Since the Ole group was found on mid-range bikes at the time, I needed to find a suitable frame to hang the parts on but what?
The parts originally came off a Nishiki International that looked like it'd been left outdoors for maybe most of its life, but an '89 International is pretty hard to find these days. So - since I'd been working on a Circuit, I didn't have to look very far to find a suitable Schwinn candidate, namely the Tempo. But what was this "Columbus Tenax" tubing all about?
I remember seeing the Tenax tubes back in the day and just dismissed it as some crazy, cheap tubeset Columbus sold to Schwinn and gave it some weird name just so it wouldn't be recognized as a crazy, cheap tubeset. It wasn't unheard of for a bike to use a Columbus tubeset found only on that particular bike model, although this was probably more marketing gimmick - some variation of an existing tubeset was used - than anything else. For example, I have a Colnago Altain that uses Columbus Altain oversized tubing. I'm pretty confident you won't find the Altain tubing on anything other than that particular Colnago model. What exactly is Altain? Heck if I know, but anecdotal evidence seems to put it in the same category as another oversized tubset of the same era, Brain.
Fast forward to the present and while looking around for a nice Tenax Schiwnn frame, I came across all sorts of opinions as to Tenax's true origins, everything from gaspipe to (gasp) Columbus SL?? Could it be true? Did Schwinn really produce midrange sleeper bikes that used one of the most venerable Columbus tubesets of all time in disguise?
Then something clicked in my head and while searching my old mags, I found this in my '87 Bicycling Buyer's Guide
From the review: "Tenax, used exclusively by Schwinn, is Columbus's production-grade version of its SL and SP professional series."
Now, that could mean a lot of things, depending on how one defines "production grade". However, I think one can safely conclude that Columbus Tenax is more closely related to SL and SP than it is to gaspipe and probably on par with the tubes found on equivalent Asian-born models of its day. Also, aside from the Paramounts, I believe all the Schwinn models using Columbus tubes were limited only to the three main tubes, with the stays and fork made from Tange or similar tubing.
So, does this mean that you should be putting your Tenax-equipped ride with its newfound Italian heritage on ripmeBay now and watch the bids come pouring in? Probably not.
BUT - does this mean that you should love your vintage Tenax-tubed Schwinn even more now?
You betcha!
Maui Dude: This Tenax tubing is a mystery Ive been trying to solve myself. Love the Tempo BTW. IMO the ride is every bit as good as my italian bikes better in some cases. Heres my problem with the article you mention. Why would schwinn proudly show SL tubing on their Pelotons and Circuits but not on the mid range SS, Tempo...etc If it as indeed SL why not say so? Marketing? Have to justify higher price on top end? One sourse says he wrote Columbus and they claimed it is rebadged Cromor. Whats your take on my points?
ReplyDeleteGiven that these Schwinn Tenax bikes had Tange forks, I have a different theory on what “production grade SL” means. In the mid 1980’s Columbus introduced SLX and was no longer pushing SL as its best tubing. I theorize that it licensed the manufacture of tubing using its SL technical specifications to Schwinn as well as the Columbus name, who then hired Tange to manufacture the frames. Thus “production grade” means tubing that is exactly like SL but not made by Columbus. I have the same theory on Raleigh 505SL tubing, about which I have never seen a definitive explanation, but it did appear on the higher end mid 1980’s Raleigh USA frames.
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