francophile 

They're in pretty damn rough shape, but it wasn't clear exactly how bad based on pics the owner posted on CL. Called anyway.

Talking to the buyer, he insisted, "trust me, some cycling pros told me what they're worth, much more than the $300 asking price, I believe it's worth a 2hr drive and I'll pay for your gas ".

They were pretty damn bad. Like, "I've found better bikes at the dump" bad. Most of the paint, chrome and leather is FUBAR from weather on all three frames. Rust galore, but there's a silver lining in that two of the bikes were home-repainted by the previous owner and that saved the original paint and possibly decals. Most smaller bits like the Campy cable clamps are rusted enough they'll need re-plating.

I didn't want to turn around and drive 2 hours back for nothing so I offered $50 for the Louison Bobet and "Campagnolo" bike. He wanted all three gone. We struck a deal far below asking price. I told him what I believe is the truth: there's probably $300 in parts if cleaned/serviced and put on eBay but ... it's a hell of a lot of work to do to get there.

Short list

• Louison Bobet 15spd, was metallic orange but repainted to yellow, Campy/Simplex/Stronglight/Huret mix on the FD/RD/HS/SL.
• Liotto 10spd, was blue but repainted another color blue with the owners name all over it, full Campy incl the pedals (chrome is shot on pedal caps and cage)
• Sekine 10spd (SHT model maybe?) the original paint is great on the DT but the TT is scratched all to hell, Shimano drivetrain, Campy pedals (same as the Lottia pedals- chrome bits are shot).
• Pretty sure all 10 rims are tubular, rims are a mix of Araya, Weinmann, Nisi, Mavic. Several Campy hubs, at least two are hi-flange, there are a matching set of Hi-E hubs, and one Normandy high flange.

The blue Liotto was one of the repaints, he put his name and number on it - Rick Baxter or Rich Baxter - he was supposedly from North Carolina and the bikes were purchased at an estate sale, then sat around after.

No time to dig on the bikes yet and see how bad the insides are. Most of this seems 60s/70s at first glance. Can't tell what I can salvage yet, and it's possible the Louison Bobet didn't have wheels because the front fork took a side impact - that may be what happened to the other Mavic + Normandy, seems logical that would have been stock on the Louison Bobet. Will know more later.

Took higher-res album of the pics here if anyone is interested: 01-09-12 shopping - Album on Imgur

juvela

blue machine looks to be a Gino Liotto



https://www.peterbrueggeman.com/cr/liotto.htm

https://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Liotto-Gino.htm

francophile 

It is! I'll get the decals off. Lottio with full decals intact under that paint somewhere. I scraped some off the NDS DT, you can see in the gallery. Head tube decal (if it existed) is probably gone.

CroMo Mike 

Too nice to turn down, but so much work to be done.

francophile 

Exactly. I'm still on the fence with the frames and what to do with them. No way to win with the Sekine, I could probably break even after getting the L Bobet up. I'm not even sure about the Liotto, under the BB entire sheets of paint are chipping off but the rest is actually nice looking.

I'm looking forward to later tonight when I can go dig into it all and look up some more on the Liotto.

francophile 

Thanks for adding these @juvela

Interesting, about your second link: These were only distributed in the USA from 1971-1972 via Cyclopedia, which was also a distribution source for the L Bobet if I recall correctly. I suspect I'll find date codes in that range. However, this one has a vintage 3TTT stem on it vs the panto one shown in the first link.

CuttersRidge

"Tomorrow we ride" is by Louison's brother, Jean. Decent book

Tomorrow, We Ride: Jean Bobet, Adam Berry: 9781874739517: Amazon.com: Books

The Bobet looks very nice, still has the pump and those objects are rather fragile.

juvela

Peter's example is several years later and not a Portuesi import.

The 3TTT Record stem on your example launched ~1971-72.

Liotto also did some contract work like the cycles mentioned in these threads, done for a distributor in Dallas Texas:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...age-value.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...no-liotto.html

3speedslow

I would still consider you lucky even with that pile of work ahead of you. Like the Sekine.

Winter projects for you... Checked off.

T-Mar

The Sekine is a mid-1970s model SHS. It looks OEM with the exception of the saddle and pedals.

francophile 

@T-Mar : Even the Cinelli stem? That seemed like the one thing out of place.

juvela

unlikely that the machine's "pedali di Tullio" are original either...

Gino's stern hub is about ten years earlier than he is.

francophile 

Right, right, I always overlook the pedals For some reason I thought the Campy pedals were on the Liotto and the Bobet.

Also, just realize I typo'ed Liotto everywhere including the subject. Time to go hunt a moderator for an assist

francophile 

If there's any interest, some piece of something on the Liotto head badge was still there under the paint (the more pure blue is the original color). Looks like it's a sticker of some sort with partial word and a gold leaf wreath.



Oh, and here's the serial on the Sekine. I thought the first letter was supposed to indicate the model, but this can't be an STX without chrome lugs, right?

oddjob2

Note that 3 out of 4 WIW's are from Canadians. At today's exchange rates, $300 Canadian is about $210 US, $70 a bike.

Happy cleaning!

juvela

wrt Sig. Giovanni -

here are some details from a Celeste-esque example:



this silver machine in ex-works condition looks to be about two years later than your example:

Gino Liotto 73' - BikeMyDay.comBikeMyDay.com

rgver

Great score, a lot of work to do but some great bikes there

T-Mar

You're right. I din't look at the Imgur pics, just the pics attached to the original post and the stem didn't jump out because of the similarity to the OEM SR Apex.

Hey, I noted the pedals weren't OEM!

juvela

i would do much better here at the forum if i actually learned to READ!

T-Mar

Oh, it's definitely an SHS model. Sometimes, I still assemble them in my dreams! The top model was the SHX (not STX) and as you noted, it's not one of those due to the absence of chromed head lugs. Next down were the SHT and SHS, These were identical except for the crankset and derailleur. The SHT used a forged crankset with an integral five armed spider. The lower SHS used a crankset with a three armed chainring that was swaged to the drive side crankarm. Yours has the latter and is therefore as SHS.

The model is not coded into the Sekine serial number format. The serial number indicates the frame was manufactured in September of 1974 or 1975. Unfortunately, the models did not vary from year to year during this era, making it difficult to determine the actual year codes from the limited data that I have collected. If you want to PM me with component dates codes, it may help.

Despite the fact that the decals probably state "Made in Canada", this bicycle was only assembled in Canada using a Japanese manufactured frame. FYI, MSRP circa 1974/1975 was $225.00 CDN.

francophile 

Sorry, SH not ST. I have SH*T for brains over here, pretty sure I'm fighting a cold oncoming.

So, we have a date on the Sekine, which is good. It's also found a loving home over the weekend, which is also a good sign. Got it a little cleaned up, shy of the TT scratches, flaky paint on the rear seat stays and a little chrome bubbling from rust near the DO, looks like a really nice ride. If it weren't way too damn short for me (these bikes are all 54cm ST on centers), I'd have taken it for a ride to check it out. Too much "toeverlap" at that size.

francophile 

Well, found a home for the Sekine, think I'm keeping and restoring the Bobet and Liotto.

Still hunting information on the Liotto, which seems to be the more interesting or obscure of the two, history-wise. This one I picked up is a 1972 and it was absolutely purchased through the Cyclo-Pedia catalog - the head tube graphics are a dead giveaway - apparently it was sporting a Cyclo-Pedia specific logo on the front. Sorta sad most of the front decal is gone. Does anyone have a shot of one or have a 1971-1972 Cyclo-Pedia catalog laying around?

Here is the bike I have, taken from the 1974 catalog, you can see the black graphics and the Liotto DT graphics sans rainbow on either side.



I also found this bit explaining the bike from the Classic Rendezvous list.

Hummer

TMar,

pardon the correction, but I am fairly confident that the Sekine "W" serial number frames are manufactured 1972 and the "X" serial numbers are 1973. I have verified this on several Sekines with the date codes of components.

The Sekine serial number year letters, by coincidence, match the Shimano date code year letters.

3speedslow

Come on Friday!

non-fixie 

Nice bikes, great thread. Love to see the big guns (@T-Mar, @juvela and @Hummer) in action !