Retro Carbon / Alloy Bonded frames

Many Thanks Stringfellow, that's more than useful. My frame falls somewhere inbetween a TVT HR and a Look KG86 from dissecting your photographs. There aren't any TVT stamps on mine apart from on the BB shell. The frame follows your TVT HR with the exception of the seat-stay and brake bridge arrangement which is more akin to your Look KG86. Do you know whether the codes on the BB shell refer to production date & number? If so the stamp on mine is 160393 47 - possibly 1993 - or is that just a coincidence that the stamp resembles a date?

Many Thanks
 

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This is the only thing I found on LOOK/TVT numbering, & i got this off a forum somewhere ages ago on the web (see below)
I can't say if its true or not but worth looking at.

I agree yours dose seem to fall between the LOOK & the TVT.
The Brake bridge dose look like a "LOOK Frame" but the seat Lug seems to be the same as the TVT's strange!!
It might be worth checking for some detailed photos on Google for all the LOOK KG Series frames & checking the seat Lugs.
IMHO i'd say yours is a TVT the BB stamps sway it for me. with the TVT 5? which is the frame size.
FWIW TVT made the early frames for LOOK. 1985/87/87

I hope all this is of some help to you?


This is the quote off the forum.
"This frame's serial numbers are B53G06 and K6 on the other side. According to what that LOOK rep told you, this would have been the 6th frame ever produced on line G.

So it is a 53 cm frame production line G frame number 6 built in november 1986
the K = November is the month built and the 6 = the year 1986

Awsome wish mine was a 53 it would fit me much better lol
It is amazing to think that the frame rides so similar to my new 585!!!! "
 
Re:

What is media blasting ?

That would explain why Nitromors doesn't seem to do the job anymore . I'm pleased it's not me .

Hope you get something sorted out with the lugs

Mike
 
Re:

Thanks Stringfellow, I will spend some time googling some images for the Look KG series, I've done it for TVT and I haven't found a frame the same as mine using TVT as the search enquiry. There was a similar frame on ebay some months ago in South America I think, but that was the only one like mine i've seen.

Perhaps a short-lived frame design? Interesting that TVT made the early look frames, but if the BB stamp code is correct to the year then this is way out of scope for that, which makes it a bit of an oddity I guess. It's lovely and light, I'm just not keen on the colours nor the decals, but I reckon I can get the decals off so I may do that in the first instance.

Can I ask - do any of your frames have an aluminium insert in the seat tube? Circa 200mm down there is a bonded tube which may or may not have the bottle bosses integrated into it. It is unclear as to whether this is a one piece construction that emanates from the BB shell?

That's interesting - the colour on that TVT is the same as the front end on mine, suggesting it is from a similar period? All very subtle differences between these frames with some cross-overs between the brands of TVT and Look.


Mike - Media blasting is the use of fine media (sand / glass) fired via compressed air and it literally blasts the top layers of paint off down to bare metal. Used a lot in restoration projects but in many instances it is used on heavy grade steel etc, slightly different from alloy and carbon! I'm sure it can be done though, I just need to entrust somebody who's done it before.
 
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