danbee

I've just acquired a Pinarello Montello SLX in nice condition for its age. The frame looks straight and the paint and chrome are better than average, as shown in the photos. Can anyone determine the likely age? I know that SLX was first introduced in 1982 so the bike obviously is no earlier than 1982. It also carries the 1984 Olympic sticker, so presumably it's at least 1984. The bike has a number of odd components that don't look standard. I've never heard of the stem/bars maker, looks like CYCLO MAN (guess) with the word "Starting" in script on the bars. The SN is 1F 813. I'm puzzled that the rear derailleur is Nuovo Record, because I understand the NR was discontinued in 1983. I'd like to try to restore the bike with its original equipment as much as possible, and would appreciate any advice as to the likely year the bike was made, and the components that likely were included. Many thanks for your help! Higher res photos can be seen at <https://s961.photobucket.com/albums/ae91/abortzle/?albumview=slideshow>

T-Mar

This one's confusing. It doesn't appear to have a pump peg and 2nd set of bottle bosses, which would place it circa 1985-1986. The logo on the front of the seat tube also matches that era. However, the chainstay cable stop has the extreme rearward mount, which would put it no older than very late 1980s. It also has a head decal versus the riveted badge which was still being used through at least 1989. The tubing decal is also the style introduced in the 1988. Just looking at the serial number, my guess would be 1991.

J T CUNNINGHAM

Usually the rear triangle is chrome; in this case, only the chain-stay has been done.

Strange . . .


Regards,
J T

frpax

Looks like a "parts bike" to me.

The headbadge is late '80s ~ early '90s.
Around that time, Pinarello started using "Pinarello" dropouts, rather than Campy.
I've never seen a Pinarello from that era with the cable stay on the rear dropout like that.
The Campy Nuovo Record stuff; the bar that I've never heard of, the Guerciotti seatpost; and the brakes are telling me that someone bought the frame and put whatever components they had on hand on it.

If it were mine, I'd look for some period correct Campy Record/Chorus/Athena parts and convert it all to that. Or even some Dura Ace from that time frame (I know...the purists will cringe, but there were plenty of Italian framesets in that era running DA).

T-Mar

Though it doesn't explain all the anomalies, I suspect it's a repaint and the orignal owner got a mish-mash of decals, not all period correct.

They started using that style about 1989.

danbee

Many thanks to all for your informative responses. I'm pretty sure it's not a repaint. I think frpax's explanation sounds very logical, probably the frame was purchased separately, and then a mish-mash of components were added later. Late 1980s seems likely. I've sent an email to Pinarello with the SN and hopefully they can confirm the date. The wheelset looks fine, it's a Mavic Open Pro SUP with record hubs, so after changing the tires I'll start assembling the rest of the bits to give it a more authentic look.

Thanks again.

Dan

RobbieTunes

My guess is a 1989 frame, bought as a frameset. The rest of the components didn't come on that bike.

My 1989 was a lot like that. A lot of Indurain fans bought that frame and had shops add components. It was built with Chorus, was a gem. It had the same headbadge.

jmayer01

Looks a lot like mine which I bought new in June 1989. In any case I would just email Pinarello with the serial number. I am sure they can tell you. Looks like a great project bike, I think for that period you should restore it with Campagnolo C-record or Chorus. Good luck,
John

danbee

Thanks, John. I thought it might be a bit later than 1989 because the rear triangle is painted (except of course for the chainstay), and because of the use of a decal for the head tube badge. I saw a 1991 that looked very close. I do agree with your advice, though, C Record or Chorus.

-Dan

danbee

This just in-the factory advises that the bike likely was made 1984-1985. I live in Canada, where the frame likely was originally purchased. Frames destined for the USA during that period appear to have been set up a little differently, according to what I've heard from Gita, e.g. two pairs of water bottle bosses, chrome rear triangle, etc., head tube decal.

-Dan

frpax

The cable stop on the rear dropout still says to me that it's later than '84-'85. But I'd go with what the factory says, and not my fading memory...

Mike01

Just for the record - SLX was introduced 1984.

T-Mar

SLX was available in 1982, but only as a seat tube, to correct the issue with front derailleur braze-ons being torn off of SL seat tubes. The complete SLX tubeset was not introduced until the 1984 model year. So, you're both correct, depending on your point of view.

T-Mar

I would think that the possibility of it being a 1984 are quite small. Given that it has the decal for the 1984 Olympic and Italian National Championship victories, it would have to have been manufactured after these events, almost certainly placing it no earlier than the autumn of 1984, a time when 1985 production would likely have been underway.

I also wenty back and reviewed some pics of 1984/1985 pro bikes to see if any of the details were similar. It appears that the European models were using head tube decals at this time, so the metal badge may have been at TSD's request. Unfortunately, there were not any pics where I could discern the location of the chainstay cable stop, though TSD models were definitely not using the more rearward location until at 1989, possibly 1988.

As for the tubing decal, it is definitely incorrect for 1984/1985. That decal did not appear until 1988. However, Reynolds and Columbus decals are somewhat fragile, so it may have been replaced.

bbattle

https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/pinarello/
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/pinarello85/
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/pinarello87/
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/pinarello89/

1989 Montello


The painted seatstays are a conundrum.

dvs cycles

I've been thinking it might have been repainted.
My 1987 Montello has Chrome rear triangle as did every other one I remember seeing in the 80's.
Also the decals are in way too good of shape as most seem to have clearcoat wear issues as mine did and decals don't survive long.

frpax

Ditto that.
The ONLY Pinarellos I've seen from that era (the '80s) that did NOT have decals peeling are ones that have had extra clear coat added on after they've left the factory. Even ones that have been not ridden much and just stored have the decals peeling. My '85 Pinarello had decals peeling off after the first year. Very common back then.

danbee

Thanks to all for the interesting and informative comments. Evidently the bottom bracket serial number didn't help the factory much, because here's what they said:

"the technical department told me that the production year could be 1984-1985."

Gita was a little more helpful, as follows:

"Because of the single wb boss this frame was probably a European production.
We had Pinarello put two sets of wb bosses on the frames we distributed here
in the US but they normally did only one on their other production. This
may also explain the painted stays and head tube decal. The frame is
probably from the mid to late 80's but we do not have any exact way to tell
the exact year of manufacture. We only did frames and the shops would build
the bikes to the customer's specs. "

I've seen on the bulgier site an earlier Montello-like bike with painted rear triangle and chrome chainstay: see <https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/pinarello/3.jpg>.

Dan

danbee

P.S.-oddly (at least to me), there are no water bottle bosses. Instead, the downtube is simply drilled and tapped. As for repaint, given that the chrome is in excellent condition throughout, I don't know why, if the bike had been repainted, the rear triangle would have been painted when the chrome is so good. Lastly, the decals are lifting in the corners of the letters but they are in much better shape than decals I've seen on other bikes of similar vintage. On the down tube, the decals have a ® symbol. Not sure if this points to the decals having been replaced.

frpax

That's wierd about the bottle bosses (or lack thereof...).

If I'm remembering correctly, my '85 Pinarello had very small, round bosses. Nothing fancy at all, but certainly NOT a drilled and tapped down tube!

T-Mar

To muddy the water even further, I've found a picture of a known 1988, Canadian market Montello. It looks very much like the US models. The fork, chain stays and seat stays are full chrome. It has the Pinarello logo on both sides of the seat tube. It has a pump peg. The chainstay cable stop is in the traditional, forward position. I can't tell if it has two sets of bottle bosses or the style of head emblem. However, it probably has two sets of bottle bosses, as they seem to have gone to the logo on both sides of the seat tube at the same time they went to two sets of bosses, probably so that a 2nd bottle wouldn't oscure the single logo, on the front of the seat tube.

So, the OP's bicycle, despite have most of the attributes of an earlier model, is still puzzling by virtue of the rearward mounted, chain stay cable stop and the Columbus decal.

Picchio Special

Well, they didn't use the name "SLX" until '84 when the full tubeset was introduced. The original seat tube with the spiral-ing was part of the SL set (to dissipate heat and prevent over-heating of the tube when the derailleur tab was brazed-on). "SLX" is the name of a tubeset, not an individual tube. THat was the whole point - SLX was largely a marketing gimic, as are many "pre-packaged" tubesets. There's really only one correct answer here: SLX was introduced in 1984.

RobbieTunes

I'm sticking to 1989.
Circumstantial support: mine was bought in '89 as a frameset. Almost identical to that.
Other factor: Indurain