My Caloi

[npn]

First time I heard of this brand when I was about to buy. I snagged it for $75. Somebody (previous owner) loved it! He upgraded the fork, tires, brakes and XT crank/derailleur.

Were these frames welded or bonded? I don't see any weld marks:

 

[velomaniac]

Re:

It's welded, they've just smoothed down the welds like Cannondale used to do. Mind you that shows a degree of care which means it's not low end. Never heard of the brand though but the world's a big place, not all brands are sold in the same markets.

 

[TreaderSteve]

Re:

A steal at 75 bucks! Real levers, Hyperlite bars...nice!

 

[npn]

I love the brakes too! Very unique/retro

 

[longun]

Re:

Caloi always seemed cool to me, only really saw them in mbuk when they gave one away as a prize and a few online since.

 

[brocklanders023]

Re:

South American weren’t they, maybe Brazil? Same memories of MBUK and seem to remember they usually came with DX or XT so decent bikes.

 

[malt]

Yup, made in Brazil. I bought one in 1991, my first proper mtb and it got me in to racing. I always liked the squared off stays, it was different to most other frames out there at the time.

Someone has definitely sanded down those welds though, they were never that smooth.

 

[foz]

They were used by the US postal team for a year or maybe two (well, the merckx frames they used were rebranded "Caloi by Eddy Merckx", and had exactly the same red/white/blue colour scheme.

 

[npn]

I'm yet to ride it as the front suspension is shot and the chain is stiff but I really like it. The tubes seem a big bigger than other bike's though but it's Caloi alright, the squared off stays are cool! It's not the lightest but the owner, who's the original owner said it rode really stiff.

 

[jimo746]

Re:

That’s cool, I’ve never seen one in real life, but I remember seeing their adverts in the mtb mags in the ‘90’s, always quite fancied one myself.
Looking at the frame, it could almost be an unpainted Klein. Almost.