ccinnz

Hi All
I have purchased what I believe to be a late 80's (around '87) road bike which I am currently in the process of re-furbing, and am trying to identify who the frame manufacturer is/was.
A few bits about the bike:
- I believe the bike to be '87"ish" as it has a Shimano 600 Tricolor 6400 Ultegra Groupset.
- The bike was bought in New Zealand.
- There is an interesting lug detail in that the seat stays are lugged I have scoured the inet but can't find anything similar.
- The rear brake cable goes through the top tube
- Head tube lugs have a symbol that looks like 4 horizontal lines and the `G4' stamped on them
- Serial number starts with an `A'
- There is a 'luggish' detail to the rear brake stay.
- Pointy thing on back of head tube
All in all the bike appears o be very nice, if not left idle over the years. Frame had to be sand blasted and will be painted dark green with brown saddle and bar tape, but the group set appears to be in top condition.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Pics below of the points above.
Thanks
Carlton

Charles Wahl

"Pointy thing" is a boss for a frame-fit pump, like a Silca.

ccinnz

Thanks... I should have realised that.

Bikerider007

Nice seat stays and cluster. Pretty unique looking.

unworthy1

the mark on the bottom of the lug is "asian" but I can't recall what brand. @T-Mar will know and he probably can tell you more given the serial number too...it's a very eclectic mix of bits and details! I have no idea... that was supposed to be T-Mar, but for some reason it's edited out...weird! Let's try again: @T-Mar
No, they won't allow it to be visible...this new version of Bike Forums has some very strange "features"!

T-Mar

The serial number format is consistent with that used by many Taiwanese manufacturers. If so, the format is Ayymmxxxxx. In which case it is 1989 manufacture, which is appropriate for 600 Ultegra, as it was introduced for the 1988 model year. I can't quite make out the 5th character which would tell us the month. It may be a '6" (i.e. June) or an '8' (i.e. August). If it's the latter, that may be late enough in the year to make it a 1990 model.

The lug marking is also looks like it may be the later Eisho logo, which would be appropriate for a Taiwanese manufactured frame.

The fork's steerer tube may have a tubing manufacturer's logo and date code to corroborate the year.

I have to agree with unworthy1 regarding the eclectic mix of features. It has lots of nice investment cast pieces, yet appear to have a rolled and seamed BB shell. Also,while it has some upscale features,suchas tangs on the brake bridge, the time wasn't taken to finish the stay and dropout joints. It would be interesting and perhaps informative to know the seat post size.

I also agree with him on the features of the new BF format. The inability to directly access "new mentions" and "quotes" is a giant step backwards. Having to hunt for them is a extremely time consuming and frustrating. I'm lucky that I chanced to view this thread and found his shout-out.

unworthy1

Glad you found it by chance, T-Mar! Hopeful that the BF IT dept. will do some fine-tuning of this new forum build, it still has some hitches and glitches!

ccinnz

Many thanks, this has been extremely informative. The steering tube is currently all masked up for spraying, but will have a look once the tape comes off next weekend. We have a bike make in NZ called Avanti that started out in the 80's, from my research they say that the bikes are assembled in NZ, not specifically manufactured. I'm going to drop them an email and see if they have any historical information.

Thanks

MauriceMoss

Please report back if you do hear back, it would be interesting to find out who built this frame for them.

If your frame is an Avanti, it's most likely their Giro model (which came with 600 bits):



Here's a few shots of one:

ccinnz

Many thanks for this, and I do think you have hit the nail on the head here. A few other similarities between the brochure pics and my bike are:

- Seat post. Mine had a similar one with the channels in it. Though i swapped it out for a smooth post from and old Trek 1200 which i gave away with the other post.
- Handlebar profile is the same
- Handlebar stem also looks to be the same.
- Front forks have same shape/profile

I'll let you know how i get one with Avanti, but i'm very convinced. How did you come across the brochure pics?

unworthy1

"How did you come across the brochure pics?"...Mr. Moss works in mysterious ways, but the results speak for themselves! I also agree that this looks like another that he has nailed, and a brand I had never heard of, let alone seen a brochure for.

MauriceMoss

I'm sorry, it looks like I dropped the ball on this one (I'll just blame the new BF layout ).

The catalog scan came from a blog that (I assume) was dedicated to restoring Avanti, although it looks like it hasn't been updated in many years. There isn't really much more info there unfortunately: The Avanti Project

@unworthy1 - I first heard of this brand earlier this year when someone posted about an Avanti that really wasn't an Avanti. I've known about some Australian marques but never about any New Zealand ones. You always learn something new hanging around BikeForums!

ccinnz

Thanks... There is an Avanti shop near where i work, but i think that anything form the 80's has been reduced to the annals of history now.

Finished the do-up (not calling it a restoration as not transforming it back to original colors etc...), pic below if you're interested.

Thanks