Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 17:40:17 -0800 From: John Jorgensen <designzero@earthlink.net> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR]ebay outing: Italvega Pogliaghi style
chuckschmidt@earthlink.net wrote: The seller says they were "factory drilled" but I don't think Italvega did this (or Campagnolo for that matter; pretty sure the seller is referring to Italvega and not Campagnolo when he says "factory drilled?).
Anyone else care to comment?
http://ebay.com/
LouDeeter@aol.com replied:
>I don't know about the cranks, but the boy who built this bike liked his
>Black and Decker. I know I've never seen someone go so far as to off-center
the
>little black port cover on the hubs. :)))
>
>Lou Deeter, Orlando FL
Then, designzero@earthlink.net (John Jorgensen) also replied:
>They were modified by Italvega or for them. Never saw one this white color
new, most were >light silver blue or silver.
>When I first saw them, the drilled through cranks really suprised me as
fractured cranks >had already crossed my path a handful of times.
>Retail for the bike new was $625. almost 30 years ago.
>A competing racer drilled his Sugino cranks just like it and was DNF at 10
meters in the >1975 Long Beach Grand Prix bicycle race.
>Note that the chainring holes are matched to the machined teeth step, not
modified to the >stock punched openings, those seem to have a
>generous tolreance, Art Stump brought this to my attention when commenting
how difficult >it was to machine Campagnolo chainrings and have
>them look good.
>
>John Jorgensen
>Palos Verdes Ca
~ ~ ~
Other responses have come in as well, but there is more ... I happen to have a chainring here with a suspiciously similar drill pattern, in all its' dis-symmetry.
Here's a link to my chainring:
http://www.wooljersey.com/
And here's a link that chuck supplied to the ring on Otis' Italvega
Superlight currently on auction:
http://uci.net/
Both rings have 53 teeth, 52 outer holes drilled, and the oddities of their drillings seem to closely mimic one another. They are not exact, but very close. I could imagine a jig or template changing over a few years of use, or changing with each set up done by the user ... is this possible?
The interesting part about me having this chainring, is that it has nothing to do with my interest in Italvega or Torpado. No ... this ring arrived on an early 80s Austro Daimler UltimaSL (SL again meaning Superlight, I believe?) ... It's the one with 531 Professional tubes and the smoked chrome finish (no, it isn't a Vent Noir). The Record / Super Record components were just a bit mixed in chronological development.
In my plethora of Italvega photo albums, not one of the Superlights still has the original drilled out components, save for Otis' bike on Ebay, so I cannot draw a comparison. Duane K's bike has the milled spider arms only, but that has already been covered in his post.
Mark Ritz mentioned the missing TTT stem, but the brochure at bulgier.net that Duane linked us to, shows the stem and bars to be Cinelli, at least in that particular year (76?). So, the brand is potentially correct, sans the ITALVEGA pantograph.
Here again is the Bulgier Italvega brochure link:
http://bulgier.net/
If you download the brochure photo of the Superlight, and zoom in just the right amount, you can kind of see the same wacky drill pattern on the lower left side of the big ring. I may be imagining it, but I think I see it. Anyone else care to comment?
So, is the drilled ring I have here an old lost Italvega item, that happened to find its' way home to me on an Austro-Daimler? Or, did an Austro-Daimler drilled ring, mysteriously find its' way onto Otis' Superlight at auction (he's only had it 2 years)? You decide!
Ciao, Mark (drillings only a mother could love) Agree Southfield MI