jimmuller 

Irio Tommasini, to be exact.





Now some details. The crank came from the parts bin.



FD, RD, and brakes are a Shimano gruppo, I guess.





Bar and stem are Cinelli. Rims are Mavic Reflex with black, yellow, and blue labels that match the color! How'd that happen???



I took it for a short spin around the block. Yow. The front end is quick. I'll have to do an A-B comparison with the Grandis but this feels quicker at first impressions. Of course details are different. The fit seem comfortable but that stem is shorter than I'm generally used to, and the current saddle position has me slightly further back. It feels light.

The shifting is 8-speed indexing DT levers. Very precise! (I'm trying it after a recommendation by @rhm.) With a quarter mile under the wheels I like it. Further down the road, maybe. I'm not thrilled about the dull gray color of the brakes and RD. The crank is a 165mm, something else that awaits judgment.

Longer rides are required. Ride, rinse, repeat...

Sir_Name 

Beautiful bike, Jim. Nice gearing for NE's rolling hills as well. Enjoy!

jimmuller 

Thanks. About the gearing, I'm not sure I'll keep it as-is. The cassette is somethingsmall-26 and the rings are 48-34. I'd rather have a 34/28 ratio but it really requires ride, rinse, repeat to be sure.

I did a short comparison to the Grandis after I posted that first entry. To a first approximation they are similar. The Tommi seems to have a quicker front end (and I thought the Grandis was quick) but isn't unwieldy. The Grandis has 99cm wheelbase, the Tommi 100cm. I think the Tommi rides bumps a little easier, but what do I know?

Sir_Name 

Yeah, exactly (re gearing). I've been happy lately losing a bit of high gearing to allow for a nice low end. Gearing seems to be a good way to differentiate bikes from one another, too assuming each is still geared to match its purposes.

qcpmsame 

Man, that is sweet Jim, she turned out right nice looking. Great job on bring this one to life, some day I hope to post that the Pink Tommie is yet alive and rolling.

Bill

Kevindale

It looks great, Jim! I know what you mean about not loving the grey of the Tricolor pieces -- that group looks better on slightly more modern bikes, though even there I prefer the shiny stuff. However, I had to make myself look for those pieces, because the rest of the bike is so beautiful that I didn't even notice them at first. And that is a seriously short stem for that size frame. But that's a detail to dial in over time. Now I really have to get mine back on the road.

Senior Ryder 00 

Good looking bike! Do you know the year? The blue/yellow paint scheme with chrome forks is the same as a Tommasini that I built for my son in the mid 80s.

Cheers,

Van

pastorbobnlnh 

Bill, you and Jim know how to turn a Paramount into store brand half melted vanilla ice cream with your Tommasinas. Jim's Tommie is certainly a head snapper! I can see him flying by MIT in Cambridge, and the young co-eds gawking in admiration of the old guy with the gray beard and hair on the super speedy, super classic, steel bike!

If you ever drive north to visit your son at UNH, bring your Tommie and I'll have a spare freewheel, long cage RD, and a chain to loan you for a New England ride. Don't worry, I'll hold back and let the two Tommie speedsters not be embarrassed by a Schwinn hanger-on.

qcpmsame 

That might just happen this spring, Monica is having serious "youngest child has left" pains. I need to ship you a 14-28 Regina Extra that could use some Pastorbob love. I just so happen to have a spare SRAM 850 chain that fits the requirements. Slap that freewheel on, put the chain in place, and Bob's yer uncle. ( see what I did there? I can say this, as I have an Uncle Bob.)

Jim and his lovely stoker might could drift over from Bahstahn and join in. That way I get dropped by three people, and not just one.

Bill

T-Mar

The decal style places it pre-1985 while the presence of the Campagnolo front derailleur hanger should place it no earlier than 1982. The Portacatena dropout is not inconsistent with the time frame. So, it would appear to be 1982-1984, provided it is original condition.

I think the yellow bar tape was the correct choice. While the components are not era correct, they are a good mix that maximizes performance and amenities while still retaining the 1980s flavour. Enjoy!

jimmuller 

Thank you guys for the nice comments. There is now much to answer here.

Not really. The most I know about it, in fact just about everything I know about it except the portacatena, brake mounts, and TT brake routing, comes from a post by Kevindale in a different thread. Also see T-Mar's comments. KD suggested that it might be very late 70's because of the lack of T cutout in a few places such as the Cinelli BB shell. That would be incompatible with the FD braze-on, so perhaps the FD mount was added later during a repaint, perhaps even by Tommasini. I do know that the spots I thought might be rust seem to be a reddish-brown primer instead; maybe that says something about who painted it when. Or it could be from '82 and Tommasini was still using up old inventory when whoever was working the torch grabbed the BB shell. The 130mm rear spacing is also anachronistic. (That spacing dictated the problematic use of a cassette rear hub. Gearing would have been easier with a simple 14-28 6-speed FW.) BTW, that color looks different depending on the light, somewhat darker with a purple-ish tint indoors.

Bob, I happen to like vanilla ice cream, even half melted. I've seen you on a decidedly NOT store-brand vanilla Paramount. But you've just given me a reason to ride through Cambridge (and despite the icon there might not be so much innocence involved ).

That would be a fun ride. You wouldn't be passed by us though except downhill. Pastor Bob has some chunky hills nearby and the power to go up them just fine while the rest of us might struggle mightily.

Thank you. FWIW, I have a brace of Campy NR derailleurs and levers in waiting, should I decide that indexing is not worth the aesthetics trade-off. NR recessed-nut brakes at a reasonable price are harder to find though so I may go with shiny-Shimany. I guess I'll have to call this one '82 for the time being.

Roger M

Nice work, Jim.

The aesthetics of tri-color stuff are an acquired taste, but it works as good or better than anything Italian from that era(IMO).

jimmuller 

Thanks, Roger.

The observant among you may have noticed the Weinmann levers with the quick-release tabs. I had several lever sets to choose from, including slotted Shimano 600 as a reasonable nod to the gruppo concept. The thing is, these Weinmann are lighter and as functional, and had those hoods already installed. Labels don't count for much against that.

noglider 

It looks great. The gearing might end up suiting you as it is.

Wildwood 

Unless you are riding 175 cranks (or longer), I predict you will like 165.