My Italian and Belgian bikes.....and an American entered the chat
- Thread starter Botty Kayer
- Start date
Botty Kayer
Dirt Disciple
I had to change the thread title as an American has entered the fleet.
Just finished making it my own, it's a Serotta Colorado 3. Guess from early 2000's. Extended headtube, sloping down tube, has Serotta concept tubing which seems a mix and rides great, and to my.surprise it fits 28c tyres so I well happy.
Just finished making it my own, it's a Serotta Colorado 3. Guess from early 2000's. Extended headtube, sloping down tube, has Serotta concept tubing which seems a mix and rides great, and to my.surprise it fits 28c tyres so I well happy.
Botty Kayer
Dirt Disciple
...but to make up for that new addition I have added another Belgian frame to the project list.
I'm about to go away for a few weeks but this lovely 90s Diamant is going to be built up with shiny silver Campag when I return. I love rowdily painted 90s frames like my Somec, so when I saw this with its drop dead gorgeous full chrome rear monostay it was love at first sight.
I asked for more info on Bike Forums where it was suggested it may have been made by Martelly, but someone also said those Martelly built ones were only made with SL or 531. This frame seems like its built from neitherof those, there is no decal and I assume because it's a mix. Chainstays look like Max to me. The top tube and down tube are same diamater but the head tube and downtube are a larger oversized tubing. There are no marks on fork steerer.other than the Columbus Dove, and the only marking on the.bottom bracket is D11.
I have just emailed Martelly to ask if they can confirm if they made it or have any ideas who else may have if it wasn't them. Anyone have any further info on this lovely frame?
Model is a SP93, tho i cant find hardly anything about them online. Rear spacing is 130mm. Number hanger hints it may have been a former pro racing frame?
Grateful for any further info anyone may have, thanks in advance.
I'm about to go away for a few weeks but this lovely 90s Diamant is going to be built up with shiny silver Campag when I return. I love rowdily painted 90s frames like my Somec, so when I saw this with its drop dead gorgeous full chrome rear monostay it was love at first sight.
I asked for more info on Bike Forums where it was suggested it may have been made by Martelly, but someone also said those Martelly built ones were only made with SL or 531. This frame seems like its built from neitherof those, there is no decal and I assume because it's a mix. Chainstays look like Max to me. The top tube and down tube are same diamater but the head tube and downtube are a larger oversized tubing. There are no marks on fork steerer.other than the Columbus Dove, and the only marking on the.bottom bracket is D11.
I have just emailed Martelly to ask if they can confirm if they made it or have any ideas who else may have if it wasn't them. Anyone have any further info on this lovely frame?
Model is a SP93, tho i cant find hardly anything about them online. Rear spacing is 130mm. Number hanger hints it may have been a former pro racing frame?
Grateful for any further info anyone may have, thanks in advance.
ChromeChainstay
Senior Retro Guru
this is a smaller size than what you usually build right?
Botty Kayer
Dirt Disciple
Yes it's a 58cm which is at the smaller end of bikes I can ride comfortably. Love is blind and lower back issues are further down the road 
Also means the traditional stumpy Campag alu aero post won't be long enough so I'll have to use one of the longer posts from my other bikes. The alu straight Centaur/Chorus ones are more of a dull grey than shiny silver, which with such a shiny rear triangle isn't going to cut it so think it'll have to swipe the ti one from my lo-pro.
Also means the traditional stumpy Campag alu aero post won't be long enough so I'll have to use one of the longer posts from my other bikes. The alu straight Centaur/Chorus ones are more of a dull grey than shiny silver, which with such a shiny rear triangle isn't going to cut it so think it'll have to swipe the ti one from my lo-pro.
ChromeChainstay
Senior Retro Guru
going to be very sweet when it's built
Botty Kayer
Dirt Disciple
Unfortunately I got no reply from Martelly, so as yet no one wants to claim they made this beautiful frame
I still think Martelly/Martens are the most likely makers.
I'm sure the reason it has no tubing decal is because the frame is a mix of tubing. I measured the diameter of the main frame tubes to see if that helps narrow down the tubing. The downtube is 31.8mm so I think that is EL-OS, the chainstays I'm sure are Max. The top tube is 25.4mm so is likely EL/SL/SLX and the seat tube is 28.6mm so is likely EL-OS/EL/SL/SLX.
Anyway I built up the bike today. 20 speed Campag, Record 53/39 chainring, 29/12 cassette, Shamal clinchers, Cinelli XA stem, flared Ambrosio Volpe 13 handlebars, 25c Veloflex tyres and Flite saddle.
Enough chat, in the sunshine it sure does dazzle. Very happy with how it turned out with all the shiny silver and the wishbone rear seat stays look great and really make the bike stand out.
I still think Martelly/Martens are the most likely makers.
I'm sure the reason it has no tubing decal is because the frame is a mix of tubing. I measured the diameter of the main frame tubes to see if that helps narrow down the tubing. The downtube is 31.8mm so I think that is EL-OS, the chainstays I'm sure are Max. The top tube is 25.4mm so is likely EL/SL/SLX and the seat tube is 28.6mm so is likely EL-OS/EL/SL/SLX.
Anyway I built up the bike today. 20 speed Campag, Record 53/39 chainring, 29/12 cassette, Shamal clinchers, Cinelli XA stem, flared Ambrosio Volpe 13 handlebars, 25c Veloflex tyres and Flite saddle.
Enough chat, in the sunshine it sure does dazzle. Very happy with how it turned out with all the shiny silver and the wishbone rear seat stays look great and really make the bike stand out.
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Botty Kayer
Dirt Disciple
If this cracking weather keeps up I'm wondering if its possible to convert my shiny Shamal collection into some kind of solar array.
Botty Kayer
Dirt Disciple
Bike is great but I'm a Columbus Max fork fanboy and had a spare one that i thought would marginally improve front end stiffness and handling and greatly improve the looks over the original imo.
Problem was steerer was too long and when cut the thread was too short. This pic shows what needed cutting off and how far thread needed extending.
After phoning around I discovered this was not a job my local bike shops could do, but Condor put me in touch with framebuilder Winston Vas from Varonha frameworks who said he could do it.
I dropped off fork with him yesterday and early this morning he contacted me to say it was done and ready for collection. Whacked on a crown race and it was ready to fit...
Fork looks a much better match for the Max chainstays and the wishbone rear end, so very happy with how it now rides and looks.
Problem was steerer was too long and when cut the thread was too short. This pic shows what needed cutting off and how far thread needed extending.
After phoning around I discovered this was not a job my local bike shops could do, but Condor put me in touch with framebuilder Winston Vas from Varonha frameworks who said he could do it.
I dropped off fork with him yesterday and early this morning he contacted me to say it was done and ready for collection. Whacked on a crown race and it was ready to fit...
Fork looks a much better match for the Max chainstays and the wishbone rear end, so very happy with how it now rides and looks.
Botty Kayer
Dirt Disciple
Slight positional tweak and gave it a pic with some all black tyres and the pink lettering Shamals that probably suit the bike a bit better....
...which also gave me a chance to try those other Shamals with my chrome-rich Bottecchia, for some more summer dazzle...
...which also gave me a chance to try those other Shamals with my chrome-rich Bottecchia, for some more summer dazzle...
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