Harold74

Anybody want to hazard a guess as to the year, model and, more importantly, 27" vs 700c wheel size on this frame that I'm considering purchasing? I measured the distance from the center of the front dropout to the brake mounting bolt hole as 370 mm. Unfortunately, based on my collection of 27" & 700c bikes, that seems to be too course of a measurement to prove anything definitively. The seller thinks that the bike is from the late 70's and described it as follows:

Early Marinoni frame that used Zeus fork and dropout.
Seattube 60cm.
Toptube 57cm.
126mm rear spacing.
26.6mm seatpost size.
Hattaswan headset and Stronglight BB include.

reissue59

Marinoni, to my knowledge, did not use this type of tubing. No stamped fork and seatstays
Maybe but...

Harold74

Yeah, the seller expressed similar confusion, wondering if it was really a Zeus frame distributed by Marinoni. That, or some bizzare effort are counterfeit.

nomadmax 

Is there a "M" cut out in the BB shell?

markk900

Why not ask the definitive source: Cycles Marinoni Inc. - Contact

Cynikal 

I emailed Marinoni when I found my 89 Special. I sent the SN# and they replied back in a few hours with the details. I'd try that first.

merziac

Hopefully the $$$ reflected his confusion?

Dfrost 

FWIW, I’ve never seen a Marinoni “M” decal that looked like those on this HT and ST, same for the DT ones. +1 on sending the S/N to Marinoni.

cyclezen

If you took the decals off, it'd look like a mid-range Raleigh or Falcon to me...
not too familiar with Zeus stuff, if it is that. Fork would be common for English stuff , same with the BB cable guides...
but could also be english/531 straight gauge seattube (26.6,26.8), as opposed to a single butted 531... or similar other tubing...
whatz the BB say, as far as threading ?
Thx
Yuri

Harold74

I don't recall there being an "M" but, then, I wasn't looking for one. I've asked the seller for a photo of the BB underside.

Done. Not sure why I didn't think of that. The owner will send me the S/N later.

I really couldn't say as I'm not very knowledgeable about the value of vintage frames. The listed price is $290 CAD / $230 USD.

My contact at Marinoni has said the same thing.

I don't yet know. The bottom bracket is of particular concern to me as:

1) I'm especially lacking in skill when it comes to assessing bottom bracket compatibility.

2) My interest in the frame is all about my ability to quickly migrate all of the non-frame stuff over from an old, Nishiki Olypic to this frame. That will include a non-original, Sugino crankset that used to be a triple but is now being run as a double.​​

Harold74

The seller strikes me as a forthright gentlemen. If the frame is counterfeit, I'd be willing to bet that's a surprise to him as well. Among the items that he's selling are bunch of very expensive violins. Compared to the potential value of those transactions (>$5000), it's hard to imagine that he has any great concern for being deceptive on this $300 item.

Harold74

No serial to be found. So that'll likely be the end of my interest on the frame unless someone shows up with a Hail Mary "I used to have one of those". Thanks, all , for the assistance.

T-Mar

If that's your concern, then you wouldn't be interested in an early Marinoni. Having been born in Italy and apprenticed under Rossin at Colnago, Marinoni BB shells were tapped to Italian standard, while the Nishiki would be English standard. They're incompatible. The seat post would also likely be incompatible. Depending on their repsective era, you may also have a brake reach issue with the wheels and and a width issue with the hubs.

You need to ask the owner the BB threading stabndard (stamped on the cups), seat post seat diameter,