classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org wrote:
>Send Classic
>
>I noticed on the frame that it had what I think is a rather rare Foil
>Columbus decal. Are these in fact rare and what other bikes came with them. I have
>seen older 1960ish Frejus with foil decals, but not any 1970s bikes. Do others
>have more experience with these?
>cheers-
>Dave Anderson
>Cut Bank MT
>
>
>I sold a '73 Italvega frame earlier this year, and it had the foil label. Seen these on a couple other early '70s frames, I assume that Torpado/Toressini (as well as other big operations) may have had an ample stock of these and so used them up on their production before switching to the "modern" decals. Some trivia regarding Italvega, an "importer's brandname" devised by (?) Ben Lawill (?) for his Italian, then Japanese imports (which then became Univega and made by Miyata, then others). I may be confusing Ben for another bike boom heavy-hitter, but this guy was based in the East Coast (Boston) then moved ops to SoCal. The diamond cutouts were carried over from Italvegas to early Miyata-built Univegas, but the Itals had a unique feature: the biggest cutout in their BB shells I've ever seen. More air than shell. Nevertheless, the samples that have passed my hands have been very nice riders, and good quality workmanship, too. Maybe not a Pogliaghi, but...
>
Alan Goldsworthy
San Francisco, CA