SpeedofLite 

Long article. Photos of the bikes and their specs along with a Columbus tubing ad are posted below.
A pdf copy of the complete article is available for downloading for a week or so here: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AgHfxA8atbGnmy5u...s5c_I?e=TDUIsO

Featured bikes are TOMMASINI Diamante MS, BIANCHI Proto MAX, DE ROSA SLX, TESCH OTTL, MONTAGNER GM 0.0, and HAVNOONIAN 653.

mruneedahelmet

Awesome read, thanks for sharing the article. It's nice to read the editors comments on the virtues of newer steel technology, instead of saying "we couldn't feel the difference".

That Tesch they favored was particularly interesting. Despite hearing praises about Tange Prestige from framebuilders and amateur cyclists, I hadn't read much to the same effect from press. I recall reading the article featuring two frames built by Bruce Gordon: one from Columbus SL and one from Tange Prestige. The outcome was a unanimous vote for SL and it's more compliant ride. While not exactly apples to apples, I have ridden Columbus SL and Tange Prestige OS Road frames. The Tange is stiffer and lighter, without sacrificing compliance.

Would like to try a modern Columbus tubeset like Spirit to see how it compares.

JohnDThompson 

I suspect one of the reasons for the dearth of coverage for Prestige tubing is unfortunate timing. Prestige came on the market in the mid-80s, only a few years before steel frames became unfashionable.

My own experience with building frames using Prestige tubing is that it was very nice stuff. The surface finish was far better than Columbus or Reynolds, and it was less fussy than e.g. Reynolds 753.

genejockey 

Nice!!

Do you have pages 124 and 125? The Bianchi Proto MAX cuts off mid-sentence. THANKS!

Owning a MAX framed bike, I can concur with a lot of what it says, but you know, if you weigh 200+# and ride a 59cm frame and 25mm tires pumped up to 90/95 psi, it's not as hard riding as all that. Cannondales of the same era are worse. And it does accelerate like a madman.

SpeedofLite 

The article had too many pages to upload all of them, so I included only the main photos and the specs.
Can you download the pdf version to get those pages you want (see original post)?
If not, I'll go the extra step because you're a Bruce Campbell fan.
"Hail to the King, baby"

Doug Fattic 

I've made a lot of bikes out of Columbus SL (and SP or a combination of both) and Prestige. Prestige of course comes in many different wall thickness and diameters and butt lengths. What I liked about Prestige was its accuracy and finish. Better builders roll main triangle tubes on our flat tabes to find their bend so we know where to orient the miters. Most tubes are bowed. We do this to put the bow is in the plane of the frame. Prestige almost always won the "less bow" contest.

Columbus SL had uneven weights for their chain stays. Some would weigh as little as 135 grams each while others would weigh up to 170. I always weighed SL chain stays to match them together and put the lighter ones on lighter riders.

Columbus SL 3 main tubes were .9mm on the thick end and .6 in between. The top tube was 1". Reynolds 531 typically had a lighter top tube (where the extra strength is not as necessary). I would often use 531 tubes in the main triangle and SL on the rear triangle to overcome SL's too heavy top tube. The frame I made for myself in 1980 with the new Shimano AX group had 531 main tubes (21/24 gauge top tube with 20/23 gauge down tube) and light SL rear stays.

Last night I rode a bike I made with Prestige 7/4/7 tubing. No Columbus SL frame comes close to riding as nice as that one made out of Prestige. If it had been heavier Prestige tubing it wouldn't have been as good for me. I doubt many cyclists have ever ridden a frame with a 1" top tube and 7/4/7 tubing. Production bicycles avoided tubing that light because it is more difficult to braze and someone heavy might break it.

mruneedahelmet

Thanks for sharing your insight.

What are your thoughts on TIG welding Prestige? I have a frame made of Prestige OS Road that is TIG'd, built in Japan 1995 paired with the Tange 188 fork. I don't know if the TT is 7/4/7 or 8/5/8, although I guess I could inspect the holes for the internal brake cable routing, haha. It rides very similarly to my Ritchey Road Logic 2.0, of similar Tange lineage.

Seat tube decals and collar

genejockey 

"Shop smart! Shop S-Mart!"
After you mentioned the link, I checked it out and downloaded it. THANKS!!

Of course, the tester was all of 170 lbs. MAX is too much for lightweights.