Dawes-man

There's a very pretty bike for sale on eBay at the moment but I can't find any reference anywhere to the marque. Has anyone heard of it? If not, what visual signs can you, far more perceptive and knowledgeable of these things than me. pick up?

I think it looks like a very nice bike and am suggesting to my girlfriend that she consider getting it. She is being far more sensible... 'Never heard of it! It might look nice but what if it's horrible to ride?'

To give some perspective, she's been riding a 1990 De Rosa for a couple of years which she likes a lot but at 54cms c-t it's too big. She's been riding the Specialized Allez for a couple of weeks and likes that too but thinks it's a bit too small although she's not sure that isn't because she's naturally comparing it with her De Rosa. This Cornale is 49cms but I haven't asked yet if that is c-c or c-t...

So many bikes, so little money or time...

Dawes-man

Whoops! The eBay URL is:
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll....cWAT.m240.lVI

Dawes-man

Oh, and the Allez is 49cm c-t...

unworthy1

New one to me (there are SO many Italian marques that we seldom/never see) but it seems to be at least a mid-quality frame, I'd say a little older than 1975. Valentino derailleurs are Campy's bottom of the range. Never seen that crank before, but it's a middle grade Ofmega, interesting but not collectible, IMHO. Those Martano rims are the best feature and depending on the hubs (Campy copies, it looks) could be worth $$, maybe the older Cinelli bars/stem, too. I think it will probably be a fine ride, maybe sort of plush due to the slacker angles in fashion back in this era....it IS pretty, but I'd want a lower price if buying. Those may be sew-ups, too...maybe more than your girlfriend wants to commit to (?)

gridplan

I doubt you'll find much on the brand. I don't think they even have a web site. But you might try phoning or emailing them:

https://www.vishopping.it/a_349_IT_2988_1.html

Dawes-man

Thanks unworthy1 and gridplan. My ardour has cooled and my girlfriend's remains dormant. I think the price versus the unknown quality of the bike is the key. Now, if someone here had one and said it was a great ride as that'd be why we'd buy it. Thanks again.

luker

There's been a little thread on CR the last few days about that bike. The general consensus is they don't know either. Nice enough ride, though, except for the valentino rear derailleur.

Road Fan

I had a Rossignoli of earlier vintage than this, but similar geometry and a real mish-mash of parts, and it was a great ride.

This certainly looks like a real good frame, possibly a mixed tubeset (inference based on no tubeset stickers) to meet a customer's price point or to match desired ride characteristic. The parts set is certainly rideable. Tires are tubular, which require an intrepid attitude, but on those light rims should be quick and resilient, like a great sports car. This frame might be little short on radial clearance for any clincher bigger than 23 mm.

If she liked the Allez, probably she'll want an indexed drivetrain. Adding one to this bike will be a considerable project. If you already have the parts around to equip it, fine, but otherwise you have to buy a lot of stuff. This bike is completely friction shift as it sits.

I'd bet it's a great ride.

Also look at her saddle height and necessary drop to the handlebar. Small quill-stem frames like this really don't have much ability to raise the bars with a normal-looking stem. That Cinelli will only allow about a 6 cm rise above the headset. You can nearly double that with a Technomic Deluxe for about 11 cm, or a Technomic for about 18 cm. Those Technomics (not the Deluxe) give a bike like this a seriously ugly giraffe look, however.

A great project, but inless she likes and understands vintage, perhaps not the best gift.

Road Fan

Road Fan

I'm kinda kicked off of CR and iBob, due I think to Yahoo being unable to stop calling it spam, but I'd guess the CR crowd sees this price as too high, based on the unknown frame and less than best mix of parts?

It is interesting - those fork tubes look like the Columbus track forks, which will help a bit with front shock absorption.

Road Fan

gridplan

Apologies in advance if I'm repeating what you already know, but make sure on the Options->Spam Protection screen you have "Save these messages in the Bulk Folder" selected and "Move the message to my Inbox" checked in the section below that. Also make sure under Options->Filters that you're not automatically moving the message to the trash. If you receive a CR email and it's misidentified as spam, it should fall into your Bulk folder, at which time you can read it and click on the Not Spam button to move it to your inbox. Thereafter it shouldn't be identified as spam.

With that said, I prefer to avoid the flood of CR email and simply browse their archive:

https://search.bikelist.org/query.asp...ssicrendezvous

unworthy1

i subscribe in "digest" format so I get from 1 to 5 "bulked together" emails a day. I can read them at my leisure or just delete them all at once if I'm in a mood. Only downside is that each email is a bit large (around 30Kb), and I usually am too late to get in on any hot deals.

gridplan

Yeah, I go the bulk CR route, too. But I set up my Yahoo filter to move those emails to the trash before I ever see them. That way I don't have to delete them, I'm still subscribed (so I can post to the list) and I'm up to date on the latest posts via the CR archives, which are updated immediately.

Road Fan

Thanks, gents, if they ever start me up again I'll implement those suggestions.

I didn't have any of this trouble with Comcast! Then we had to change to AT&T.

Road Fan