Excell Tubing - Give me the 411 - Page 2

CNote · #16 04-11-2005, 11:57 PM

This one's a '99 with lugged steel fork and all. TIG'd frame, though. Rides like a dream!

zap · #17 04-12-2005, 11:12 AM

Excell was the best steel tubing available in the mid to late '80's.

They also had a steel/carbon fiber tube set which was thin gauge steel tubing with carbon fiber tubing inserted when the steel was heated and the carbon was chilled. Made for a fairly light frameset for that era. Almost bought a frameset to go along with that Roval wheelset.

Jerk- You sure take your time building a bike. Whats up?

#18 04-12-2005, 11:17 AM

Cnote -- is that a Giordana fork on that Pego?????

Big Dan · #19 04-12-2005, 11:21 AM

I think Dario will make you a steel fork if you ask and paid extra for a custom feature. Last year I was going for a Palosanto with a steel fork and was told it could happen......Should have done it...........

btw..nice steed C......

CNote · #20 04-12-2005, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Doofus

Cnote -- is that a Giordana fork on that Pego?????

I've always assumed the fork crown was Giordana since the BB shell is clearly engraved Giordana. I'm awaiting confirmation. I've been informed by "someone" in the know that it is more likely a 94/95 vintage.

#21 04-12-2005, 12:01 PM

food will always remember seeing his first Pego, in 1995. Ashley Powell (a southeast stud who could have been a very, very good pro if he had come along six or ten years later when the US scene was different...but he's still pretty freakin strong now) had a plain white excell steel with the plainest paint and ugliest, low-rent decals you've seen in your life.

everyone thought it was an "italian budget frame" until the doof set them straight about who dario was, and then all of a sudden everyone was in a tizzy...this was before he had a US importer, and if you wanted one you had to go to some lengths to get it...but ashley was a beast and knew what he wanted....

Too Tall · #22 04-12-2005, 12:31 PM

My Clark Kent AX-1 is made of this. GREAT bike!

nelson · #23 04-15-2005, 12:02 PM

The Giordana bb and fork on the Pegoretti makes since as we had Dario build many prototype Giordana frames both before the line was introduced and during its production. Most of the "one-off" Giordanas were build by Dario, though some were built by Isadoro from Excel. As I recall, all of the tig-welded Giordanas were built by Dario. The vast majority of these frames would have had Giordana decals. I only recall a couple of special order frames late in the Giordana frame days to have Pegoretti decals. I don't think he even had his own decals prior to that.

#24 04-15-2005, 01:10 PM

hey nelson --

this is digging back a way, but how do you think ashley got that pegoretti in 1995? was gita somehow involved, or had he gone to the source?

thinking that the name was painted on now...no decals? whatever....

the XL-ECO that was dug out of the warehouse about a month ago has no tubing decal on it (rasperry/silver)...excell or something else? not that it matters...its a nice bike...and who made those (Isadoro??)?

#25 04-15-2005, 04:57 PM

nice email from nelson --

doof says: if you can snag a NOS Giordana, do it. Doof had two in the 90s, one wobbled and was replaced with a gem. The other, along with the Rasperry Pimp, is perfect. Turns out those puppies were made by Billato...

sure the decals are cheesy, but what sweet frames for little moolah

jamesdak · #26 12-15-2017, 09:15 AM

Zombie Thread - Reviving for additional info for those researching Excell tubing. I've put several thousand miles now on a NOS Giordana XL Super that Nelson hooked me up with from the factory in 2015. This is one of the Excell Podium frames. If I had to give up all but one of my 20+ steel bikes this Giordana is the one I would keep. It is that good.

Like mentioned I had to get mine with a chromed ECO fork as a Podium one was not available anymore. The bike rides amazingly good under me. I know that is subjective but it just feels so "right" under me no matter how I'm using it. Flat out at speed, diving hard in a curve, sprinting, climbing, descending at 50 MPH+, etc,etc...

It seems like you hear about these being brittle anytime they are talked about. All I can say is mine get's taken care of but ridden hard. I weigh in the 180-190 lb range last years and ride fairly rough, beaten up roads. The frame has held up perfectly. On one routine descent theres a dip in the road you hit around 45 mph that is hard to see and impossible to miss. If you're not ready for it the jolt will shoot you out of the saddle. If a frame was going to fail I'd expect it to give with this hit under my weight. I don't think the "brittle" issue is really a valid thing. In fact I just bought another "grail" bike for me. A Lemond GAN made by the same wonderful Billato team from Excell GLX. I have no concerns about the tubing. Anyway just wanted to share my thoughts on this as there are still some of these out there and others may researching. I'm constantly fighting the urge to contact Nelson to see if more are left. My current one built up at 19 lbs 6 ozs without even trying to be light. I'd love to get another Podium frame and build it light. I bet it would be truly magical.

There is this exact frame listed on the "Steel is Real" webpage for sale at what I think is a steal of a price for one of these.

merckx · #27 12-15-2017, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xlbs

This was a mid to late 80's answer to the "new" Reynolds 753 and then 853. It was a tight-grained higher-tensile chrome-moly tube set known, at least in some cases, to be somewhat brittle. According to one now long-retired builder I sourced for some of my customers it was difficult to work with, but worth the effort.

If I remember correctly, it was also slightly larger diameter than most other tubesets at the time...I once spent a frantic Friday sourcing a then difficult-to-find 27.4 diameter seatpost for a woman set to fly to France that night. She was to compete in the Tour de France Feminine on her custom excell frameset... I got her the seatpost, but, alas, she didn't do well.

If you're buying a frame built with it simply inspect it carefully. If there are no cracks or other damage you should be fine.

I had a mid-90's ECO. Really fabulous machine. I suffered in many races on that frame, and enjoyed every moment. Regarding brittle tubes, my fork developed a crack just below the crown within a couple of months of ownership. No trauma to the frame or fork, just found it when cleaning it one day. Don't tell my mother, but I replaced the fork with a Colnago Precisa because Gita didn't have a replacement. I continued to ride it for several additional years.

oliver1850 · #28 12-15-2017, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesdak

There is this exact frame listed on the "Steel is Real" webpage for sale at what I think is a steal of a price for one of these.

I've been looking for one of those ever since seeing them in an old Gita catalog. What size is for sale? Link?

jamesdak · #29 12-15-2017, 01:41 PM

Here's the used one on:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4285...55969972102427

These guys are still listing new ones:

http://www.bikyle.com/GiordanaFrm.asp

Of course if trying for new I'd hit up Norman at Gita to see what's still left in the warehouse.

merckx · #30 12-15-2017, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesdak

Here's the used one on:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4285...55969972102427

These guys are still listing new ones:

http://www.bikyle.com/GiordanaFrm.asp

Of course if trying for new I'd hit up Norman at Gita to see what's still left in the warehouse.

It makes one wonder why all of the Giordana frames in Bikyle's stock have a plastic fork attached to them.

Btw, your machine is fabulous!