Re: [CR]Re: Ross "signature" on Ebay

(Example: Framebuilders:Masi)

Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:34:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Fred Rafael Rednor" <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Re: Ross "signature" on Ebay
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <004001c45e1a$531285e0$6501a8c0@lobby>


Please note that some of the Taiwanese built bikes were labeled "Signature" and came with Shimano "arabesque" parts - albeit at the 105 level. I think there were 3 versions of the Signature bikes: the original hand built frames, a series mass produced in Pennsylvania and then the series mass produced in Taiwan. Tha latter have some features that make them instantly recognizable, such as the brake bridge treatment which has an actual cube in the middle where the brake mounting bolt passes.

I just converted one of the Taiwanese Signature bikes to a fixed gear for a friend. Except for the fact that the frame was outrageously mis-aligned - and the bottle bosses are somewhat misplaced - it's not an atrocious frame. I worked on a few others many years ago and found this was not an unusual situation.

Cheers, Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
> The pics posted on Ebay do not show any closeups of the frame
> areas which
> would indicate it being a handbuilt PA bike.
> The cheesy decal on the head tube tells me it is not.
> But the components do. The Super gran tour was never a high
> end bike that
> was built through the handbuilt USA frame shop from what I
> remember.
>
> but $200 is kinda ok for the parts and wheels, no?
>
> Tom Martin
> Oakland CA
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <EdVintage63@aol.com>
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 11:00 AM
> Subject: [CR]Re: Ross "signature" on Ebay
>
>
> > Ross for sale on ebay:
> >
> >
> http://ebay.com/<blah>
> > rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
> >
> > On the general topic of "caveat emptor,"
> > I don't see any real indication or proof this is a Ross
> Signature model,
> but
> > the seller is clearly saying it is (though the word
> "signature" in the
> item
> > description is cleverly not in upper case or quotes), and
> that it is built
> by
> > one of the four named frame builders associated with the
> signature
> program. He
> > can't even do better than a seven-year time span for the
> year the bike was
> > built. What little I know of Ross bikes suggests that this
> is probably a
> > Taiwan-built number - and very likely NOT a Kellog or
> Redcay frame. Maybe
> I'm wrong,
> > but this seems another case of, at best, ignorance on the
> part of the
> seller who
> > nevertheless makes some pretty strong claims for the item;
> and at worst, a
> > carefully crafted deception. Or am I wrong about the bike?
> Any Ross
> experts?
> > Ed Granger
> > Lancaster, PA, USA
> > P.S. As a new list member, some brief info. I am a
> 40-year-old mostly
> > unsuccessful Cat. 5 road racer and A-Group bike club rider.
> I have been
> interested in
> > vintage bicycles (60s-70s-era lightweights) since I began
> riding three
> years
> > ago. Of course, I am old enough to remember when the 70s
> were the current
> > decade, and briefly owned a Peugeot road bike circa 1981
> that weighed
> about 35
> > pounds. About six months ago, I purchased a mid-70s
> champagne Benotto 1500
> with
> > full Campy Gran Sport that I have tried ever since, with
> little success,
> to
> > identify the frameset of (Dale Brown was kind enough to
> respond to my
> email query
> > about the bike). Trying to learn more about my frame,
> building materials
> and
> > techniques, and about vintage components (as a result of
> pondering an
> upgrade
> > for the Benotto) has sucked me deeper into the mire and led
> to the
> purchase
> > (or perhaps "rescue" would be a better term) of a pair of
> early-70's
> > fillet-brazed Schwinn Super Sports. The piece de resistance
> thus far is my
> newly arrived
> > '76 P-10 Paramount, resprayed but otherwise original and in
> extremely good
> > condition. Coveted bikes would include: early 70s Masi GC
> (orginal pick! -
> lost a
> > bid on one not too long ago, which did have the silver
> lining of
> preventing
> > marital difficulties), Raleigh Pro, maybe something more
> esoteric like an
> Alex
> > Singer or Flying Scot; or a nice frame build-up project
> from Ron Cooper or
> > Eisentraut. Heck, I wouldn't mind finding an authentic Ross
> Signature from
> Kellog
> > or Redcay, either.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
>

__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail