[CR]re : 60's Olmo with "fancy" headlugs

(Example: History:Norris Lockley)

From: <emeneff@earthlink.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2005 17:10:46 -0700
Subject: [CR]re : 60's Olmo with "fancy" headlugs

I'm not positive, but I believe that those overdone ornate "headlugs" are really just a cheap and nasty one-piece stamped headtube assembly. Many cheapo italian bikes came with similiar pieces - notably the low-end Atala's of the same era. Kind of interesting that the big makers would actually make the effort to tart up their cheapo bikes and actually try and make them look nicer. It is too tempting to look back on second-string bikes like this (and even cheaper ones) and ask "why even bother ?"

The way to tell for sure is to remove the fork assembly and look inside the headtube for the tell-tale full size holes for the top and downtubes ( and the big ol' weld seam along the front ). Eons ago I think I had or saw a catalog from the Italian firm "Rizzato" that featured these pieces. How come I can remember that and not remember what I ate for lunch yesterday ?

Large companies often used this trick to save a few pennies and some assembly time for the lower-end models. Even Trek did this for some of their less expensive bikes, back when they actually made bikes of METAL . . . remember that ?

Memory and cheap bikes can sure be strange . . . and not what they always seem !

Mike Fabian
Foggy San Francisco