bargainguy

This is a bike I picked up today, but knew about for several years. Test rode it once awhile back when everything was still working. Now it needs work, shifters are blown, hubs need rebuilding, etc. But I've never seen another bike with tubing like this.

Magnet sticks to the frame, so I'm assuming some kind of steel alloy, but with a bizarre profile - like round tubing but crimped on four sides, perhaps to add stiffness? No clue as to what kind of frame tubing this is, no tubing sticker either. I'm totally out of my league here.

Parts mix: Shimano 600 headset, shifters & derailleurs, Campy crank, Cinelli bars, Campy Omega rims on Shimano hubs. Frame has Columbus dropouts.

The seller gave me a 2001-2002 Van Tuyl sales brochure, but I'm assuming this bike predates it as the styling and badges are
different, and although the brochure is in Dutch, I don't see anything remotely similar to this frame.

Anyone have an idea of what kind of tubing this is, whether it was actually made by Gijs Van Tuyl or by Andrea Pesenti, who supposedly manufactured frames for Van Tuyl under contract? Also, once I get it up and running, approximate value? I remember the ride as being fairly stiff but not punishingly so, and the frame is fairly lightweight although not super light.

Thanks in advance!

bargainguy

Anyone have a clue? I'm most interested in info on the frame tubing, who made it and who used it. Once I get done refurbing the bike, I'll see what I can get for it, so not that interested in pricing yet.

CliffordK

It looks a lot like Colnago tubing, but the crimps are a bit different.

Is i possible the main tubes were formed in house? One should be able to build a set of rollers and mandrels to do the modification pretty quickly.

It looks like the seatpost will almost have to be cut for each rider with the typical insertion point at nearly the same spot where the crimp begins.

T-Mar

The crimps could be proprietary, as in Colnago's Gilco tubing, but Oria also sold crimped tubesets. You see them a lot of the crimped Oria tubesets on Moser and Montagner.

Drillium Dude 

Rossin used a very similar tubing profil in their Ghibli frame - and it's Columbus SLX-decaled, just to throw that into the mix. Here's a pic:



DD

bargainguy

Thank you all! That helps. At least now I know where to start looking for more info.

CliffordK, you are spot on about having the seatpost cut to each rider. I bought the bike without a saddle or seatpost and had to dig them up from my collection. I noticed immediately that the seatpost maximum insertion point is pretty high, from where the crimping on the seat tube begins, so long seatposts were out of the question unless a gorilla just happened to be interested in this bike.

CliffordK

Likewise. If you cut the seatpost short. Then want to raise it an inch. It could be dangerously short.

Hopefully it is a common size like 27.2 which you can buy by the dozen.

non-fixie 

Gijs van Tuyl owned a bike shop in Zaltbommel, The Netherlands. From what I've heard and read he started with his own frames, and later had them built by Andrea Pesenti and Vidmantas Zukauskas. He sold the shop and the Van Tuyl brand in 2004.

Most common are his 'Racing Feather' models from the eighties and nineties. I have a couple of those hanging in the rafters, but they are in need of restoration.

This is a seller's pic of one of them:



The one I like most, however, and that is part of my riding fleet, is a Racing Feather touring bike, here pictured as bought:

bargainguy

Thanks, non-fixie!

The decals on the one I have resemble those in your first seller pic.

Here's a pic once I finished. Replaced the Shimano 600 brifters with Sachs Ergo, rebuilt the BB & hubs, ran all new cables and bar tape. Took it out for a spin. Fairly stiff for a late 80's steel frame, but a nice ride nonetheless.

non-fixie 

You're welcome. Glad you like the bike. It's nice to see a new Van Tuyl on the forum. Enjoy!