TOMMASINI (EXPORT?) 80's

[Jesper]

Finish one and start another.

A TOMMASINI frame believed to be made specifically for US distribution. The top tube decal: "la bicicletta italiano per il corridore americano" ("the Italian bicycle for the American racer"). Made early to mid 80's based on BB top mount cable guides and dual bottle cage mounting bosses. Haven't seen this frame before so I relieved my friend of it for a small cost since we regularly buy and trade bikes from each other's inventory. Frame only without a fork.
Presently, l'm putting some old odds 'n' ends components on it: 3t "Grand Prix" cockpit; Galli brake levers and front deraill.; Suntour "Cyclone" rear deraill.; Camp."Mirage" calipers and "Victory" shifter levers; Sunlite BB; Burrows aero "blade" carbon seat post; LOOK pedals; unknown headset and cranks. Put on an old Bottecchia Columbus fork, and wrapped some used cushion tape on the bar. Got a set of Shimano rims with 600 "Tri-color" hubs l still need to service, and will eventually replace the black cable housing with yellow.
Not your "normal" TOMMASINI frame festooned with pantographs or "T" cut-outs in BB shell and lugs; but still is a quality made lightweight Italian frame, 70mm/Italian threaded BB shell, 27.2mm I.D. seat tube, unbranded forged dropouts. Seat stay caps have a similar design (3 grooves), but without the "T" as typical on a "Prestige" model. Looks to have had paint touch up at the head tube (no headbadge decal remnants); but overall paint and decals appear original, no rust, very minimal wear and tear. Probably made to sell at a lower price than the "Prestige" frames of the same vintage; especially considering that top tube decal. Not sure if this was a contract built frame or just made this way for the expected market. If anyone has any further information regarding this frame l would appreciate any assistance with its identification. The only marking is a semi-discernable "E" (see photo; it appears to be only "half" stamped in the BB shell, but paint may be obscuring the lighter part of the imprint), or it's a backwards "F" (?). I have no idea as to its significance; date code, paint code, builder code, size code, etc.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


I still cannot determine why the orientation of some of my photos are turning 90 degrees. They all look proper in my database files. Anyone have some ideas as to what would cause this. I am not editing them in any way unless the exposure is poor due to lighting conditions; but I notice that the reorientation seems rather haphazard.

Take care,
Jesper

[Papa Dom]

red machine!
I had forgotten how good and solid were Suntour derailleurs until the mid-1980s.

[Jesper]

(07-27-2020, 06:42 PM)Papa Dom Wrote:  red machine!
I had forgotten how good and solid were Suntour derailleurs until the mid-1980s.

Technically, their mid-range derailleurs were better performing and had higher capacities than the top end European stuff in the 70s and 80s. And if you want to to make an old Campy derailleur rock, use a Sun Tour/Maeda freewheel. They truly beat the "teeth" off Regina and Everest. Back then if you could throw a full Sun Tour drivetrain on a bike you more than likely had the smoothest shifting performance in the world at a third of the price of "Campy and the lot" with the possible sacrifice of a little added weight.
The bike is done, just need to slap wheels on it. Seat post won't work due to being too high for me at max. insertion. Might have to sell it if I can't fit it to a small frame (50-52cm) with 27.2 tube I.D. I dug up a bunch of Campy Triomphe and various Italian parts that will probably be final components once I get an idea of the gearing I want. This is a personal bike so final gears will be a fairly tight rear 6 spd cluster for training and shorter hard rides; not a touring set-up.

[Lemon]

(07-29-2020, 07:04 PM)Jesper Wrote:  

(07-27-2020, 06:42 PM)Papa Dom Wrote:  red machine!
I had forgotten how good and solid were Suntour derailleurs until the mid-1980s.

Technically, their mid-range derailleurs were better performing and had higher capacities than the top end European stuff in the 70s and 80s. And if you want to to make an old Campy derailleur rock, use a Sun Tour/Maeda freewheel. They truly beat the "teeth" off Regina and Everest. Back then if you could throw a full Sun Tour drivetrain on a bike you more than likely had the smoothest shifting performance in the world at a third of the price of "Campy and the lot" with the possible sacrifice of a little added weight.
The bike is done, just need to slap wheels on it. Seat post won't work due to being too high for me at max. insertion. Might have to sell it if I can't fit it to a small frame (50-52cm) with 27.2 tube I.D. I dug up a bunch of Campy Triomphe and various Italian parts that will probably be final components once I get an idea of the gearing I want. This is a personal bike so final gears will be a fairly tight rear 6 spd cluster for training and shorter hard rides; not a touring set-up.

These days, suspension forks is everything I know about Suntour.

[Jesper]

(07-31-2020, 09:06 AM)Lemon Wrote:  These days, suspension forks is everything I know about Suntour.

That's funny since I didn't know they made forks. Although we are both referring to the same name, the company is different. "My" Sun Tour became defunct in the late 80s being bought by another Japanese company, which is possibly the one making your forks if it wasn't sold again in the interim.

I don't ride any suspension fork bikes, but my curiosity requires that I ask what you think of their performance/quality if you have had any experience with them compared to other manufacturers.

[Jesper]

A pleasant surprise for me: I have identified the crankset as an OFMEGA "Mundial" model. A quality crank that is fairly hard to find and not cheap nowadays. I was searching through my spare cranks and found a red anodized set with the "mundial" badge and it is identical to those mounted on the bike. The silver set came off an 80s Bottecchia so not original to the frame. The red cranks are more of crimson/"Saronni" red color and don't match the frame color; I have a Koga-Miyata "GentsLux" lugged alloy frame that matches that color and are getting the red cranks mounted to it. Should be done with that frame for a Christmas ride; I'll try to get a photo posted of it.