Mark Bulgier wrote:
>
(snip)
> Goofiest tube shaping I can recall was the "Ditchex" (I'm not making that
> name up either!) top tube on some Zunows - the groove was so deep that the
> rear brake cable housing snapped into it and was almost internally routed.
> Columbus made a top tube like this too, held one in my hands, but never saw
> a frame made with one. Way heavier, weaker and more flexible than a plain
> top tube, but what a cool gimmick! 80s Zunows made Colnagos look sedate:
> "Horn System" seat tubes, "Pentagla" chainstays, and the immortal Ditchex -
> is the Zunow marque still alive?
Man! What a trip down memory lane! Remember those Puntious (sp?) twin girls from Canada that did all the triathlons on Zunows???
I custom ordered a Zunow Z-1 (like a Cinelli Lazer without the bondo) with smoked paint that was going to be mine after they put it on a stand in the Zunow booth at a Long Beach Trade Show (Dealers' Showcase maybe before Interbike etc., anyone remember?) years ago.
A friend was looking at my frame in their booth and was pointing out the arch on the underside of the fork crown to another friend (oh, OK... they were bike geeks). The builder wondered what he was pointing to and talking about and my friend blurted out, "the arch is asymmetrical, it's lopsided," (he didn't realize he was talking to the builder from Japan). All this unbeknownst to me.
When I went to get my custom made frame at the end of the trade show I was told that I couldn't buy it! Turns out my "friend's" comments had caused the builder to lose face.
Chuck "I'm still looking for my Zunnow Z-1" Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California http://www.velo-retro.com (list of reprints, Campagnolo Timeline and T-shirts)