Still hoping to find out why this frame is different to all the others I've owned, from serial to bosses it's a bit of a strange one.
I've had many RTS frames, my first was an RTS 2 back in 93. This was made in Taiwan (proudly wore a sticker on the head tube), with a curved end cap and long serial (sadly scrapped, but it was how I found RB when looking for a replacement).
Since then I've owned, built l, kept or sold many rts-1s or teams (I developed a taste for the high life), all USA built ones had the flat end cap, serial format of mmyyxxxx and bottle bosses on down and horizontal tube.
Sometimes when a frame is very small, compromises are made as things just don't fit, like bottle cages, but this is a 19 inch frame, larger than my current team RTS, and larger than a 16 inch rts-1 I had, both had bottle bosses on the down tube and horizontal tube. The horizontal ones required some stepped spacers to fit a bottle cage (you could get some to fit without, but not many), so having none there is odd compared to all others I've owned.
I'm considering stripping the paint to see if a hidden digit is there to make the serial more normal, but I doubt there is one, as the rest are crisp. Is it possible that it's a very early frame, well front triangle, as that's how I bought it, and the 0 is simply there instead of the usual 2 digit month?
I consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to RTS bikes, but this has me stumped. If it's original and early I don't want to detract from that but equally if not, looking to do a retro-mod with discs and modern kit, just for fun and a stablemate for my team, which is my all time favourite and keeper.
I've had many RTS frames, my first was an RTS 2 back in 93. This was made in Taiwan (proudly wore a sticker on the head tube), with a curved end cap and long serial (sadly scrapped, but it was how I found RB when looking for a replacement).
Since then I've owned, built l, kept or sold many rts-1s or teams (I developed a taste for the high life), all USA built ones had the flat end cap, serial format of mmyyxxxx and bottle bosses on down and horizontal tube.
Sometimes when a frame is very small, compromises are made as things just don't fit, like bottle cages, but this is a 19 inch frame, larger than my current team RTS, and larger than a 16 inch rts-1 I had, both had bottle bosses on the down tube and horizontal tube. The horizontal ones required some stepped spacers to fit a bottle cage (you could get some to fit without, but not many), so having none there is odd compared to all others I've owned.
I'm considering stripping the paint to see if a hidden digit is there to make the serial more normal, but I doubt there is one, as the rest are crisp. Is it possible that it's a very early frame, well front triangle, as that's how I bought it, and the 0 is simply there instead of the usual 2 digit month?
I consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to RTS bikes, but this has me stumped. If it's original and early I don't want to detract from that but equally if not, looking to do a retro-mod with discs and modern kit, just for fun and a stablemate for my team, which is my all time favourite and keeper.
