seagull.apollo

The internet has been of no use to me. What I am searching for is a primer on Fausto Coppi bicycles, if these even exist. Just recently I had the opportunity to view what I thought was a Fausto Coppi and oh my. I had never seen chromed lugs before and the attention to detail was incredible. However, when the internet yielded virtually nothing about Coppi bicycles (plenty about the man himself though) I began to think that perhaps it was a Fausto Coppi model made by a different company. My question is this: is there such a thing as Fausto Coppi bicycles and if there is, does anybody know their story or have a link to it? I was really taken with this bike and I would like to know more. Cheers!

Oh, and NO PICTURES. Sorry, but I only had a brief run-in with the bike and didn't even think to get my camera or (sadly) take a look at the components that was anything more than admiring their aesthetic value. It was red, it was beautiful, it was Coppi.

caterham

Masciaghi
https://www.masciaghi.it/index.htm
via Delle Industrie 6/8
20060 Basiano (MI) - Italy
+39 (02) 950831 tel
+39 (02) 95083300 fax
info@masciaghi.com
The maker of Coppi, F.lli Masciaghi Bicycles, was started in 1967 in a garage. Some thirty years later, Maschiaghi has grown into a state-of-the-art facility outside Milan. As recently as 1997, they sold in excess of $45 million worth of bicycles. In 1990, Masciaghi teamed up with Giovanni Pellizzoli ,the founder of Ciocc, to develop the Fausto Coppi line of frames.

Torchy McFlux

There were Fausto Coppi bikes back in the 60's and maybe early 70's as well. I saw a yellow one in beautiful shape a while ago. Had Fausto's face on the seattube, a cottered steel 3-arm crank, and Simplex derailleurs IIRC.

dannyg1 

Did the bike you saw, happen to look like this?:

https://cgi.ebay.com/Fausto-Coppi-Bar...QQcmdZViewItem

Danny

top506

Kind of like this one:







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SteakKnifeSally

There isn't a lot of info out there on Coppi bikes. My "modern" bike is a Coppi Neuron with D-A nine group. What is unusual about it is the lugged bottom bracket and a smooth blend at the head tube that looks to be fillet-brazed like my Schwinn Super Sport from the 70s. Very stiff frame, pretty steep angles, around 20 lbs in my 60cm size. The raciest bike in my stable, she is red, Italian, and a demanding thrill ride. Usually referred to as la Diabla Roja or the *****, as in "the ***** made me ride like a mad ******* for 2 hours."

velomateo

Fiorelli made the Coppi frames. I'm not sure for how long or when they started. The Coppi's are different from the "Fausto COPPI" frames - different company. I have a Fiorelli Milano-Sanremo, it is nearly identicle to the Coppi frames that Fiorelli made. The only differance being the seat stay caps say Coppi. The lug work is beautifuly finished. The paper trail on these is hard to track. I did hours of searches and came up with very little. They are very nice bikes though.

https://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...iorelli012.jpg
https://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...iorelli008.jpg

kpug505

Ooh.......Another opportunity to post a pic of my Coppi. I love it (kinda). It's is my lightest steel bike coming in at exactly 20.5 pounds. It's a tad big for me but I don't have the heart to sell it as it is good fixie fodder.

John E

I really like the crash-modified fork geometry and the outboard suicide brake lever.

top506

Yeah, that was a fresh from the dump picture. The stripped frame, parts, and wheels hang in the barn while I decide what to do with them.
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seagull.apollo

caterham: Is there a part of the website dedicated to older Coppi bikes? I couldn't find any, but that could have been the Italian leading me astray.

dannyg1: No, unfortunately it was not this bike (https://cgi.ebay.com/Fausto-Coppi-Bar...QQcmdZViewItem) . It had the same chromed lugs and fork but the writing and decals were in a different configuration. I believe it had the same Coppi logo on the top of the fork however.

top506: It was very similar to your bicycle, perhaps even identical. The lugwork was the exact same around the head tube and it had Coppi's face on the seat tube. Side note: how great would it be to have your face on a seat-tube? I'd die a happy man if my grainy image was speeding around on thousands of beautifully constructed bicycles.

A few of the replies here have reminded me of other things about the bike. It definitely had a cottered crank and I'm quite sure it had Simplex derailleurs. It would have been really nice to take some pictures of it but I just wasn't thinking at the time. Thanks for your help everyone. If anybody else has anything to add please do.

EDIT: Quite sure it wasn't a Fiorelli. Also, it definitely wasn't the same as kpug505's.

repechage

Fiorelli did indeed make Coppi brand bikes, I have one from the late 60's, in acceptable shape.

Baron Corpuz of cafe de Velo has another in fantastic shape, they are now in Santa Paula, evacuated Santa Barbara.

bikingshearer 

I do recall seeing a review of a pretty high-end Coppi in an issue of Bicycling magazine back in the mid-70's. The main thing I remember was that it had an unusually steep head tube angle, as in 75 degrees. I bet that was one skittish puppy, perfect for inducing carnage in a Cat V criterium. I don't remember the componentry, but I'm pretty sure it was not Campy NR across the board as the bike was high end enough for me to want one and low cost enough for it to be only somewhat out of the question for my teenaged budget instead of ridiculously out of the question, as were most full-NR rides.

I don't recall the "face of Fausto" headbadge, but the decals on the down and seat tubes of the orange Coppi look right.

top506

The bike seems quite similar to the gaspipe Atala I've been riding for the last 35-odd years. The lugs are more ornate, but all the comps and the wheelset were the same on both.
There's a gent on the 'Bay with the decals, and I'm considering stripping the frame and getting a cheap chrome fork to make a ten-foot eye candy bike for laughs.
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douchebagonwhlz

Watched many items in that Mozzy ebay store... the green and yellow one with the chrome lugs was memorable.

iab

A Fiorelli Coppi on ebay, https://cgi.ebay.it/Coppi-Fiorelli-vi...QQcmdZViewItem

bluefunk

this is my coppi i recently brought off ebay https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=370036013611

Pero

Hi, I have coppi bike with no stickers or decals serial number is 12629 if anybody can help me to found out what modl and year would be, thanks.

Pero

hi guys a have Coppi bike not sure of model amd age, serial number is 12629 if someone can help me please to found out what kind of bike would be thanks

Pero

Hey guys I'm new in this, if someone can help to found out what kind of bike is this, I know that is Coppi but not sure of age and a model

Hudson308 

Hi, Pero; Unfortunately the serial numbers used by Fiorelli/Coppi didn't follow any pattern that I've been able to decipher. Try to post some pics of the rear derailleur/freewheel, front derailleur/crankset, and a picture of the entire right (chain) side of the bike. Are the ears of the seat post clamp filled in solid with brass, or are they hollow like other bikes? Does the bottom bracket shell have cutouts on the bottom?

bibliobob

I recently read the Fotheringham Coppi book and, iirc, Bianchi briefly built some Coppi branded bikes, before he returned to the Bianchi jersey, and Bianchi branded bikes. He later, of course, switched to Coppi-branded Fiorellis....

Henry III

I had the opportunity to buy an older Coppi made with Falck tubing and long Campag dropouts. Looks to be 60's maybe 70s. No chrome and original paint. No Fausto mug on the headtube. I can still buy it for cheap but it's just a little big for me.

bibliobob

How big is it? I'd love to buy a '50s or early '60s Coppi... Would love to see a photo!

Henry III

54 square I believe.