Hiya. I'm on vacation in Switzerland at the moment, and have been loving all the nice vintage bikes they have. Earlier, my sister and I had rented some new carbon road bikes for approximately 120 USD/day. I am sorta considering buying a cheap bike locally for occasional use over the next week- but also because all these nice old bikes are pretty cool.
Anyway, I've found a listing in my size for approx $60 usd, which looks like a quality bicycle, although the pictures suck. This idea only really makes sense though if the bike needs minimal maintenance and is ready to go, so tubular tires would be a deal-breaker. Can anyone tell from these photos if they are tubular or clincher?
Otherwise, I see Campy bar-ends, Campy FD, and what looks like decent lugs, but that's it. The brand, Tesag, is a small Swiss bike shop that apparently made custom bikes, or perhaps just ordered frames and equipped to customer's specifications? Idk. Thoughts?
by gregn8r1
6 Comments
It’s really difficult to tell from here. It sure would be nice to have a picture of a label on the tire or rim. I think they are clinchers for two reasons. First is the rim brake tracks are pretty tall for a tubular rim. Second, the tires are new, and nobody is going to buy new tubulars at this late date. Unfortunately, I could be wrong or there might be something I’m missing
Highly unlikely they are tubulars, loos like beaded rims
They look like clinchers.
Test ride it before buying. It might be ok as it is for casual trips around town, as long as the brakes are working, but I wouldn’t go as far as “minimal maintenance”. It looks like a nice bike once it’s cleaned up and overhauled.
I love the frame and color! Wheels are hard to tell. What kind of groupset? Photos are all non drive side.
Well, they aren’t tubular in shape. The rim will be smoothly curved and won’t have a shelf.
But the easiest way to tell is slightly deflate the wheel and try to pull the tire away from the rim.
A tubular is glued to the rim and then lil be obvious.
I thought I spotted some base tape. A pic of the label would help. Or just deflate and squeeze them. Can the move away from the rim bead seat or not?