Hello, I Just picked this up today from craigslist. I was wondering if anyone had any info. It's Tange tubing with almost complete xt spd group. It's very clean & well maintained but I cant find a damn thing online about Olmo making Mountain bikes. Any info appreciated.
early 90's Olmo
mattytruth
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Hello, I Just picked this up today from craigslist. I was wondering if anyone had any info. It's Tange tubing with almost complete xt spd group. It's very clean & well maintained but I cant find a damn thing online about Olmo making Mountain bikes. Any info appreciated.
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A few Italian bike manufacturers ventured into making Mountain bikes in the late 80s-earlyand 90s. They weren't as well received as their American counter parts so they abandoned those ventures. Nice pick up , you beat me to it.
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What the heck?! Wow, I never knew Olmo put out a MTB either, seeing the thread at first I thought it was a misnomer. What next!!!!
I saw an early Cinelli MTB back in 1989-90 when we visited Fisher's warehouse over in the North Bay area. It was clearly a clone(though not completely identical) to the Fishers, Evolution headset, etc, etc. The quality wasn't that great, none of us were excited any longer after fifteen minutes of giving it a good looking over.
Funny thing I see about your Olmo is that wishbone stay, makes me think its lineage was either Raleigh or Mongoose.
I saw an early Cinelli MTB back in 1989-90 when we visited Fisher's warehouse over in the North Bay area. It was clearly a clone(though not completely identical) to the Fishers, Evolution headset, etc, etc. The quality wasn't that great, none of us were excited any longer after fifteen minutes of giving it a good looking over.
Funny thing I see about your Olmo is that wishbone stay, makes me think its lineage was either Raleigh or Mongoose.
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First Flight has a Cinelli & a Pinarello & Hillary Stone had a Colnago a while back but this is the first Olmo I've seen. I took it out this morning for a nice 15 miles of single track & I've got to ask, is there anything better then flying by college kids on fancy new full suspension 29'ers on a 20 year old bike you bought for $175.00 on craigslist the day before. Age has it's benefits Ha ha. What's up Chef? you'll be happy to know your old Yo is owned by the gal who runs the bike church in asbury park. It's looking good with an Answer accu-track on it. be well people.
Olmo has always made MTB, but they've never made it up outside our borders. Pretty common frames, scarce attention to details, heavy, dull, and scarcely performing. This is true for Olmo, Colnago, Rossin, Pinarello, Atala old bikes. Want a decent Italian vintage MTB? Scapin, Grandis, Pegoretti, Ferremi, Nori. Cinelli . Forget the rest.
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That's funny, that wasn't my experience at all. I found the bike to be not particularly heavy. Very lively & responsive. & I don't know how you determine performance, Everything works correctly as far as the components go. The geometry suits me well. The frame & fork are straight, the welds are clean & the paintwork is excellent. I'm curious, how does one have the opportunity to ride & evaluate all of these different brands? Have you? If not then your opinion isn't really relevant. If you have than I wonder how your opinion was formed. Did you work as a reviewer for an Italian mountain biking magazine in the late 80's- early 90's? Your statement is broad & I'm just trying to clarify how you developed this knowledge.
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There are very few professional reviewers from the 80s and 90s on this forum, Matty. I think you should take everything you read on the internet with a grain of salt. After all, an opinion is an opinion. And anybody can share their personal opinions about bicycles on an open forum on the internet.
You like the bike. Who cares what anybody else thinks.
As for how does a person try so many different bikes, I can't speak for Italian bikes but personally, I've ridden bikes by at least a dozen American builders so it's not that far fetched to try a bunch of bikes and form rough ideas about how you like them rather quickly.
Anyhow, I think it's awesome when people ride past people riding modern 29ers so go out and keep kicking some ass.
You like the bike. Who cares what anybody else thinks.
As for how does a person try so many different bikes, I can't speak for Italian bikes but personally, I've ridden bikes by at least a dozen American builders so it's not that far fetched to try a bunch of bikes and form rough ideas about how you like them rather quickly.
Anyhow, I think it's awesome when people ride past people riding modern 29ers so go out and keep kicking some ass.
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Thanks gob, I appreciate your point. & don't really care what anyone thinks. It just bugs me when people make seemingly arbitrary generalizations about something so subjective. It stinks of brand snobbery, & makes the person giving there opinion seem ignorant & after looking at even's gallery it seems we probably have a lot in common bike wise. Again, Thanks for your kind words, they weren't lost on me.
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It seems as if the poster with the opinions on Italian frames, may be Italian, and therefore have some experience. He states that: "Olmo has always made MTB, but they've never made it up outside our borders." Given that, he may have more experience than most with mtbs from the Italian companies.
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Quick question Matt is that stem inserted to the safety line? Looks pretty high up.
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Yup, It's right at the safety line. The tiny head tube makes it look longer.
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Yeah, that's what it's for.
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Hi mattytruth,
I guess this is what you're looking for:
Mtb
plus, if you wish to see new models, they recently updated the new catalogue which is free to download (thankfully, even in english)
Media download
I must say i think Olmo MTB look great, though they're a little underrated. Take a look at the new model "Tuareg", with the latest rock shox ario 3.2... right here:
Tuareg
![Image]()
Hope i've been helpful to you
I guess this is what you're looking for:
Mtb
plus, if you wish to see new models, they recently updated the new catalogue which is free to download (thankfully, even in english)
Media download
I must say i think Olmo MTB look great, though they're a little underrated. Take a look at the new model "Tuareg", with the latest rock shox ario 3.2... right here:
Tuareg
.png)
Hope i've been helpful to you
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Wait. Pegoretti made MTBs? I want pics!
Ok, sorry if I lost touch with this thread. Yes I am snobbish because I am Italian and I know which Macaroni frames were good and which not. Early Italian bikes were generally overbuilt, had road geometries and handled like a nightmare. This particular one doesn't even seem made in Italy since it uses Tange MTB tubing (and this would even account for the nice riding quality you are reporting). Olmo has always welded Oria or Columbus metals. Plus, wishbone rear stays are really atypical for Italian bike builders.
The Olmo dual boinger on the photo is a Taiwan ready made frame with good graphics. I could buy some and stamp my EVEN logo on them.
I've ridden and raced a number of Italian bikes, and so have my friends. Italian ATB reached a decent maturity around 1994-95. Before that period the best you could get was by the brands I've listed. Then you are perfectly entitled not to believe me. But think twice before raving after a Pinarello made out of Columbus tubing.
Pegoretti MTB? Yes, and they are DREAM BIKES. This is a modern incarnation, but back in the days Pegoretti and Castagnino of FRO components built incredible creations (using excell steel)
[ pegoretti cicli - modeli 2003 - models 2003 - pogostick ]
The Olmo dual boinger on the photo is a Taiwan ready made frame with good graphics. I could buy some and stamp my EVEN logo on them.
I've ridden and raced a number of Italian bikes, and so have my friends. Italian ATB reached a decent maturity around 1994-95. Before that period the best you could get was by the brands I've listed. Then you are perfectly entitled not to believe me. But think twice before raving after a Pinarello made out of Columbus tubing.
Pegoretti MTB? Yes, and they are DREAM BIKES. This is a modern incarnation, but back in the days Pegoretti and Castagnino of FRO components built incredible creations (using excell steel)
[ pegoretti cicli - modeli 2003 - models 2003 - pogostick ]
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I think some people didn't realize you were 1) Italian and/or 2) lived in Italy. :thumbsup:
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