joe englert

i have a medici bicycle form late 80s with a mix of super an c record parts. great shape. i just put in on cr for 850. but i am not too sure its worth that much. i know they are pretty uncommon but i wonder if they are very desirable. any medici experts around?

cycleheimer

Don't know if it is yours, but there is one on the Long Island Craig's List for $1,000. Real small frame, which I think would generally limit market appeal...but you only need one buyer. The one on CL also looks to be pink? BikePedia lists a 1994 medici Pro-Strada Osso with an original M.S.R.P. of $2,300. Tange Prestige ChroMoly frame, Campagnolo Chorus components. The BikePedia stats show it to be around 20 pounds in weight. Is yours a campy-equipped Pro-Strada Osso?

repechage

I have one of those, well a bit older from 1980. Got it for a song, under $400. a few years ago. Medici's are under rated, Mike Howard was the torch man, worked at Masi prior then Wizard where he shared the work with Brian Baylis.

For a bunch of reasons perhaps and no good reason, there time just has not arrived, so they are for the short term doomed to be bike on the verge of being parted out, as they will be worth more dissected than whole.

Mike Howard is another who got into trouble, in the same legal category as Boyer but serial, he plead guilty as the Long Beach hair bandit, will be out in a few years, unless the Govenator ends his time early to reduce the overcrowding there.

Medici took over Mario Confente's shop after Mario got locked out.

joe englert

mine says pro strada. it is full super record except the break levers are campy aero and the crank is c record. i think at that time bikes came with the new c record crank and the older super record. i have a pic of greg lemond on a old steel look which has the exact mixture as mine. must have been the same year. thanks for the info.

jan nikolajsen 

Now, I just spent a long time reading Classic Rendezvous' mail list about Medici. It left me confused, to say at least. Sometimes the info I pick up here on BikeForums is easier to assimilate, so let me ask a few questions about Medici.

I learned about the hair bandit Mike Howard and Simonetti's alleged lack of skills, and all the ties to Masi and Confente. What I would like to know is whether the Pro Strada had consistent quality in build and ride characteristic throughout the life of the company, when and why they folded and what tubing they used? Did Simonetti go on building frames till today? Were the Medici paint jobs really all that bad?

So why do I ask? Well, I have my eyes on a 64cm Pro Strada in Tange Prestige, year unknown but it has braze-on for front derailer and hidden rear cable in top tube. Seller wants $250 with headset and Dura Ace 7400 crank.

joe englert

looks cool. mine is made of columbus but it is earlier than that. looks like a good deal but i am no expert in fact i ask you guys for advise.

SpeedFreek

jannikolajsen. Medici did have very consistent results. I was on their race team, and lived near the facility, so I went there from time to time. I also had a Wizard. I also had a Colnago track bike painted by Mike Howard, and it turned out gorgeous! They had available in their shop Columbus, Reynolds, and Tange tubing. Unless ordered special, they used Columbus. My custom criterium bike had Columbus road and track tubes, with track fork blades. Extra stiff for field sprints. I would buy the bike. Their larger frames are built for real use, not just looks. I have an early 80's Pro-Strada, and i ride it every day. Good luck

jan nikolajsen 

Quite interesting! Thank for the input.

Asudef

...

Picchio Special

He's out - he's been weighing in on a couple of the bike lists.

joe englert

well mike howard is out eh? was he a good frame builder? in the same league as the other well known men who worked at the masi place in the 80s ?

repechage

A good builder. With regard to his ultimate abilities the future will tell. He was constrained by the business plan of Medici, it was to be production oriented and there was a push to produce. Mike did the heavy lifting of the building for years and so was burned out for a time by most reports.

joe englert

interesting. i wonder if hell build his own frames now. by the way, some guy called me, the other day, about a whizard? bike he had for sale. he said howard and some other guy built it and was very rare,even more rare than a confente, he wanted like 9000.00 for it which seemed crazy. any infor??

Picchio Special

Brian Baylis was the other builder. He and Howard had previously worked at Masi USA. Baylis has a top-notch reputation as a builder and painter. But not $9000 worth. That price is the product of some guy figuring that if a Confent is worth x, then an even more rare Wizard must be worth x+y. Vintage bike math doesn't work that way (for one thing, Baylis didn't die a tragic early death, thank goodness), though Wizards are quite sought after.

repechage

Wizard Cycles or Bicycles was a Mike Howard and Brian Baylis team up. Brian is still building, should be able to google quite a bit. By absolute numbers, Wizards are I think a bit more plentiful than bikes with Confente on the down tube. I don't know the total number. The fellow who was offering it for $9,000 has a very high value of it. If that price range is reasonable, why not a Bruce Gordon?

Picchio Special

+1

joe englert

well, i thought that was crazy but then again i think if i bought another bike for over 4k i would be very tempted to buy the "one of a kind" masi aero on ebay built by another california masi guy

repechage

Wait on that one, it will either drop to what it is worth or will go off the market. $2,500 is "real" but then you might never find another who wants it later for that price. Fun bike, made by Moulton, just not "masi" enough.

look at:

https://www.bgcycles.com/specials.html You could probably fit the green one, tres chic.

joe englert

thanks for the advice. did you check out my new thread on the two confentes? any ideas on those in LA? thanks again joe

DrBellpepper

I have a Black Medici Gran Tourismo with yellow trim from the early 80s(?) I think the bike has most of the origional parts execpt brake levers and the saddle bags which I mistakenly got rid of. Many of the parts say made in France. I would be shocked if the bike had more than 600 miles logged on it and is in good shape. My father gave it to me almost 10 years ago and it is just a little too small for me as I am over 6ft. tall. I was wondering if anyone had advice on where I should try and sell it. And if possible a value to start with. Thank you.

Tigerprawn

Hi DrBellPepper,

You might want to start a new thread in this sub forum and post lots of pictures and details about the components. That way we'll be able to help you effectively.

jacquie686

A 84yr young friend has given me his Medici Pro Strada to sell. It's been in his garage for years. how do I do him justice selling the bike? number's on underside are 56 0971. Honest help is appreciated!

SpeedFreek

I read your question. Obviously, anything offered for sale depends on market demand. The market will be large or small, depending on the condition, size of the frame, and how is it equipped. I bought mine a few years back, for $600.00. It was an oddball. Pink color, the components were weird, because all the bearings were Campagnolo, but the parts bolted on to them were Shimano Dura-Ace. It was obvious the bike had been all Campy at one point. Why somebody would do that is beyond me. Maybe they wanted the indexed shifting. I ride it with the index in the "Off" position. Mavic clincher rims, nice saddle. See what I mean? If it had been a more mainstream color, and all the original Campy parts there, it would have been valued at more like $1000. If the bike was poorly stored, the rubber parts have likely broken down, lowering the value. I have had several Medici bikes over the years, and let me tell you, those bikes ride great, and are very durable. Good luck selling it.

himespau 

I'd guess the 56 in the serial number refers to size. Make sure you put the size in the ad and some really good pictures and some text. The more information the better when it comes to getting top dollar for your sale. E-bay will probably get it in front of the most eyeballs and that's important for a potentially rare/expensive item like this for which your local market will probably be rather small.

campyparts

I have an early Medici Gran Tourismo (58cm), in excellent condition. It has the early Medici downtube decals, without the stars. I wonder how many bikes they made under that first decal series? Great riding bike, by the way. Brian Baylis was quoted saying that that most Medici frames rider better than Masis from the same period or slightly earlier (mid to late 70's), obviously. But Brian Baylis also said that the reason for his dislike of the Masi ride, may be due to the very small frame size that he rode and the long wheelbase of the Masi GC and longer fork rake. Personally, I ride a 60cm Masi, and the ride is fantastic, so I was surprised to read that Brian made those comments.