplied bicycles to the Carrera-Inoxpran team at the time. The frames were Columbus SL and used a Gipemme Cronospecial group with Modolo brakes. The combination of a 27.2 seat post and a fork with a Columbus steerer column would seem to indicate a Giro d-Italia. However, the Giro d'Italia used a Gipiemme front derailleur manufactured by Simplex and using Simplex's proprietary frame mounting boss, which the subject frame does not have. Because of this unique boss, the framesets were sold with a front derailleur. This boss is shown in the 1981-1982 catalog, 1983 advertisements and still mentioned in the 1984 advertisement. Extant team photos from both years also show the bicycles using the front derailleur boss,top tube cable tunnels, and chromed plated forks and chain stay.

At this time, I should point out that the six ridges inside the bottom of the steerer tube do not indicate SLX. The spiral ridges were originally designed to increase the stiffness of the fork's steerer tube and date back to at least the 1960s, decades prior to SLX. In 1984 and 1985, the Columbus steerer tube was included only with SL/SP and higher grade tubesets.

The 1984 Battaglin Triathlon was spec'd with Columbus Aelle, which would typically employ a 26.8mm seat post and not utilize the Columbus steer tube. The 1985 version was spec'd with an unidentified Falck tubeset and Gipemme Azzurro components. One point worth noting is that the Triathlon was only spec'd with one set of bottle bosses, whereas the Giro- d'Italia has two.

The bottom line is that I can't find an exact match. If it had been a special model created for the LA Olympics, I would think that Italia Velo Sport would have promoted it in the cycling magazines, yet I've found no mention. The Columbus steerer tube and seat post diameter would seem to point Columbus SL and a Giro d-Italia but the lack of a front derailleur boss, single bottle boss and absence of chrome would seem to point to a mid-range model, like the Triathlon. I should also comment that the workmanship does not look great around the head tube. It is inconsistent with the rest of the frame, as it had been in a front end crash and repaired.

T-Mar

Thxs for posting! This is much more along the lines of what I would have expected for an Olympics commemorative model; USA flags, lots of chrome, embossed stay caps and state of the art features (internal brake cables with proper ports, internal gear cable routing, top mount shift levers, investment cast set lug). I'm wondering if the OP's bicycle inadvertently rec'd the LA84 BB shell or that Battaglin used it on all of that year's models? It seems like maybe the OP maybe tried to replicate this model after he crashed the bicycle. That would explain the poor workmanship of the head lugs, lack of proper brake cable ports and possibly even the SL grade fork, which could be a crash replacement. It would even explain the white repaint. The lack of an investment cast seat lug and stay cap embossing, when compared to the real thing, only reinforces the probability of mid-range frame.

However, it is still curious that Italia Velo Sport did not promote the commemorative model. Perhaps it was very limited quantities and they were all sold in advance through the retail shop.

dunrobin

Thanks TMar... I thought it was a mut of some kind... The discrepancies were obvious.. The fork and bottom bracket didn't match the rest of the frame. It's still a light frame and will probably be a decent rider. It was one of those frames purchased from High Park Cycles bankruptcy years ago so maybe someone there tried to fix up a damaged frame with pieces on hand....

thinktubes 

TSD was also an importer for Battaglin during the 80s. There are some catalogs floating around online.

merziac

He mentioned thinking they are aero, they look a bit crude to me.

Charles Wahl

In fact the commemorative Battaglin linked-to by Velomateo appears to be a Ten-Speed Drive bike, if my reading of the panto at the base of the head tube is correct. Also, that bike has its brake cable inlet/outlet holes in the top of the top tube, not lower.

merziac

Despite the apparent anomalies this could have been a rush build of some sort or the like.

The aero fork, if that's what it is may have been the crash replacement but doesn't make sense to me.

The BB could have been a leftover that finally got used but again doesn't make sense to me.

I looked at several of the commemorative ones on the web and few of them are the same, even seems like they could have been customer specced.

This one seems kind of specific to me with the BB, minimalist cable holes and aero fork.

Again, if the S/N is there, reaching out to Battaglin is likely to shed some light.

merziac

And some of them have standard braze ons on the top of the top tube, these are all over the map.