Another ‘what the hell is this frame’ thread.

[Stringerfabrication]

I bought this unnamed bike because of the parts on it. It’s had a fairly poor repaint, but It came with ‘94 rc35 Kevlar, and a full 93/94 lx groupset including hubs, in mint condition.





It’s got specialized x23 rims and specialised bars, a no name cromoly quill stem, and a XT headset and seatpost. Saddle is a recovered selle San Marco.
I have a suspicion the frame is a little earlier and it’s been built up with all the gear off a specialised, plus the forks.
I’m trying to ID the frame, and thought I’d struck gold when I found the distinctive rivetted on cable guides are the same as a ‘90 alpinestars, before the E-stay models. The canti yoke and brake bosses are also the same profile, and the dropouts.
The geometry also seems to more or less match the catalogue to within a mm or two.
The issue is it’s 1-1/8” head tube. As far as I can tell all alpinestars branded bikes were 1-1/4”, and the earlier MS racing branded bikes were 1”.
Seatpost is 27.0.





This so the alpinestars catalogue that provides a close up of the detail parts.


Frame number, an odd format?

So is it an oddball alpinestars, or were other brands made in the same factory with the same detail parts, or is it something else entirely and the similarities are a massive coincidence?

 

[jimwise68]

You beat me to that one. I saw it local to me in Essex on FB marketplace. Nice parts list but I couldnt work out what it was.

I did wonder if it would pop up on here.

 

[Jamesbike]

It's aluminium.....

 

[Stringerfabrication]

You beat me to that one. I saw it local to me in Essex on FB marketplace. Nice parts list but I couldnt work out what it was.

I did wonder if it would pop up on here.

It was actually up in stowmarket but not too far. As a parts bike it’s great, I’ll use the forks on one bike and the groupset on another.

I can’t help the nagging feeling that the frame isn’t just some no-name junk given the parts Hung off it, but it’s gunna take the right person to see it to get an ID.

 

[Stringerfabrication]

It's aluminium.....

To be honest at the minute I’m struggling to say much else about it either too!

 

[jimwise68]

It was actually up in stowmarket but not too far. As a parts bike it’s great, I’ll use the forks on one bike and the groupset on another.

I can’t help the nagging feeling that the frame isn’t just some no-name junk given the parts Hung off it, but it’s gunna take the right person to see it to get an ID.

that was my thoughts entirely, worth the purchase just for the parts, but who puts those parts on a crap frame?

 

[Spudalumps]

This looks like the bridges A PRO were fitting to orange aluminum elite frames

 

[Stringerfabrication]

This looks like the bridges A PRO were fitting to orange aluminum elite frames

There’s a few frames with similar/the same bridges, and maybe 3-4 manufacturers I’ve found that seem to use the same dropout too.
The thing I think that will get it is finding one who uses those details in conjunction with the rivetted cable guides. These really seem quite rare and only used on bikes of a reasonable quality and for a relatively short period. The only one I’ve found so far is alpinestars.