ta88

I went to check out a vintage Diamant road bike that I found through craigslist today, does anyone know anything about them? I can't seem to dig up much dirt, but from what I've found there was a Belgian Diamant and a German Diamant (unrelated), the owner of the bike says it's the Belgian. It has some nice lugwork, chrome fork, blue/white fade paintjob, simplex derailleur, shimano crank, modolo brakes. Small ring is 42t. It looks pretty high end for its time. If I recall correctly it also had a chrome drive-side chainstay. It's very light, probably around 17 lbs or so. I couldn't find a serial number anywhere on it (just a "50" stamped on the bottom of the BB shell). There is a good deal of rust, especially on the chrome. The kid said he would accept between 150 and 200 for it, I was going to offer him 100 hoping to meet him at 125. Does anyone know much about these bikes or what they're worth?

gr23932

I've had a couple of Diamants pass through my hands. The ones I've had all were Belgian. They are really nice bikes and some are used by some local semi-pro teams here in Belgium. Diamant sponsors them. Here is a pic of the nicest one I've seen. I sold it a while back. The frame set went for over $300 but it was NOS and it had a Number hanger.

rhm

The other Diamant --or is it Diamante?-- is/was East German. They were solid gaspipe utility bikes, with fenders and coaster brakes and one of those primitive rod brake things where the shoe sits up inside the top of the front fender and pushes down on the tire. They have a distinctly pre-war look, but are often much more recent.

ta88

I took some pictures today. It has Shimano Golden Arrow cranks (not pictured), indicating it was made around '83, and the derailleurs both have a Bernard Hinault sticker on them (also not pictured). Any additional info is appreciated.

https://s465.photobucket.com/albums/r...odd28/Diamant/

note: a lot of the pictures were of damage because someone was interested in purchasing it

unworthy1

Looking past the rust and scratching and chips: it looks like a decent quality Italian frame probably made for the Belgian company (not East German). Given the details like the crimped seatstay caps and the Hatta headset (and Shimano Golden Arrow cranks) I'd guess that it's not a top-drawer frame, even with those nice touches like the pierced lugs and chrome fork. Might be Aelle tubing or a mixed tubeset like "Tretubi"...what size seat post?

soderbiker

here are a couple more Diamant for reference , i just sold this one to a friend of mine .( track frame )









T

ta88

seat post is 27mm, any idea what tubing it is, or are there any other ways to tell?

unworthy1

27.0 *tends* to indicate something other than Columbus SL or SLX (typically 27.2), it's a size associated with Columbus Cromor, among others (including lots of Tange-tubed bikes, which this would not be, and some straight-gauge). Aelle usually is 26.8, but there are many exceptions to these generalities. Best thing would be to weigh the bare frame and compare to something of the same size built from a known tubeset. In any case, I doubt that you'll notice a lot of difference in the ride quality of a well-built frame made from one of the "lesser" tubesets, and that's what counts if you're keeping it to ride.
edit: to Belgium and EastGermany add Oslo, Norway since there's a really pretty Norwegian Diamant "ladies City bike" in a current thread...completely different company, though, but the same name.

ta88

according to the bathroom scale, it's 5.3 lbs (~50 cm frame, center-to-center, which is probably what the "50" stamped on the BB shell is for)

tanyalouise

Is there another link to pics of this? I'm trying to find info on mine and I'd love to see yours but the link doesn't work. Thanks!

non-fixie 

I would suggest starting a new thread with lots of nice big pictures of your bike. That is more likely to generate useful responses.

And I, for one, would love to see another nice Diamant.