metalrideroz

Concorde frame questions

I hope I haven't missed something blindingly obvious and I know this sounds stupid but is this a road frame?

It looks like the crankset, bars, stem, derailer and levers were replaced with cheap mountain bike bits but weirdly the mtb style levers are the same brand as the road bike style compact side pull brakes.

The lugs are stamped 504 and it has forged dropouts, surely a frame with that wouldn't come with a steel chainwheel?

Anyway, I tried putting a 700c wheel in the rear, with a 25mm tyre I actually have to force the rear wheel, using the give of the tyre, to go into the dropouts. You can see in the photos the tyre sitting up against the chainstay bridge, at which point the rear axle is still sitting slightly on top of the rear dropouts. Once I force it forward using the tyre give, the wheel drops down into place and the clearance looks normal.

Im not too sure how much sidewall height changes with wider tyres but any higher and I dont think i could get the wheel in there, same goes if the tyre had 110psi in it. I measured the chainstays and they are about an inch shorter than on my usual road bike, on which the back wheel drops in nicely.

The frame did come with forks so I put in a 700c wheel which fits nicely and lines up with the brakes, so has anyone else got a frame with a super tight fitting rear wheel or do you think its meant to have some other size in it?

Also what is that nodule thing on the right hand side seat stay for?

https://s1187.photobucket.com/albums/...0road%20works/

I picked this Carlton Criterium up at the same time.
It's a pity the paint is so far gone, would have liked to keep the frame matching the colour of that cool bell. I think I will have to wire wheel the rust off of it it or have it sandblasted.
Can any one tell me if the the gap between the seat tube and the top tube lug is anything to worry about? It sort of looks like seperation but could just be "quality workmanship".
https://s1187.photobucket.com/albums/...erium%20build/

Iowegian

Yep, it's a road frame and probably a race oriented bike, hence the tight clearances in back. I've never seen a Concorde quite like it but either someone put a complete decal set another frame or it's a true Concorde model of some sort. I have a Concorde at home that has Ultech dropouts so the Ultech decal and the 'cr-mo' decals lend weight to the theory that it is a true Concorde, albeit a lower end model.

The nodule thing on the right hand seat stay is to hang the chain on when you remove the tire. If you search the forums someone has posted links to Concorde catalogs for various years. Maybe your bike will be in one.

I doubt any of the components on the bike are original, they look way too cheap for anything besides a dept store bike.

randyjawa 

The Concorde Road Work is definitely a road frame and of Taiwan origin, as I recall. I acquired one of these bicycles, several years ago. My estimation, at the time, was that it was a far cry from other Concordes that have come my way.

unworthy1

there's one catalog in Velobase from 1993, no mention of this "Roadwork" model, but enough there (Mtn. bikes and Comfort models) to let you know that they were also selling lower-end stuff...including frames made in Asia.
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/...2_itemId=69579

GrayJay

Concorde is a very large bike company in Holland and makes bikes for many purposes, not just racing bikes. They are sort of the dutch equivalent of Schwinn. Concorde even makes many of the old fashion looking 1-speed city bikes that you see all over holland. I would guese that this was just a very early low-budget version of a hybrid bike that concorde slapped together using an existing lower-end road frame. Very odd that the wheel is so hard to install but given the brake pad location, it also doesnt seem like the frame was built for 26" MTB wheels. Possibly 650B sized wheels would work better?

paulkal

That is not correct. Concorde is a small company and they do not make one speed bikes. They made mostly high end bikes, this is the first low end Concorde I have ever seen.

Italuminium

A quick note on Concorde: it's a trading name for the Dutch company Veltec, a major importer of all kinds of famous brands of bike stuff to the BeNeLux. They sold mostly rebranded Torpado's with Columbus tubing, like my very pretty, albeit in need of a thorough restoration, 90's Prelude (SL tubing, internal cable routing, custom brake bridges and stuff-high end frame). They later switched to rebranding Taiwanese Alu and carbon frames and ceased doing this in 2009, selling of their remaining stock now. They used to be hugely popular in the late 80's/early 90's among dutch racing enthousiasts, because of the snazzy paintjobs and sponsorship of the popular PDM squad. I've never seen any Taiwanese things like this one over here, even though I keep a close watch on Marktplaats (Craigslist equivalent) and eBay listings of Concorde stuff, as I'm amidst of a restomod Concorde project. The granny bikes (heavy, single speed step through clunkers) sold at low end outlets branded Concorde bear no relation to original rebranders, and have often slightly of spellings, like Concour or Conkorde (ugh).

GrayJay

When I visited Holland 20 years ago (by bike), I thought I remembered seeing Concorde branded Omafiets (Granny-bikes). Seemed strange to me too as I had a nice Concorde aquila road bike myself and Concorde was in the midst of thier sponsorship of PDM pro team. Perhaps I was mistaken and the bikes I am remembering were gazelles or another dutch brand bike that are only ever know of as high end road bikes here in USA.

metalrideroz

Thanks for the replies. Being low-end/Taiwan doesn't really bother me, I just need it to replace my current road frame which is too big for me. I can't figure out how to change the thread title, but i added a question about another frame.

unworthy1

I think this "Criterium" (how's that for an optimistic name?) despite it being a lower grade bike actually has some potential to be made roadworthy (if you have wheels). before I went at it with a wire wheel, I'd strip all the alloy off and soak anything rusty in a pool of oxalic acid (which we hope you can find in AUS, here it's sold as Savogran wood bleach crystals, which you dissolve in warm water). Then see how much paint is left, you might get by with some touch-up. The gap in the seat lug is bad manufacturing: it never got brazed...probably will remain usable but I'd monitor it regularly and quit riding if you notice any change.

metalrideroz

Yes I can get oxalic acid but its really expensive and hard to find. A local harware has store has 2kg for $45! It's rebranded as rust and stain cleaner but the ingredients list says 100% oxalic acid. Don't cringe but as i already have a geared road bike i was going to fixed gear this one. Was hoping that although criterium is obviously marketing that the bottom bracket height might be slightly higher than normal.