Pursuit/Persuit(2 for 1) What do I have here?

[brauluver]

Well It's me again with another what have i got here.
This time I actually had to purchase these bikes, and didn't just find them on the verge.Having said that I think i may have picked up a gem for a song still.
2 bikes , one is badged as a Pursuit, which as far as I can tell was an 80's high end Cro Mo bike sold through Super Elliots in Adelaide.
The other is labeled as a Persuit and has indeterminate origins.Both were purchased and owned in Adelaide.
Both belong to the sellers different brother in laws and he had a little info, but wasn't really sure of exact facts.


White Pursuit.

This frame has a few spots of surface rust and many paint chips but is straight and true.Definitely need a strip and respray.
Seat tube 57cm
Top Tube 56cm
Head set, brakes,Cranks,FD,RD Hubs and pedals are Shimano 105.
Rims are 700c.Front ,Mavio MA 40.Rear, Campagnola Omega 19(with a big whip in it).serial # in pics .

Decal looks original and Kosher

Serial # if anyone can add any info

Diamond shapes on rear brake bridge.
There are no tube set stickers, but if it's the same as this one, which I think it may be http://www.collectablecycles.com/index_ ... rFrame.htm then its columbus Cro mo.

total weight 10.5 kg

Red Persuit.

This bike is quite clearly 100% Cro Mo as well but the lug work and hidden brake cable is redolent of a repco Tri A.
Seat tube 59cm
Top tube 57cm
Fork ends and rear drop outs stamped Tange TR.
Headset tange Levin
Brakes .cranks,FD,RD ,Hubs and pedals are Suntour cyclone.
Rims are Ukai 27x1 alloy.
Corsair 313 san Marco saddle.
Total weight 10.6 kg.
This bike is in better condition paint wise.

logo(only one)

Head lugs(redolent of Repco tri A)

Serial # does this help to ID as a suspected repco frame.

I've pumped up the tyres and taken em both for a quick fang.
The red bike is nice to ride and looks great with the red paint and fancy lugs.
the white bike however feels like a fast responsive race bike(even with a dogs leg whip in the rear rim) and is a dream to ride.
Kind of like comparing a Skyline(red bike) to a Ferrari(white bike).

Looking forward to getting your informed opinions and feedback on what I've picked up here.

Cheers Dave.

If you want to request more pics of specific detail them just ask.

[brauluver]

MMMM.....having another look at the repco tri A shot online and it would seem that the lugs are little more fancy than them.
it's just the internal brake cable that has me thinking that way.

here are some more shots of the lugs.

[uMP2k]

As the owner of Repco Nishiki Tri-A I can definately say that the lugs are no where near as fancy as on your frame. Plus the model of the Tri-A with internal brake cable routing also has internal routing fro both the front and rear deraullier - quite different to your frame.

Very nice frame I would say!

Stephen

[brauluver]

As the owner of Repco Nishiki Tri-A I can definately say that the lugs are no where near as fancy as on your frame. Plus the model of the Tri-A with internal brake cable routing also has internal routing fro both the front and rear deraullier - quite different to your frame.

Very nice frame I would say!

Stephen

Cheers. yeah you are right, the Tri A is quite different.

Just came back from giving them a 3 k tester around the block and they both are nice to ride , but the white one feels like a racing bike and just sprints when you gas it and generally feels more comfortable.
can't wait to get the rim trued and give it a service.Seems I may have found that steel roady I've been dreaming about.

[familyguy]

The white bike certainly looks like a tighter frame, a nice pick up.

The red one definitely seems like a Japanese set. Does it have a rifled steerer tube? Has it got braze on down tube shifter bosses, or is it set up with a band clamp? That + 27" wheels probably a good indicator of its age. Its certainly been looked after, more so than the white Pursuit.

Pity its not a 700c bike at that size...I'm after another one!

Jim

[Hally]

i have a tange 900 frame with those same 'pursuit' stickers, except it also has 'graeme mcvilly cycles' stickers on it. actually, i had to go check, because the sticker reminded me of both of yours. it is the same design and spelling as your white bike, but it has the colours of your 'persuit' label...

McVilly sold bikes in Hobart in the 80's and early 90's i think.

can't comment on the ride (mines a 60cm, too tall for me to stand over, so i never built it), but tange 900 gets a reasonable rap

mine doesn't have internal routing though...is that generally something done on the better quality frames in a range? if so, seems likely to be a decent set of tubes. how will you eradicate that rust?

[rustychisel]

http://www.dbmagazine.com.au/cyclo/Arna ... ursuit.jpg

a nice race frame; this one is definitely 531 DB. This is more or less how it came, but I changed the saddle and pedals and swapped the gears over from downtube indexed shifters to STI. Very nice bike.

[brauluver]

http://www.dbmagazine.com.au/cyclo/Arna ... ursuit.jpg

a nice race frame; this one is definitely 531 DB. This is more or less how it came, but I changed the saddle and pedals and swapped the gears over from downtube indexed shifters to STI. Very nice bike.

Cheers Rusty, my frame is pretty much the same I think.Looks like I've scored a good bike then.All it needs is a strip and paint.As for riding , it can best be described as fitting me like a glove.

Does yours have a sealed bearing in the B/B?
I'm guessing from the serial # mine is an 89 build.
Any other info as to the heritage of this brand?

[Dave R32]

Both are great finds.

These are kind of bikes I am hoping to find.

Cheers
Dave.

[brauluver]

Both are great finds.

These are kind of bikes I am hoping to find.

Cheers
Dave.

Yeah I've been trying to score a decent steel racing frame for 6 months or so.watching ebay and seeing bikes go for more than I had.I set myself a $100 limit and started watching classifieds.This add was for the white bike but after chatting to the guy he said he had another bike that I could have as well.Couldn't believe my luck.
I found a SE track bike, and picked up these 2 all in one week.
That's me sorted for awhile,now I just have to raise the $$$ to fix em up.
The red bike will probably get sold on to recoup costs.

[tallywhacker]

doesn't look like you mass produced frame. Hereis another one

[brauluver]

doesn't look like you mass produced frame. Hereis another one

Yeah there is a few on that site of the same brand,I linked to a road frame in OP.There is no doubt they are quality handbuilt/specialty frames. I'd just like to know if mine is columbus or 531.looks most like ly to be like RC's to me.I may email that colectable cycles site as it's in Adelaide.Does anyone know if it's a present member here?

[MichaelB]

doesn't look like you mass produced frame. Hereis another one

Bugger you. Some nice frames for sale there at nice prices ....

[Hally]

oh, i see, i got the frames mixed up...its the red one which has internal routing. and i was confused about what you were asking..i thought you were trying to work out what both bikes are, but i see you already know plenty about the white 1. sorry, read it wrong and plain ignorance.

it seems the 'pursuit' brand is well-known in Adelaide? a super elliot house brand? i'm wondering how come the late McVilly was selling bikes with this same branding, plus his name in the late 80s. i'd appreciate any info on the brand (a franchise?)

and again, from a position of genuine ignorance and interest...how will you clean the rust? on looking at the photos a second time, maybe its not as bad as i thought at 1st glance...but can you just strip it, sand or blast it clean, and repaint at leisure? do you have to treat it with something to stop the rust, or give it a coat of something PDQ after cleaning it up. how long can you leave a bare frame before it will start to oxydize? i'd appreciate any leads...any websites or other info you can direct me too. i've seen so many nice restored bikes on this site, and i have 1 to i really want to have a go at doing up.

anyway, seems you have a bargain. really looking forward to seeing how it comes up.

cheers,
Dave

[brauluver]

and again, from a position of genuine ignorance and interest...how will you clean the rust? on looking at the photos a second time, maybe its not as bad as i thought at 1st glance...but can you just strip it, sand or blast it clean, and repaint at leisure? do you have to treat it with something to stop the rust, or give it a coat of something PDQ after cleaning it up.
Dave

I have in the past used chemical stripper for bulk of paint, and then sanded/wire brushed until totally clean and free from surface rust.Apply an anti rust primer and then paint colour of my choice.A lot more work than sandblast, but saves me some buck$

[5 Star Rolf]

... WOW... just back from from some time off and I see some jewels emerging.
Nice pick ups,- both neat and functional as opposed to most 'vergen' property found!
I will look forward to their revival and re-makes, sorry I cannot help with origins, I'm not very familiar with these makes.

Good score...2 nill...Cheers, 5*R .

[brauluver]

White Pursuit.

Started to pull this bike down today to check and grease bearings and found the fork steerer tube has the same stamped serial # as the B/B of the frame.I'm guessing it was a hand build for them to go to the troule of serialising both fork and frame.
frustrating part is I'm no closer to finding any info on frame builder or tube set.

[WyvernRH]

Started to pull this bike down today to check and grease bearings and found the fork steerer tube has the same stamped serial # as the B/B of the frame.I'm guessing it was a hand build for them to go to the trouble of serialising both fork and frame.
frustrating part is I'm no closer to finding any info on frame builder or tube set.

I dunno about Jap/Oz builders but stamping the frame number on the frame and the forks was/is common practice among manufacturers in the UK. Even the largest like Raleigh and associated brands), Dawes, Elswick etc did it.
Matching numbers is no guarantee of quality it just means you have the original forks (tho it does look quite a nice bike I have to say)
Cheers
Richard

[brauluver]

Matching numbers is no guarantee of quality it just means you have the original forks (tho it does look quite a nice bike I have to say)
Cheers
Richard

Thanks Richard.yes, if ride quality is anything to go by this bike is very nice.I've never ridden anything steel before that has made me go wow, like this bike has.

[brauluver]

White Pursuit.

Guy I bought this from is 90% sure it's reynolds. Rock on!

[brauluver]

Red bike tidied up very nicely and has been sold on.
Recouped original purchase price and made a tidy profit to boot.I love it when that happens.So now I've got some money to give the White bike a quick spruce up and start riding.If it's as good as I'm hoping I'll tear it down some time in the future and give it the strip and powdercoat it deserves.

[Stovepipe]

Hey I'm gonna try dig up an old topic here. This is basically copypasted from my post on fixed.org.au.

Picked up this 'Persuit' frame off the bay in adelaide last year and have been riding it since. Seller said he doesn't know anything about it, "probably some cheap taiwan noname".

I really like the geo and feel of it, so I figured I would try a bit harder to work out its history. It came with a tange seiki levin NJS headset and has suntour pro dropouts. Not particularly light but not heavy either.

I started pulling stickers off as soon as i got it, so i missed out on photos of the downtube decals. I can't see the pics of the red persuit anymore (expired), but the Pursuit and my Persuit have the same logo. what's up with the different spelling?

[brendan03]

The only thing I can offer is an opinion that your frame looks remarkably similar to my Ricardo. Fork is identical and the lug work is very close. Mine features Suntour GT dropouts and and was found with a tange BB

Yours could be a Ricardo or similar with a paint job and new decals? Or it could just use the same fork and be something much more? No idea sorry.

[brauluver]

Yeah the red one that I had with the persuit decal was nothing like that frame.
Nervex type lugs, routed brake cable and all suntour.
Maybe they were just knock off decals of the real Pursuit brand that people just applied to any old frame.

My other Pursuit however was the real deal, and is still used to commute daily.
love it ,it's an awesome frame.

Formerly the white bike

Currently commuting on a sweet Reynolds 531db frame with late 80's 105.
running as a 7 speed.a smidge under 10 kg as pictured.
I love this bike.
SPD shoes and a hi vis vest, with the work pants tucked into the sock.
take all my food for the week in on the day i use the car for kid pickup or o/time, so i can ride sans bag for the rest.

[brauluver]

Actually looking at that frame it bears a strong resemblance to my Black pursuit above.
If it's like mine there will be a serial# on underside of BB and a matching one on fork steerer tube.
Mine was custom built for it's original owner by Wayne Roberts and sold through Super Elloits.
It could be either Reynolds, Columbus, or even tange2.

have a look and get back to us.
have a look at hte rear brake bridge too and compare to the earlier picks of mine.