Voss Titanium MTB, handmade in Italy

Quite a strange story, as I've already said in the road forum, this guy was giving away a number of Voss road bikes on the bay. Voss was an Italian cottage industry which closed around 1998. Apparently, the new warehouse owner wanted to throw everything away, and TI frames can't be simply trown in the nearest junkyard because TI is considered hazardous material
:shock: :shock: :shock:

So, this guy bought this bunch of frames and started selling them on ebay. I initially bought a road frame and, upon futher enquiry, the guy told me he had some MTBs lying around. I got one for just 70 euros. NOS. Well, for being NOS, it was... it was so NOS that it was unfinished. So I got Tommasini weld the cable stops and the seatstays bridge, and then I spent two nights polishing the welds, which were still burnt. Bad news, I haven't got Tommasini's bill yet, and I'm afraid it will be very painful (might be more than 3 times the price of the frame).

The frameset is circa 1995.

I monted it with a Marzocchi xc500 I found in perfect nick, and with a mix of Suntour (thumbies, cranks and ft. derailleur) and Shimano xt (rear mech, chhain, cassette and hubs, laced to beautiful Campy Mirox rims). The rear brake is a Marinovative because, being unfinished, the brake bosses had neither the holes to insert the brake pins, nor the rear cable stop for cantis. Up front I put Crystal design canti because I hate seeing vbrakes on forks with built-in cable hangers. The seatpost is a rare Shimano Deore DX, NOS.

Stem, saddle and brake levers will be substituted by a Selle Italia SIntesi, a steel stem, and 1996 xt levers.

Was Voss an Italian brand as it sounds more German? Particularly interested as my mother's second husband was Voss and I had that surname until about 14!

Nice looking bike by the way, and having to sort out the finishing is very cool.

Well I know the name is German, when I searched on Google just German pages appeared. However, the brand was from the north of Italy. Up there German surnames are not rare - even Rewel is Italian....

I like this and your Voss road bike also, is it my eyes or do both have unusually slack seat angles?

I like the junction between the top and seat tubes looks nicely done.

I don't think it's actually slack... I mounted a suspension fork because with the switchblades I had originally installed the angles were too steep...

I think it was my eyes :roll: ! I think the seat tube extending quite far past the top tube tricked my eyes. Anyway great looking bike with a nice build and a bargain.

That's a really good looking bike and a nice story.

I love this bike, and you can see the time and effeort that has gone into it. I love the zocchi forks and the front canti are beaut too..

Lovely

Thanks.. I thought the understated look would have been a bit dull but it isn't ... with retro saddle and stem it will even be better...

I like that it, looks very nice