sjpitts 

So I took a shot in the dark (with an assist from OFG-- thanks). I picked up two Olmo bikes last night. I may have overpaid, and the condition is not perfect, but it sure seemed worth the chance.

The bike I was really interested is an "Olmo Leader".

The bikes were about 1.5 hours away, and the pictures were not very good. The seller said he had paid 3k for the bike in 1992. The components were all C-Record. The wheels were Nisi sew ups. The seller didn't know what the frame was made from.

Annoyingly, if you do a google search for "Olmo Leader" you get nothing on point. Nothing. I even tried to search for italian versions of "leader". Still nothing.

Based on this I took the drive and bought the bikes. The condition was not perfect. There is a some rust where the cables go internal, and there is a bike stand mark on the down tube. On the plus side I could read the frame sticker and it says SLX. And the real plus is that the bike is just my size.

The second bike is a smaller Olmo with Galli components. The seller also threw in a bike stand, trainer, and a box of parts. I didn't pay much for the smaller one, so I will be reinstalling the original campy parts and selling it to try and recoup costs on the leader. The smaller Olmo does not have a name on it or a tubing sticker. Any help in identifying that bike would be appreciated.

Here are some pictures. The seat lug and stays are really odd. They have an aero shape to them. The chain stays are also ovalized. The forks are aero, and the bottom bracket is cinelli.

Jared

PS-- the downside to this is that I am going to have to get rid of something else to make room. And it may just be my RB1.

sjpitts 

More pictures:

sjpitts 

The other "unknown olmo" and parts:

23skidoo

OFG has a great nose for the goodies, they both look pretty nice to me so congratulations on your score.

GrayJay

The parts on the Leader, particularly the non-synchro shift levers and the older style c-record R Derailler would suggest to me that this bike is slightly older than 1992. NISI rims would be a fairly unusual selecetion for a bike built in the early 90's, I dont recall seeing any of thier rims past the late 80's.

sjpitts 

That is the kind of stuff I know nothing about. Everything I know about Campy I learned from velobase in the last two days (and OFG). We really couldn't identify the components from the pictures of the CL ad, I just new he said they were C-Record.

The seller did say that he bought the frameset and had it built up, so maybe that partially explains the older components. And he said it was from a Schwinn dealer in California.

Jared

GrayJay

Entirely plausable, the shop was probably all to glad to build it up with the older inventory of expensive parts they had collecting dust. Looking carefully at velobase, the engraved logo on the c-record crankarm and the rear derailler indicate that those 2 parts are from 1985-1986, the 1987+ c-record used a stencil painted on logo instead of engraving. The NISI tubular rims would also be much more typical from this mid 80's timeframe.
Another possibility that comes to mind is that the c-record parts were originally used on another bike (Perhaps the grey Olmo?) and he had them transfered onto the leader frame when he bought it. The grey Olmo appears to have a C-record (or some other campy aero) seatpost. Perhaps the frames needed different size post and he could not use it on the new red bike so left it on the grey franken-olmo when the other c-record parts were harvested?

GrayJay

I would guesse that your hubs (if original to the C-record Grouppo) are 7-speed freewheel hubs, not the 8-speed casette hubs which would have been standard on a 1992 era top of the line bike. You might want to remove the wheel and check to see what the rear dropout spacing of the frame is. A 1992 frame would have 130mm spacing, in which case a 126mm hub is probably compressing the dropouts together. Simple solution is to add a spacer to left side of the hub and re-dish the wheel. This will make the rear wheel easier to install/remove and will keep the dropouts aligned properly so that there is less stress on the axel. Re-dishing the R wheel will make it slightly stronger due to move even spoke tension side-to-side.
The brake calipers might have been cobaltos that have lost their jewels? Hard to tell from the pictures. Close ups of the brakes might be able to differentiate between cobalto or other campy brake models. The rear brake looks like it was "fixed" with hardware store fasteners, definilty could use a more attractive replacement nuts.

sjpitts 

It seems like I took 40 pictures, but I did not take one of the hubs. Or a good one of the brakes. I have a closer one of the sides-- but not it is not real good.

I think you are probably right that these hubs are seven speed freewheel, not 8 speed cassette.

I will take more pictures.

Jared

PS-- I do have this side picture of the front brake. I don't know if that is "cobalto" or not.

GrayJay

If they were cobaltos, the CAMPAGNOLO script on the caliper arm would have been painted blue
https://www.velobase.com/ViewComponen...m=117&AbsPos=7

More likely you have regular super record calipers, the profile of the nut on the front seems to match these;
https://www.velobase.com/ViewComponen...=117&AbsPos=21

Note too that Cobaltos were not available until '87 so if the other c-record parts are from '85-'86 then unlikely that cobaltos came with them.

sjpitts 

With regard to the little Olmo-- I have been doing some research and it may be Nuovo Sprint. The Nuovo Sprint came with Galli components and Alle tubing. On the other hand the decals look just like the Proffesional, but that came with Super Record and SL tubing.

Nouvo Sprint:
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/olmo3/1.jpg

Proffesional:
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/olmo3/3.jpg

And on Velospace HitOfMiss has what appears to be the same bike in a different color. He didn't identify the model though

https://velospace.org/node/14947

GrayJay

An SL fork will have helical ridges inside the steering tube. An Alle tubing fork would not have helical ridges, might help to differentiate SL vs Alle.

BrianEugene

I thought that only SLX had helical ridges. Perhaps I am misinformed?

BrianEugene

I thought the only way to tell SL from Aelle was by weight (an iffy way to determine) and by seat tube diameter (also iffy).

GrayJay

Only SLX (well, and SPX, TSX) has helical ridges in the three main frame tubes, both SL and SLX have helical ridges in the steering tube, quick bit of research I did indicated that alle does not. Alle is a strait gauge non-butted tubing, it should sound noticeably heavier as compared to SL if you tap/ring it in the middle of the tube.

sjpitts 

Some more info:

The seat post in the little olmo is a 26.8. Does that tell us what type of tubing it has?

And here is a picture of the rear hub on the leader. I measured the spacing with it on the bike and it seemed to be 128mm. And it is a seven speed.

What kind of hub does that make it?

Old Fat Guy

I'm fairly certain that the hub is C-Record, and it is definitely a freewheel. I would guess the little bike to be Aelle, or something like it. A tap test would reveal if it is butted or not.

GrayJay

a 27.2mm seatpost is most typical for a bike with a 0.6mm wall thickness at the top of the seat tube (Such as SL, SLX, EL-OS). Provided the OD for the seattube remains unchanged, a 26.8mm seatpost indicates a tubing wall thickness of 0.8mm. As per the chart linked below, this is exactly the seattube deminsions of the strait gauge Aelle tubing set.
https://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/col...umbuschart.htm

The C-record rear hub was most likely originally a 126mm, standard sizing for 7-speed freewheel. It would be difficult to get an accurate measurement with the wheel in the frame. Remove the wheel and use calipers to carefully measure the hub width and also measure the width of the frame. If the hub really is 128mm, someone likely added 2mm of spacers to the axel nuts. If the hub is 126mm and the frame measures 130mm, you should add 4mm of spacers to the non-drive side, re-center the axel with the nuts on each side and re-dish the rim evenly. Exactly matching the hub and dropout spacing will keep the dropouts aligned paralled and make it less likely that you will break the axel (a common problem for freewheel hubs).

sjpitts 

Thanks for all the info on this. But no one has commented on the possible rarity of this bike. As I said before, a google of "Olmo Leader" turns up nothing. I did some more searching and came up empty. Has anyone seen this frame before? Maybe it was sold under a different name?

Does anyone know any other Olmo experts that I could ask about this frame?

Thanks

Jared

sjpitts 

I found one:

https://www.bdc-forum.it/showthread.php?t=75023

This blog (in Italian) shows what I believe to be an 88 Olmo Leader. The writer apparently had it repainted. The bike has the same fork as mine, but has a more traditional seat stay design. It is also Columbus SL, while mine is SLX.

Jared

unworthy1

'88 seems plausible for the leader, and they must be pretty rare. I don't think those are the "standard" forkblades that would ordinarily be associated with an SL/SP tubeset and get that fork decal: these are shaped blades (similar to Columbus Max?). Both of these Olmos are nice bikes...

jet sanchEz

Very nice bikes. I think you could do very well with that little one, just get rid of that ugly black stem and pop on one of those silver ones and I bet you could get an easy $400 for it. Of course, the tri bars have to go too.

I also think the rear hub is C-Record, it is identical to the one that came with my De Rosa