My Terry Dolan Cougar dump find - Questions

gerryattrick

Retrobike Rider
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Picked up this frame at the local authority dump today. It's very light and just about my size so I'm thinking of building it into a single-speed.

Can anyone help me with some questions:

What year is it?

I think the frame must be Columbus as the drop-outs are stamped with the name. Can anyone confirm the type of Columbus steel and how good quality it is? I've seen a frame that was identical except for the lugs marked as Reynolds 653.

I've heard that some Cougars used Cinelli BBs. How do you identify if they are?
 

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Very hard to identify which tubing it is without a badge, chances are if it has Columbus ends then it is Columbus tubing although that is not a given. Rest assured though that Columbus tubing is all good, even the entry level Aelle impressed me.

Seatpost size may help....

I wouldn't concern myself too much with identifying it. It looks to be an late 80's/ early 90's Cougar which in itself is enough to determine its a fine frame. Build it, ride it, enjoy it! :D

Nice find btw! Be sure to check it for dents, dings and cracks, there may have been good reason it was in the skip.
 
I've had a good look for faults on the frame and there don't seem to be any. No dents or cracks or dull spots when tapped, just some poor paintwork.

It looks almost identical to this frame with just some slight difference on the head tube lugs.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... sc&start=0

The frame no is 7235 with BOP stamped on th BB

I'm even thinking of going over to the dark side and building it as a full road bike but I would have to spend a lot on brakes & gears.
 
What a fantastic find.

You could always drop Terry Dolan and e-mail and ask if he can help with identification.

If it were mine I'd go the works on it... but it's not mine, so build it up however you like ;)
 
Seattube bottle bosses, but none on the downtube's a bit weird.

Domed ends on the chainstays suggests Reynolds.
IIRC Columbus haven't done those, always tubular cut ends or pressed flat.

Hard to tell otherwise. Might find some rifling up the seattube, downtube and bottom of the steerer if it's Columbus SLX etc. None of that with Reynolds, and many of the Columbus sets.

27.2 seatpin would indicate mid to top quality tubing.

All the best,
 
With my Lidl calipers it measures between 27 and 27.1mm, so allowing for inaccuracy and an old tube looks like it is a 27.2 :LOL:

Interesting info on the chainstays pointing towards Reynolds.

It has down tube bottle bosses but the previous owner preferred to ignore them :roll:
 
Re:

I wish I had seen this sooner ,but just registered as I am restoring several cougars, that frame was for Bruce Oprey a Liverpool Legend now living in jersey for many years he used to polish all the components of the frame and send to me to build , he was very meticulous the paint job is that of the SEUR team whomMalcolm Elliot rode for in Spain they used Otero bikes but when he was in the UK he rode Cougar having rode them when he rode for ANC Halfords during the years they were in existence all badged up Peugeot .Hope this has helped I will contact Bruce to see if he can shed any light on how it ended up in the skip.
 
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