Allan Pollock

I just sealed a deal on a early-to-mid 80s velosport prestige. Sorry, no pics as of yet because I haven't picked up the bike. The bike has full shimano 600 arabesque and, from what I have read on other threads, was a very good mid-level bike in it's day.

Does anyone out there know what kind of tubing was used in these? Also, does anyone have access to old velosport cataloges from the early 80s? I am curious about the rest of their lineup in the early 80s and where this fell in it. Was it their 2nd tier road bike at the time?

Cheers!
Allan Pollock

devinfan

Hi, the tubing was Tange #2. My recollection is that the Prestige was #2 in the line-up, the Super Prestige with Tange Prestige tubing being number one, but I may be mistaken. T-Mar would know better. In any case by all reports the Prestige is a great bike.

ricohman

Velo Sport info seems hard to come by.
Here is a pic from the tube decal on my Velo Sport Everest touring.
Pics of yours would help.

randyjawa 

I have owned several Velo Sport Prestige bicycles and each was different. In addition to the sticker you have on your bike, each of these tubing stickers adorned a different Prestige. My guess is the bean counters, not the bike builders decided on what to build bicycles out of. Too bad because one of these bikes was pretty nice to view and ride.

Velo Sport was a cut above the department store bicycle offering for the most part. They did build some really nice bicycles, the good Prestige being one, but the rest were nothing to get all excited about.

In addition to the Perstige, I have owned a few lesser mounts like the Miche(mid level), the Routier(entry level), and the Alpine(touring with triple cranks and even a place for spare spokes).

The top dog was the full Campy Super Record Velo Sport "Super"(I believe that is what the model name was and I have seen two of these beautiful bicycles. They are pretty rare.

Allan Pollock

thanks very much. mine is tange champion #2 like the second pic. same arabesque group as well. it's an 82 I think. A nice ride. the brazing and filing isn't perfect but it's not bad. I'll try to post some pics another day,... it's bedtime now
Incidentally, Randy, you mention that one of the three was a very nice ride...which one?
Allan

LgReno

Just picked up a prestige too. Full 600. heres the decal just like randyjawa's third


pretty sweet.

randyjawa 

The bike with the Champion #2 tubing set was a real treat to ride. But it was too big for me to ride comfortably.

T-Mar

The OPs' bicycle does appear to be a 1982 and it was 2nd from the top of the line that year, though it did get progressively bumped down the line, courtesy of the tubeset changes.

vjp

T-Mar,

I have asked you this before but I can't find your answer so I will ask it again. I have an 82 or 83 Velo Sport that is built from Columbus SL with Campagnolo dropouts and nice lug cutouts and frame details. The fork was originally chromed and the bike was painted maroon or burgundy from the traces I could find. It kind of looks like a Bilatto built bike but I am not sure, do you have an idea of model?

vjp

wrk101

Infinity = Tange 2

Prestige = Tange 1

Although my Tange 1 Lotus label shows it as Champion 1.

The really odd thing is that my Nishiki Prestige came with Tange 2 Infinity tubing.

T-Mar

Supra

Infinity was effectively a seamed version of the seamless, Tange 2 set but Prestige was thinner and lighter than Tange 1. It was a completely different tubeset, utilizing a higher strength steel.

vjp

Right, Thanks!!

I think that Randy Jawa is referring to "Supra" not "Super" for the top line Velo Sport.

vjp

wrk101

Thanks TMar, I always wondered why my Tange 1 was not Prestige. So I guess Prestige is a step above 1.

Armando53

I got a frame courier 12 mid 1980 entrey level, but it is the same rose than the supra. Maybe it is same rame hi tensile 512, the frame is light but the crank set weight 10 lbs.
Did some body know how to take uf a seat post jam in a tube. i try a lot but nothing works. Ad like to do a cruise bike with this frame.
thanks!

mkarami

Does anyone know what does the first thumbnail in randyjawa's post imply? It's just saying "TUBES/TUBING chromoly" and "VELO SPORT INC". It doesn't
say anything about the model or manufacturer of the tubing. I just saw a Velo Sport Super Prestige with the same sticker and was considering
buying it.

mstateglfr 

'PG' means plain gauge, as in not butted tubing. Its heavier/more basic chomoly tubing.

A lot of bikes were abd still are made with unbranded chromoly tubing. Pretty common.

mkarami

Thanks mstateglfr! I thought super prestige bikes were made out of Tange Prestige and was about to pay quite a bit for the bike.

Scottybigs 

Since this thread got resurrected, I too recently acquired a Velosport Prestige, but it had no decals. Trying to piece together what year it was made, and with what tubing, has been really challenging. The tubing is double butted, which I can tell through tapping, so that rules out the plain gauge option.

The colour is cream, and the cranks/derailleurs/shifters are Shimano 600 (post-arabesque). Came stock with 700c wheels (Araya rims and Suzue SealedTech hubs). My guess is that they increased the brake reach beyond what the 600 series levers could do at the time (its fitted with longer reach Shimano calipers), which in turn allows me to run 28c tires with fenders.

What separates it from every available photo I've found of other Prestige's are 3 things:

1) A tiny decal at the base of the seatube reads "Made in Japan for VeloSport Canada" - so not manufacturered at ProCycle in Quebec?
2) Shimano branded braze-on shifter cable guides, welded to the top of the bottom bracket shell
3) Sloping crown fork. All other mid-late 80's Prestige's that I've seen have a flat crown fork.

Appealing to the bike gods (ie. T-Mar & Randyjawa) to see if either of you can pinpoint this one. I can sleep at night...but I'd sleep better knowing which Tange tubing the frame has.

hebergement d image

stanglein

Stumbled across this post and hoped someone could help me. I have a Velo Sport Prestige that came with a full Shimano 600 Arabesque group and Arya 700c Wheels. The Serial Number is M1M55609. Could anyone tell me the year of manufacture and what the tubes where made of? Thanks

T-Mar

The components are Shimano New 600EX, so it's no earlier than 1984, provided they are OEM. New 600 EX got the SIS upgrade in 1986, so the bicycle is likely 1984-1985. The serial number should tell us for sure. Assuming it's from this period, it should be a Tange 1000 main frame with hi-tensile forks and stays, unless it's actually a Super Prestige, in which case it's full CrMo. Both models were identical, except for the stays and forks.

T-Mar

It was manufactured in mid-1981. The factory literature does not specify the tubeset but based on surviving samples of this period it should be Tange #2.

Scottybigs 

This really makes me wonder if it is in fact a Super Prestige. I haven't overhauled the headset yet to check for "Tange" on the fork steerer, but given that the fork dropouts are also stamped 'Shimano' I'm thinking it's also CRMO. The stays also appear to be quite thin, compared to hi-tensile stays. Not Tange #2 thin, but not far off.

Here's the serial number--thanks in advance for your insight:

heberger image

T-Mar

Yes, it's a 1985 model, manufactured by Mikki of Japan. Bad news, it's a Prestige, not Super Prestige so it's a combination of Tange 1000 and hi-tensile. I went back over the pictures, descriptions and specs with a fine tooth comb and noticed some more differences. The Prestige had a chromed chainstay protector while the Super Prestige actually had the chain stay chromed. The fork on the Super Prestige was also chromed. The Prestige used an SR-CTD stem (which had a hidden binder bolt) versus the Super Prestige with an SR-CT (exposed binder bolt). Both had Wolber rims but the Super Prestige got a Mixte rim that accepted both tubulars and wired-on tyres. So, there were a few other differences. Sorry about that.

Scottybigs 

Thanks a bunch T-Mar. That explains the "Made in Japan" sticker on the seatube. +1 on the plastic chainstay protector, and the stem ID lines up. However the rims on mine are Araya with Suzue Sealedtech hubs. Could have easily been swapped by the LBS at the time, though.

I do know that looking through Tange catalogues, they made a hi tensile fork with a sloping crown. Curiosity is getting the best of me though, so I'm going to pop open the headset later and confirm this. Given that I got the bike for $500 practically new out of the box circa 1985, I'm not so hard done by the stays+fork not being chromoly. Heck, a lot of Miyata's with splined tubing still had hi tensile stays (like the 912).

If you've still got that catalogue open, I'd love it if you could snap a picture of that page and PM me a copy!

stanglein

Thanks T-Mar. Know of anywhere to get frame/headbadge decals?