Eisentraut Limited History

[cnighbor1]

I noticed an Eisentraut Limited was posted under classified Here is some of the history
Enjoy Charles

''02/14/2017

Eisentraut Limited History

Cameron Murphy <c79murphy@gmail.com>
Today at 1:16 PM
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Classic Rendezvous lightweight vintage bicycles

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Jim, *I know we talked a bit about these Limited's / Alpines privately a few months ago. *I don't have any hard facts, so please don't treat this as gospel. * From all the research I've done, it appears that the Limited's started as a joint project between Eisentraut and Georgetown Cycle Sport. * Georgetown Cycle Sport had house brands of "Alpine" and "<CID>" *(Cycle import and design???) *Muddying the waters is the fact the GCS apparently slapped Alpine and CID stickers on bikes from dozens of makers, some domestic, but many from England as well. *Most of the GCS bikes aren't Eisentraut built, but it looks pretty clear that at least a few of them were. *(By Eisentraut built, I mean built by someone at his shop. *Everyone is pretty clear that these Limiteds were a way to free Albert up to work on the custom model A's. *It's been suggested that many of the early Limiteds were done by Bruce Gordon, but I can't say for sure.) *Some old Georgetown employees thought there may have been a few hundred Eisentraut built bikes, while Albert later claimed it was maybe a dozen or two. *I suspect the dozen or two may be closer to reality, as there don't seem to be many examples, vs the "Eisentraut" branded Limiteds. *

I have a 1975 example of the "Alpine" branded ones from GCS here:*1975 "Alpine" Limited* *I certainly can't see any difference between this and any of the racing model Limiteds sold as actual Eisentraut bikes. *It has the 3/16 allen head binder bolt, 27.0 seatpost, same semi-fastback seatstay treatment, and spade cutouts in the long point lugs. *The fork crown is the same Fischer?? with long internal tangs. *The only real difference, is the later '75 and '76 Limiteds had brazed on cable guides above the bottom bracket, vs the clamp on ones on my frame. *I did find another genuine Limited sold on ebay last year that lacked the guides same as my Alpine frame. *My serial number is 75L110 so pretty early, but not as early as the serial of 75T009 of the ebay frame we're talking about. *(The "T" may be for Turin *It's possible that the Turin frames are numbered independently of the other Limiteds, not in series). *If the ebay frame really is frame #9, then that might explain the presence of the ridges on the lugs, vs the lack of them on my frame, and all the other Limiteds I've seen. *

Other "Alpine" and "CID" branded Limiteds can be seen here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...eset-info.html
http://www.bikeforums.net/18565436-post31.html

I wasn't aware of these Turin bikes built by Eisentraut before this thread, but it certainly seems to share all of the identifiable features with the other Limiteds, with the exception of the ridges on the head lugs. *Does that mean that this bike, and the "Alpine" bikes are identical to Eisentraut Limiteds from 75-76? *I don't know. *It's possible there are some differences in tubing, or other specs that can't be seen. *I would guess, based on the serial number on my Alpine being in range with other legitimate Limiteds, that they are the same, just plucked out of production and sent to GCS on demand in small batches.

Either way, my bike rides great, as I would expect this "Turin" frame to ride. *I'm glad to hear yours is still serving you well.

Cameron Murphy
San Marcos, CA *USA




On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 8:35:24 AM UTC-8, Jim Townsend wrote:
I am unsure if you are right, Cameron. *It would depend on when it was built. *Limiteds were built in 1975, maybe into '76. *Those were built by people who worked for Eisentraut, or in Bruce Gordon case who was a partner with him.
Eisentraut later built bicycles with similar seatstay treatment that were called Rainbows, and I believe he built those himself, or with one other person. *I do not know if the Turin bicycles (or for that matter, the similar Alpine bicycles) were built by Mr. Eisentraut's hand or that of some other people. *In any case, we appear unsure if it was built at the time of the Limited's or the later Rainbows. *So, to call it a Limited may be incorrect.
I would add that I heard nothing about his Limited frames to suggest they were sold with alternative branding. *Mine was built in '75, and I have had it since I was nineteen. *I rode it to work this morning.
Jim Townsend
Alpine Twp., MI USA
This is one of his Limited frames, not the full custom model "A" *Those usually go for much more. *I haven't seen a ton of Limiteds for sale, but a couple of ebay framesets have gone in the $375-$450 range. * I've seen people asking $800-$1200 for complete bikes, but I don't know if they sold at that price. *My Limited is certainly very well made, but not on the same level as his Model A's, at least from what I can see in photos. *All of the work on the frame is top notch, with all of the details cleanly executed, but there aren't any frills, just the basics. *That, and the rather muted stock colors and minimal graphics make for a very understated bike. *No one is going to mistake it for a Colnago :-)

Cameron Murphy''

[Whit51]

Good read - thanks for posting this.