maaakaaa

Yesterday I picked up an interesting bike that appears to be a touring model. Not well cared for recently but seems to have good bones. Columbus Chromor tubing seems like it’s pretty nice.

Interestingly though, I can’t find anything online regarding a “Van Nuys” bike. I’d guess it’s the brand, but could maybe be a model name. Searching bikeforums came up with nothing except a city of that name. No head badge. I’m thinking early ‘90s from the LX group with biopace. 700c mismatched wheels, but line up with brakes so I expect they are the original size.

Does anyone have a lead on what I have? I’ll clean it off more to find a serial number in case that helps if it’s made by a different manufacturer. I don’t know who was using Columbus tubing all that well. Thanks!



I acquired the bike in Boulder but unfortunately this shop closed long ago.

maaakaaa

Anyone??

billytwosheds 

The serial number would help a lot. Images of the bottom bracket, threading, etc could help as well. Looks like a decent bike.

Van Nuys is located in outer Los Angeles County, and there were a lot of cycling companies in the area at one point.

Have a little patience and provide more details, and you may get the info you seek.

juvela

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looks to be quite a nice machine

thank you for sharing it

there was an importer of bicycles located in Van Nuys California during the 1970's; they were the creators of the Campania marque, which were contract produced Fuji poducts. unlikely to be any connection.

the forum has a number of members who live in Colorado, perchance one of them may see the header and be able to let us know the origin of the name.

alternately, we may get assistance from our most august DCI @MauriceMoss
on his next stop through; he seems to have knowledge of every marque produced



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John E

The tubing sticker is written in Italian. See if the BB cups are 36mm x 24 TPI. Expect a 27.2mm outer diameter for the seat post, given the butted CrMo tubing.

The cantilever brakes are interesting and do point to a designed-for-touring machine.

I agree with the others -- it looks homely, but is probably a very decent ride.

maaakaaa

I was a little worried that the post might get drowned down the queue. I’ve got a wheel-building class tonight but hopefully tomorrow I’ll have time to dig around on it, clean it up, check for serial number (it didn’t seem obvious on the bottom bracket shell).

unworthy1

I was fully expecting to see pix of a Campania with a headset marked "H. McIver Van Nuys California"...but this is something else!
Just to supply some visuals, these are a "Professional" and a "the Ace" models both sourced from Japan and at least the "the Ace" clearly a Fuji product but maybe both were.
They sure don't bear much similarity to this Cromor-tubeded "Van Nuys"

SurferRosa

Glad it wasn't local to me. This is exactly the kinda bike I might see listed once every five years for $150 (if I acted fast) only to spend $500 building up because it's such a cool frame.

smd4

The best thing about Van Nuys was the 94th Aero Squadron restaurant next to the airport, but it closed two years ago. And the Anheiser Busch brewery.

juvela

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readers may have noticed that lug pattern is BOCAMA

then there is that flat faced semi-sloping crown

these are two features seldom encountered on Italian products

when Italy wants to employ a gaulic lug pattern they seem to select Prugnat over BOCAMA and NERVEX

the centrepull bridge appears decidedly asian

me wylde speculation be that it shall turn out to have been an anglophone product

the mix of asian fittings covers more than a single keiretsu (trade group)
usually, cycle manufacturers try to stay within a single keiretsu for their fittings in order to get a better overall price

[ this is one of the reasons the Grant P. designed Bridgestones costed so doggone much ]

me guess be frame produced in Vespucci terra and will exhibit ISO dimension

likely assembled into a cycle at the retail shoppe or consumer level


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John E

I guess we'll have to wait for bottom bracket cup diameter and threading ... .

I love a good bicycle mystery.

unworthy1

Huh! Never knew about that restaurant but my Dad occasionally convinced us that a visit to "Busch Gardens" would be just as good as to Disneyland, and a hella lot cheaper for him!
They did have some exotic birds in an aviary, but...it was no Adventureland! Unless you consider it adventurous to watch workers dump bucketloads of wood chips into vats of boiling "wort"; which is/was the secret to legendary "beechwood aging" of Budweiser. I don't recall if Busch got any woodchips (since that was the economy brand).
In the same neighborhood there had been a GM assembly plant that built Pontiacs, IIRC, and also long ago shuttered.

smd4

Sounds exactly like my dad! Busch Gardens was cheaper, but they also had beer!

Insidious C. 

Pretty sure Van Nuys is a Dutch name. Maybe bike came from The Netherlands.

mpetry912 

unworthy1 I have never seen a headset top nut like that ! pretty cool

/markp

maaakaaa

I cleaned it up with soap and water this afternoon. Can’t find a serial number anywhere. A few interesting lugs with contrasting paint accents.


Interesting lug detail




Dura Ace brake levers. Would these have had rubber hoods or be used as is?



No head badge or sticker.






No serial number here

maaakaaa

maaakaaa

Beautiful bikes, and that is a great headset cap.

jdawginsc 

That is a weird bike all around (and very cool as a result). Cromor tubes, Japanese frame bits, Deore LX parts, eyelets.

Im going with American contract build sourced from Taiwan! How’s that for a guess with no merit behind it...

Yes the levers would have had hoods in all likelihood.

maaakaaa

Thanks for the detailed evaluation! I hoped the lugs may be a clue. I added more photos as well in case they are any help. I haven’t ruled out that maybe a local person built it, but there is the shop sticker which makes me think it was sold at a shop, though maybe not necessarily when brand new.

What is the best way to evaluate if ISO? Also were there many individual country standards remaining at this point (semi educated guess of 1990/91)?

juvela

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a most excellent point!

a Dutch origin would explain some of the apparent small contradictions

maybe we can hear from some of our low countries members

perhaps one of them has encountered the marque...

paging His Unfixedness @non-fixie


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PhilFo 

I'm willing to bet it's a Japanese frame, from the Hatta headset and other Japanese components. Probably JIS cups as well. Do the dropouts have stamps?

juvela

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rather few Nippon manufacturers construct with BOCAMA lugs and crowns


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Doug Fattic 

Those look like Cinelli brand investment cast lugs and i'm sure that is a Cinelli fork crown. I'm positive Cinelli top eyes were used as the top of the seat stays treatment. Those Cinelli brand frame materials were common for framebuilders like myself in the US to buy in the later 70's and 80's. My educated guess (as a framebuilder) is that the High Wheeler bicycle shop in Boulder Colorado hired some American Builder to make them some top end frames to sell in their shop. I wouldn't be surprised if he was located in Van Nuys, CA. I know some of my colleges from that era built with Italian father than English threading. It is hard for me to tell from the pictures, but that looks like a high end hand made frame and not some production frame.

Jeff Wills

Hatta (Swan?) sealed headset.

The components say late ‘80’s- early ‘90’s timeframe. I bet the original drivetrain wore out and was replaced with what was available.

To me it looks like a custom touring bike built specifically for someone in that period. It’s been well used and loved until that person couldn’t ride anymore. After that… garage sale? Estate sale? Who knows.