Alimo - Dutch Benotto sub-brand (70-80s)

[jim haseltine]

Probably, never saw anything like it on the Benotto frames that we used to sell. Mind you, they were brought in by Caratti Sport - I also never saw one in any other colour than the rather unattractive goldish hue of the Sanson team bikes.

 

[SuperSid]

I've produced an application guide for the Alimo sticker set, I had to bring some order into the top tube sticker position because there wasn't much when they were produced. If you scan through this thread you'll see the various names and positions.
I used the forward cable guide as a reference point for positioning the sticker but this is only valid for the early models and Benotto built versions, Maki built frames use the same top tube stickers but the positioning is different.
I reproduced these stickers by tracing available photos from the internet so they are probably not perfectly accurate in shape or size but only a trained eye or side by side comparison would show any differences. I'd appreciate it if any Alimo owners could measure their top tube stickers to let me know how far off my reproductions are.

There might be more versions, the ladies mixte frame seems to have a longer name that I can't quite make out in the photos.
The Alimo 600 AE sticker exists in 2 versions, one with the 5 speed lines coming off the 'A' and one without, both are available.

I have printed these top tube stickers in both black and white ink on transparent gloss vinyl. You can barely see the original black graphic on darker coloured frames.
I am still waiting to get a colour match for my reproduction sticker set, the print shop has my genuine Alimo stickers for reference but the problem is the cost of printing with their 130 cm vinyl rolls, I will hopefully get a colour match within the next week and should have a few sticker sets if anyone need them for a restoration project.

 

[SuperSid]

I didn't have the headtube lengths of Alimos available to me so I based this drawing on a vintage Colnago size chart.
I tried the 3 sizes of head tube sticker on smaller head tube lengths in Photoshop but they just made it look crowded, there needs to be some space surrounding the sticker to look right.

The smallest sticker might be too large to fit on the smallest 49 cm frames, it'll have to be trimmed at the top and bottom if necessary.

 

[SuperSid]

I rediscovered that the seatpost on my Alimo measures 26.0 mm in diameter, with the outside diameter of the seat tube measuring 28.6 mm, this means that the tubing is very thick or there is an insert.

The difference of 2.6 mm means a wall thickness close to 1.3 mm, I looked at various types of seat tube tubing for that thickness and the most likely source appears to be Ishiwata 0265 hi tensile steel - which is butted at 1.2 - 0.85 mm thick.



It wouldn't surprise me if the frame was made from low end tubing to cut costs but the bike's light weight makes me think that perhaps they were probably mixed with some lighter tubing. Ishiwata's numbering system is usually based on their tubeset's weight. so around 2.65 Kg if this 0265 tubeset is only used. Add 630 grams for the lugs and braze-ons, cut the tubes to the desired size, according to this, a 54cm frame and fork set would probably weigh more than these double butted chrome-moly versions, possibly in the 2.8 Kg + region.



I shall be dismantling the bike this weekend, I'm very curious about the weight.
There doesn't appear to be any serial number stamped into the bottom bracket - another cost cutting exercise?

 

[SuperSid]

Test fit of the Alimo sticker set before I strip the bike (currently in urban mode)
This first set was poorly colour matched - I trusted the printer to do a good job, I will check with my own eyes next time.

The next attempt will be on transparent vinyl from a new print shop, hope that works out.

 

[SuperSid]

I rediscovered that the seatpost on my Alimo measures 26.0 mm in diameter, with the outside diameter of the seat tube measuring 28.6 mm, this means that the tubing is very thick or there is an insert.

The difference of 2.6 mm means a wall thickness close to 1.3 mm, I looked at various types of seat tube tubing for that thickness and the most likely source appears to be Ishiwata 0265 hi tensile steel - which is butted at 1.2 - 0.85 mm thick.

View attachment 660124

It wouldn't surprise me if the frame was made from low end tubing to cut costs but the bike's light weight makes me think that perhaps they were probably mixed with some lighter tubing. Ishiwata's numbering system is usually based on their tubeset's weight. so around 2.65 Kg if this 0265 tubeset is only used. Add 630 grams for the lugs and braze-ons, cut the tubes to the desired size, according to this, a 54cm frame and fork set would probably weigh more than these double butted chrome-moly versions, possibly in the 2.8 Kg + region.

I just stripped the bike down and weighed everything, my dream of having a restickered Benotto parts bin special just popped. I'm now quite confident that it is built from Ishiwata 0265 High tensile steel or similar.

The frame weighs 2383 grams and the fork weighs 770 grams - clearly not alloy steel, it's about 475 grams or about 1 pound heavier than I was expecting (hoping).

It was interesting to see where the 22 pounds (10Kg) "light weight" comes from so I weighed each part after removal.
For example: the Shimano Altus gear levers only weigh 35 grams, compare that with the 47 grams of the high end Shimano Dura Ace 7200 levers. I bought to replace them. It's a similar story with the brake calipers, Shimano Tourney long reach brakes weigh about 30 grams lighter than the Dura ace 7200 ones.

I will strip the paint off next and take some pics to share, it all looks very basic.

 

[SuperSid]

Maybe that 3Kg+ weight for my Alimo frameset isn't so extraordinary - Wasn't Columbus Zeta tubing also Hi tensile steel?

Blue and white Frame and Forks Benotto Columbus Zeta Size 53 - Cyclollector

[ USED ] Blue and white frame & Forks Benotto Columbus Zeta Frame : 2225 g - Fork : 805 g The wheels illustrate the geometry of the frame and are not sold with it.

www.cyclollector.com

Blue and white Frame and Forks Benotto Columbus Zeta Size 53​

Reference: ID11

Condition: Used

[ USED ] Blue and white frame & Forks Benotto Columbus Zeta
Frame : 2225 g - Fork : 805 g
The wheels illustrate the geometry of the frame and are not sold with it.

 

[SuperSid]

Here are some close-ups of the Alimo frameset construction, I'm no expert but to me it looks pretty basic with decent quality.
Interesting to see Campagnolo fork dropouts, the rear dropouts are by Piazza.

 

[SuperSid]

If anyone is interested, the paint weighed 60-70 grams

 

[SuperSid]

It's been a long time coming but today I will be mostly building up my Alimo



The long wait was mainly due to the colour matching process and dealing with busy print shops who have more profitable ventures than my sticker sets. I've tried 3 different printing companies but am very glad to have found Retrodecals which is quite local and has very high standards.
The challenge has been matching CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) based inks with the screen printed dyes of the original stickers, mixing those 4 colours can't match the purity and vibrancy of the screen printed originals. The colours always come out darker.
The colour match fine tuning will continue but the stickers I had fitted to my frame are pretty close to the original set, particularly out in the sun. Indoors and in low light the CMYK inks appear even darker for some reason.

My frameset was prepared and resprayed by Caygill cycles of Richmond N.Yorks, the main stickers are covered with a thick layer of clear coat. The non original stickers are applied on top of the clearcoat in case I choose to sell it or return it to an original build in the future.

For this build, I have chosen to upgrade the parts, with mostly circa 1980 style components (e.g. Dura Ace 7200) but this will be ridden regularly so I will strategically add some new and modern lightweight parts, these will take a trained eye to spot, I calculated a complete weight of below 9.5 Kg or 20.8 pounds. Not bad for a frame and fork that now weigh 2416 g and 775 g respectively.
The Ishiwata stickers help to make it look a bit more high end in my opinion.

I should mention the downtube sticker which looks like it isn't aligned with the centre of the tube in side view. If you look through this thread, it seems to be correct, most Alimos look like this, I based the spacing on the original sticker set, the gap between the oval shape that contains the vertical Alimo text measures 11 mm between the two sides, to be perfectly centred, the gap should be 9 mm. I'm not sure if this was a mistake or intentional but remember that most people used to fit frame mounted pumps so it wasn't very noticeable. If you were restoring yours which would you prefer?

Pics of the completed build will be posted soon.