A few thoughts come to mind about this marque.
Along with Speedwell Titanium of the UK, I think these bikes are a truly interesting piece of cycling history, being the introduction of a material that would be a major player later in the world of competitive cycling. Both were made of commercially pure Ti which is now looked down upon as inferior with newer alloys in the forefront, but that was the state of the art at the time....
When Teledyne were introduced at the various International bike shows, they created quite a stir in a few ways.
First, of course, was the use of the ti material and the strength of the host Company (Teledyne Linair.) This ensured a serious effort was underway and gave credibility to the marque.
Secondly was the company's use of Shimano Dura Ace as the premier parts group shown on the show bikes. This was a big break with past practices of virtually all major pro bikes being shown with full Campagnolo. The Super Record group was introduced just about the same time as the Teledyne, so this was a really brave move on the part of Teledyne.
The Teledyne were sold as frame and fork though and they showed up at time trials and races with all sorts of lightweight components. Many had the state of the art parts of the day. For example, Fred Kozak (are you on the CR list at the moment, Fred?) built up a Teledyne will all the top bits of the day including (if memory serves) Huret Jubilee derailleurs, Regina Ti freewheel & chain, etc. He will display that bike at the <A HREF="http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Events/Cirquemain.htm">Cirque du Cyclisme</A> this spring I understand! I do not know the end weight but it is darned light!!
Of course, one of Teledyne's achilles heels (along with a fragile fork) was the reduction of sizing of the frame down tube at the points of shift lever and gear cable guide attachment. This was said to cause frame breakage at that point, being a stress riser (although I never actually heard a specific case of that happening.) The top tube however, while also oversized, was not squeezed down to accept "normal" 1 ' to[p tube cable clips so the special oversized clips were made by Shimano to be used for these bikes. Those are the clips some of us are looking for....
The finish on Teledyne is not just a bead blast (as I assumed originally) but a special odd anodizing that is very hard to reproduce. Sadly, scratches and blemishes are not easily touched up.
Decal sets have been accurately reproduced and are available through Pro refinishing shops (including those turkeys at the below address!)
Hope that fills in the blanks for many of you...
Dale Brown cycles de ORO, Inc. 1410 Mill Street Greensboro, North Carolina USA 27408 336-274-5959 Fax 336-274-6360 <A HREF="http://www.cyclesdeoro.com">cyclesdeORO.com</A> <A HREF="http://www.classicrendezvous.com/main.htm">Classic Rendezvous</A>