Shimano Branded Mystery Frame/Bike Titanium(?) What is It??

[d8mok]

Re:

I very much doubt it’s a shimano publicity/show bike. As without sounding harsh its a mess of spec. Yes some XTR bits but the rest is all a bit rubbish.

More likely the person who owned it before stuck a shimano sticker on as they didn’t know what brand of bike it was. Plus I’m sure that Shimano back then would have had a deal with a manufacturer to display their bikes

In terms of it being Ti. Weight certainly points that way but it looks more like a nickel plating or similar to me at first glance. However the welds do look like Ti. Maybe use a dremel on a small unseen area to see if it sparks white?

 

[StevieBob]

After a bit of research...turns out it's a cow! :shock:
(It's on the non-drive side though...)

Will address all of your reply but I have to start with the elephant....EUHM I mean COW in the room...I mean topic! XD Still pissing my pants right now hahaha . That was GOLDEN sir!!!

@ d8mok: Can not disagree with that and don't worry about sounding harsh! Think the XT parts are solid? Do doubt that the owner/buyer just slapped on some decals, like I said, they are on proper! The letters are lined up and I measured its position, it is on right. Now I know you can do this, but I have done some decals and stuff and god what a pain in the butt hahaha

@ mk one: Well I disagree on the chain stays being bend as an argument against Ti. Just google titanium chainstays and you can buy them bended like that. Agree on the sticker not saying anything perse. Sadly the frame gives not much extra info.

@ hamster: Do you know if Reynolds 935 steel is magnetic? As far as I have found some maraging steels are magnetic. Think I read that the 300 range is magnetic????

Maybe somebody with a titanium frame could measure the diameter of the tubes on his/her frame and maybe also a thickness of the material at the seatpost? I included the sizes of mine in the starting post.

So anybody knows if there were frame builder/makers who did steel frames like this in the 90's?

Am going to use the dremel later today. Will get back on that!

 

[nporternz]

definitely not a Marin - cable guides are wrong, shaped stays are wrong

my Marin ti looks a bit like a polished nickel plate - but when I put it next to a 1993 team issue it looks quite different

 

[d8mok]

Re:

I think it’s Ti. Dropouts look Ti to me. Probably a Far East or Russian frame or similar.

But if it was a shimano publicity bike it would have .... matching groupset , more shimano branded parts (Seatpost , shark fin, etc). Shimano being the monster company they are don’t bang a cx400 mech and some lx hubs on their bike to show people.


Anyone with a steady hand and some masking tape can put decals perfectly level.

I’ve bought loads of similar bikes which have had no branding , or a single sticker and have never thought any of them could be more than what they are. Just enjoy it for what it is

 

[nporternz]

looks like a motobecane or something of the like - made in taiwan probably

frame shape and cable routing looks a lot like this

 

[mk one]

you can now yes, but older ti bikes tend to have straight stays, Merlin being an obvious exception, and from what i can remember one of their selling points.

On first look, the dropout junction says ti to me, but the bent stays, for the supposed year just aren't right, neither is the finish, though obviously its hard to tell for sure just from a picture.

And all my Ti bikes have different diameter tubes, so measuring them wont be much help. Have you got a close up pic of the inside of the headtube? that should still look like ti.

Hopefully you get to the bottom of it regarding material.

 

[StevieBob]

So grabbed the dremel (well not really as it is not a Dremel by brand, but you get the idea ) and the sparks were so much whiter than the steel I cut after it. So titanium folks!! Also the inside of the head tube and seat tube do not have the same finish as the outside, not the nickel/chromish finish (cant get it right on the pictures though), but more like the "regular" titanium look.
There was one other clue I found: on the non drive side drop out, on the outside, at the edge of the qr opening there is a small circle with in it is written "42 OTK". Whate ever that is :S

@nporternz: Thank you! That clears that, I think! Could you give me some measurments on the material thickness though?

@d8mok: Yeah that makes sense with the parts! The far East or Russia, that is interesting though, never considered Russia (makes sense, titanium comes from Russia, ask the SR-71 XD). Were/Are there any brands that are known from back in the days? Oooh and I will enjoy it! Never had a titanium bike before and I really like it and I am start rebuilding it (resto-modding) it today Even when it is not Ti (which it seems it is) it is still a cool light frame

@mk one: Aaah, that is funny about the bend stays! But this is the later part of the 90's for sure, were Merlins not a tad earlier? About the finish, see first paragraph of this reply

 

[nporternz]

sorry - I don't have one - I just thought it might be one

the OTK might be a reference to Ora Taiwan something that made Motobecane... I don't know

 

[adroitstif]

Regarding Russian brands, there was one called "Titanium Red" in 1996 with this kind of nickely finish, but this isn't one of theirs; dropouts and some other details are wrong.

 

[StevieBob]

sorry - I don't have one - I just thought it might be one

the OTK might be a reference to Ora Taiwan something that made Motobecane... I don't know

Yeah I found that post to about somebody finding out who made the titanium Motobecane frames!

Regarding Russian brands, there was one called "Titanium Red" in 1996 with this kind of nickely finish, but this isn't one of theirs; dropouts and some other details are wrong.

You are right, the finish does look the same! But indeed, on some of the pics I can find, the drop-outs are all wrong and the cable guides too! But they have bended chainstays!!! And then I found this post on this forum with an old ad scanned by a froum member: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;t=203730 The pic in the add has more regular drop-outs but the frame is a different shape.

I never knew that there were so many builders and brands in the 90's that did Ti frames :S Unless somebody comes out with a hard ID I think the origins of this frame will remain unknown :'( But hey maybe somebody can make head or tails out of this mystery!