flash2070

Wonderful story, and congratulations on your good fortune! It was definitely meant for you to be at that bookstore to meet that gentleman! It looks beautiful! I have been fortunate myself to have owned two in the past year! I believe I have them both on the Tommasini Lounge! One is a blue and white with all DA, and the other is pink with all Campag SR! Two increadible rides! I sold both of them though! One 260 miles from me, and the other to my best friend, cycling buddy, and neighbour! I see her on the road quite often! He has another six high end bikes that I have sold him, and he definitely favors the Tommasini, followed by the Rossin! :-) Enjoy your bike, and continue to be a nice guy! :-)

IknowURider

Doh!!!

Resurrecting this old thread 'cause I need advice on specs, etc.

I thought at first I might do a separate thread, but then I figured I should attach it here, because if you review the history of this bike, you'll understand its issues.

Quick review:

This bike was raced in Italy, bought used from some old guy in the mountains who sold scooters and crap (I love this.)

Then, it was taken on "beer and sausage rides " which the Italians call their "recovery rides".

The guy who gave it to me was like "OMG Rob, even on their recovery days, these guys would HAMMER!!! I mean, it was sick. Death defying descents down cobbled roads. I crashed it twice, but don't worry, they were soft crashes , like, bushes, and a muddy pig- pond"

(When I heard this, I freaked . I fell madly in love with this bike, it was sealed).

*The fork is NOT bent. No rippling in the head tube. Bike is still in perfect-o alignment-o. *

So when he gave me the bike (wipes tear off , deep breath) He also gave me a bag of oily campy headset.

Fast forward to 4/2/2014, one year later.

Ok , Today on a hard mountain run, (spring...finally!!!) the headset loosened, but I insanely tightened it back by hand and finished the beautiful warm sunny ride. (Do not ever do this).

The Headset on the bike is a Shimano 600, The one in the crappy old ziplock is a Campy. The 600 had something wierd about it , but until now I was able to adjust it well enough to prevent death.

The bearing cage is wierdly exposed a *tiny bit* under the top cup. Which makes me think it's Franken-rigged. Or maybe not.

(Sigh) What did this model (Prestige) have on it originally? I don't feel like emailing Barbara with this, but I do think that is pretty cool indeed, that she will answer you back .

I also cringe at having to spend 189.99 on a new Campy headset, I struggle enough with my French and British workingman bikes to want to learn to speak Italian specs and threading, but hope there's a fighting chance a 22.2mm Tange headset would fit this? (Until I find a used Campy or whatever)

I am half assuming the Campy headset is in that bag for a reason.

(Humorous Sidenote: I am getting a Chris King Headset off an Aegeis carbon fiber that was crunched in a garage door car top space-out (just the top tube got hit) . If that ends up fitting this bike I will definitely win the Franken-rig award of the month (sigh). ) CT drivers need to get off their cell phones.

So what was on it originally and do you know the specs?

God I love this bike. Every time I ride it, it's downright surreal. I don't even feel the climbs... Pls help.

Thanks in advance

seedsbelize 

The first thing I notice about this bike (after the color) is that the top tube seems really short. Like on Cannondales. I find it curious, knowing nothing about geometry and such. Can anyone speak to this?
That said, I look forward to playing out a story like that myself. Lovely bike.

gomango

Top tube looks fine to me.

Such a pretty bicycle.

Check out Ribble for a Record headset.

$67 plus a little shipping. You'll have it in a week.

Have a decent shop toss it on there for you, although I might try a different one than the one that offered you one for $189.99.

Campagnolo Record Headset, Headsets, HEADSETS

repechage

Top tubes on Italian bikes got shorter over the years, part of that reason was the research done by C.O.N.I. for the Italian Cycling squads and that research made available to the Italian frame builders.

Take the existing Campagnolo head set out of its bag and inspect the parts, Best suspect is the lower race and cup, if you see any dents in the bearing track then that is your answer. Time for a new headset. (some mechanics know how to extend the life of these but if you do not have the tools at hand to assemble it and take it apart numerous times, sell it on ebay and show the good and the bad, usually some parts are still useful and have value)
Use those proceeds to buy the headset presented by gomango. Locate a shop that understands vintage bikes and has the tools, preferably a Campagnolo tool chest.

Then Sprint into Spring.

IknowURider

'

Thanks Repecharge, I enjoy your posts.

I'm tired of dealing with headset issues, after battling to get the Motobecane Mirage up and running. I spent two hours on swapping the Bottom bracket and crankset on that yesterday, I thought it was finally perfect, then the metal toe clip on the Lyotard pulls through its "way-too-wide" mount hole and falls off while half the town is watching me ride with my coffee in hand. DOH!!!

I just want all my bikes to run, why does bad stuff always happen in 3's?

I sort of assumed the Campy headset was indexed but yeah I'll look at it, it's just the top section anyway. The bottom race looks ok


I might be able to conjure up a Tange off another frame or out of the pile of crap until I scrape enough funds for a better one.

I sort of assume the headset got hammered to death on cobbled roads, etc.

The top tube is indeed short , 22" C/C. My measurements are pretty typical, though . I am 5 foor 11" 33" inseam .

Fitting myself to this bike took all of thirty seconds of saddle adjustment.

The guy who gave me this bike told me he stopped riding after they had his beautiful daughter, who speaks fluent Italian, this kid is so cute it kills me. He said he was paranoid for her sake to get injured, I don't blame him, we have absolutely zero road cycling "freindliness" in town here.

Then I saw him again about 6 months ago , he had just bought an SUV because now he has two more daughters, twins. LOL.

During that conversation, he told me he had a bout of Multiple Sclerosis while riding . "Yeah my whole body basically locked up on me" . I'm trying to turn him on to probiotics and getting the flouride out of his tap water. Sad. he's in his mid thirties, and of course looks great. He's a college professor.

Sir_Name 

No kidding. Some are plenty accomodating, some not so much... I've learned to watch for pick-ups the most.

Beautiful bike - best of luck with the headset troubles.

IknowURider

Thanks. When did I write that? I think I wrote that on another thread.

IknowURider

Did an awesome ride on it today after rescuing the current Shimano 600 headset. Turned out the bearing cages were getting toasted. But the cups look okay. I used a caged set on the bottom and went to a loose ball config on top , and it seems okay.

The top race though looks a bit wierd , like it's almost flush with the top of the lug. But it fits in the cup okay.

I wonder if this bike came stock with Campy or Shimano 600? The fork thread is standard BSA, so that's cool. I also replaced the alloy top nut with a steel one. (

Turned out the campy headset I thought I had wasn't Campy. I confused it with some other crap in another bag)

Thanks for the help.

gomango

Tommasinis came as framesets.

I put on 600s when I was broke and Campy Chorus/Record when I had a few $$$.

The 600 was our shop's favorite, as it was tough and inexpensive.

IknowURider

Cool. do you happen to remember if that top race on the 600 was very narrow, and looks almost like its part of the lug? This is the skinniest race I've ever seen, and the cup above it is really beefy. It's blackish in color.

gomango

I should have one at home.

I'll let you know after soccer.

IknowURider

cool, thanks! reason I'm asking is i'm running loose balls on it , it works but it could be insane.