bolgre11

Hello All,

I recently picked this frame up online because I figured it'd make a fun winter commuter / gravel build and the price was good.

When I first saw it I figured it was just a Bianchi Volpe, but now that I look at it closer the specific combination of:

- rear brake hanger bridge (being made of tube vs sheet metal)
- lugged frame
- unicrown fork
- downtube shifter bosses

doesn't seem to show up in any of the Bianchi catalog digging that I can find while trying to nail down the year. The seller claims the fork is stamped as 531, but I highly doubt that.

If anyone recognizes this or has an idea of that it's made of i'd be very appreciative, thanks!

merziac

Looks like a pretty nice frame, fork may not be original and the rear brake cable hanger is very unique to me.

I'm going to say definitely not a Bianchi but no expert.

S/N?

bolgre11

I forgot the SN photo, sorry, here it is now.

unworthy1

agreed not very Bianchi-looking to me, and definitely more a Touring frameset cause CX doesn't require racks. The headlugs look distinctive (but no bells ringing) what about the bottom of the BB shell?

bolgre11

Also forgot the picture of the head tube, which looks like it had an outline of the brand logo, but i've never seen one that looks like it.

Dylansbob 

I have a late 80s Volpe and this is not.

That unicrown is even really well done, whatever it is it look like a nice frame

madpogue 

Is that an outline of a bagpiper, with a globe behind him perhaps, on the head badge? Someone's got to recognize it.

unworthy1

That is definitely not an outline I recognize! I was going to say the details and the short serial number (could it be March, 1994?) was pointing to a custom frame, and if this was also a custom badge (that somebody hand-made and wanted to keep) it's even more likely a Custom. That unicrown fork seems a slightly different color to the frame's paint, but it also looks hand-built (check out how slight the rake of the blades are: nearly but not quite straight!). If this was custom it would not be a big surprise that somebody used a Reynolds 531 steerer they had lying around, and the rest of the tubeset could be "whatever".

Smokinapankake

Looks like the canti bosses on the fork are placed high, like in a U-brake or Rollercam position, not regular cantilevers. But that could just be me. Looks like a nice frameset, whatever it is. Fillet brazed fork with a threaded crown screams custom to me, and it sure is lovely!

pcb 

Interesting. Definitely looks to be pretty nicely built, doesn't feel like your average production frame to me. Also wouldn't expect a simple 4-digit ser# from something that came from a decent-size factory.

But I'm also not seeing any visual cues that ring any bells.

The little web in the bb shell, which maybe looks notched to position the fder cable is a neat touch.

Hard to tell from the photo, but is the the fork color a match for anything on the frame? It kinda looks like the frame could have a fade similar to the fork's darker blue, lower down around the bb shell. Or could just be the lighting.

Any better detail on the fork blade end treatment? Kinda doesn't look a match to the stay ends, but not enough detail to be sure.

There are no rules for this, but if somebody took the time/trouble to stamp the bb shell, you'd think if they'd also built the fork they might want to stamp the steer tube, too?

Nothing about the frame looks purpose-built cyclocross to me. The rack mounts and dt shift mounts were already mentioned. I'd expect no rack mounts, and cable routing all up top, along the top tube, if it was built specifically for 'cross. The bb drop also looks not very shallow, while shallow drop would be more likely for 'cross.

bolgre11

Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful responses so far, I appreciate it very much.

The thought that it was a repainted Volpe was pretty fleeting as soon as I bought it, the lugs just seemed similar from the side shot. I'm not very knowledgeable on Bianchis, I just knew they switched the Volpe to unicrown forks at some point and might still have had lugged frames.

The more i've studied the photos the more I tend to agree with everyone that it's probably something custom. How exciting!

I can't currently comment on the difference in paint between the fork and the frame, but will add more info and more pictures when i'm actually in possession of it. These were just the seller photos. Should be here by the weekend.


Also the frame is coming from Fresno, CA, if that might help jog anyone's recognition as far as a builder might be concerned. I've done a cursory search for folks in that area and haven't found anything that might be it yet.

jdawginsc 

That fork crown makes unicrowns look desirable...very cool.

The fork and brake bridge stop really make that a sharp little tourer...

Jeff Wills

I agree- we need to see it with wheels in place. I wonder if the mounts are for brazed-on centerpulls. If so, that would make the bike a tourer, not a cyclocrosser.

From the Paul Components site:

madpogue 

I think those front brake bosses are in the standard canti location. I have a Schwinn with roller-cams and a unicrown fork, and they're higher on the fork than on the OP photo. Another Schwinn, with an old-school fork crown and front Dia-Compe U-brake, has the bosses only about a centimeter below the crown. A third Schwinn with standard cantis has the bosses about the same distance down as the OP photo illustrates.

Obviously it's relative to the fork ends, so this is assuming a fairly "normal" clearance between the rim/tire and the top of the fork.

bOsscO

What size frame is it? Looks huge.

bolgre11

I agree, it seemed like the standard canti location when I initially looked at the ad. I'll be sure to take a picture of the fork with a wheel in it (seller claims it clears a 700 x 38) when it arrives.

bolgre11

Seller claims it's 60cm c-to-c on the seat tube.

thook

that fork reminds of the mid 90's trek 520's. they only had like 4cm of offset. lovely fork, btw. yours, i mean

i wonder if the variation in the paint isn't from sun fade. of course, there's no rust, but i had a '72 bottechia in red that had fade like that. no rust on it, either

Smokinapankake

Did we ever get closure on this? I’d love to see more; it is a very nice frame!

bolgre11

I sincerely wish we (and especially myself!) could have closure on this. Not yet, i'm afraid.

I am very sorry to keep everyone waiting. There was an initial delay in shipping, and once I received it I went through another round of googling/research to see if I could come back to the forum with an answer. No dice.

For a minute I thought it might have been a Bruce Gordon Hikari, but the rear brake hanger bridge doesn't match, and the points on the head tube lugs aren't present on that frame.

Some new information now that I have it:

• The fork tube IS in fact clearly stamped "Butted 16/13 Reynolds 531". I've included some pictures that show this the best I can. I found a few references to Reynolds 531 unicrown forks, but nothing substantial.
• The position of the front / rear brake bosses indicates it's a standard canti setup vs. a rollercam / u-brake system as others suggested earlier. I've included a picture with a 700c wheel installed showing this.
• I'm now 99% certain the fork is a repaint. While very close, the sheen of the paint is different in the light. You can best see this on the picture of the head tube, where the paint touch-up exists near the badge.
• The texturing of the area where t he head tube badge was is just glue residue from whatever badge happened to be there originally. It doesn't really indicate what the badge was specifically other than the outline.
• The original paint is very well-done. The purple is semi-translucent, and the base coat is metallic. It doesn't photograph well at all, but it's gorgeous. I am still waffling about what to do with it, as it does have quite a bit of wear/chips/scratches.
• The there's no other markings than what i've already given photos of, except the remnants of an identical decal on each the down tube sides. The remaining bits that weren't scraped off indicate it was black/yellow. The decal is ~1"x8", with one of the short sides making a square end, and the other making an ellipse-ed (slightly bulged) end. The edges shapes are flipped from side to side, which makes me think it was a duplicate of the samedecal applied to both sides. I took some pictures best I could to highlight the decal.
• It has an english BB.

I am more than happy to continue to take more / better photos of whatever anyone would like me to document about the frame, or provide any other measurements. The mystery surrounding this is killing me.