Columbus Tubi

Columbus Tubi
legal form	Srl
founding	1919
Seat	Settala , Italy
management	Antonio Colombo
Number of employees	57 (2010/2011)
sales	€ 186 million (2011/2012)
Branch	Steel and other tubes for bicycle frame construction
Website	http://www.columbustubi.com/

Columbus Tubi is one of the world's oldest manufacturers of steel tubes for bicycle frame construction . The company from Caleppio di Settala near Milan has been producing tube sets for frame construction since 1919. Alongside Reynolds , a British manufacturer, and Tange International , a Japanese manufacturer, Columbus was the world's leading manufacturer of steel tubes for bicycle frames. Today the company is still one of the most well-known manufacturers of bicycle frame tubes and frames or components made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (KFK, CFK, "carbon"). Columbus Tubi is part of the Gruppo SPA , which u. a. component manufacturer Cinelli is also connected.

The company's symbol is the pigeon , as "Columba" is the Latin word for pigeon.

history

Columbus label on a steel frame

Columbus was founded in 1919 by Angelo Luigi Colombo, he was already producing tubes for well-known bicycle manufacturers at that time. From 1931, the company produced welded and seamless tubes for the production of bicycles, motorcycles, cars, airplanes and furniture. In the 1930s, special tubes for bicycles were first manufactured, which became known under the names Aelle , Tenax and Columbus . In 1977 the company's bicycle division became independent under the leadership of AL Columbus' youngest son Antonio Colombo and has been manufacturing aluminum, steel and CFRP tubes for bicycle construction ever since.

Product lines

Steel tubes for the frames were supplied in different qualities: earlier Gara , today Niobium , Nivacrom and XCR . Today the company Carbon offers XLR8R Plus from KFK.

Steels from the 41xx family ( Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)) were used most often . This alloy consists of the elements iron, carbon, chromium and molybdenum , which usually to designate moly led (etc. also CrMo, Cr-moly) steel. The addition "Tre Tubi" (German: three tubes) is often found in Columbus tube sets. This means that in the respective frame model only the triangle of the main tubes (top tube, seat tube and down tube; see diamond frame ) were made from Columbus tubes, but not the seat and chain stays.

Steel pipes

The weight information refers to a frame set.

brand	description	Weight (g)	customer	Manufacturing period
Brain	High quality pipe, more modern than the SLX and SL pipes. Mostly installed as an oversized version. Stiffness LK 75Nm / TL 88Nm	1870	Bianchi, Schweizer Marken u. a.	since 1998
Max	Tubes made of Nivacrom steel with exceptional strength. Elliptical cross-sections are made so that they are oppositely oriented active and passive voltages. This set was developed to withstand extreme demands: sprinting, time trial, mountain driving, and strong centrifugal acceleration on the descent.	1900	Bianchi, Pinarello and a.	since 1989
Zona	preTelai steel, wide range of pipe diameters	?	Patria	current
Matrix Cromor	Made from cold-drawn, chrome- molybdenum steel (CrMo)	2190	Bianchi, Battaglin, Santini, Faggin, etc. a.	Matrix from around 1982 change of name to Cromor from 1986
XCR	Current tube, triple butted, made of stainless steel.	?	Bianchi et al. a.	since 2012
throne	lightweight tubes with wall thicknesses from 0.9 to 0.6 mm	?	Peugeot et al. a.	current
Gara Or	Based on the Gara set, in various diameters and strengths for the three tubes of the frame, suitable for MTB, shock absorbing and resistant to loads on uneven terrain. CrMo steel	2740	Bianchi et al. a.	from 1989
Aelle	Tube set for amateur and touring bikes. The thin walls of the pipes resulted in a reduction in weight. Aelle was widely used in racing bikes in the 80s. CMn steel	2345	Bianchi, Enik et al. a.	Mid 80s
Zeta (Tubi Trafilati in acciaio al carbonio)	High quality tube for racing bikes	?	Enik et al. a.	Mid 80s
Life	Various elements in the alloy allow a thinner wall thickness	?	Bianchi et al. a.	current