Tommasini Project
I initially posited my questions here because a bike store owner (Gainesville, FLA) had questioned the stability of the Tommasini frame. He told me he thought I would have handling issues. He was concerned about the "short chain stays." He tried to sell me other stuff. Based on the wisdom I gleaned here I ignored him and built the frame up with parts off of a 70's road bike and some new stuff. And boy am I glad I did (pics attached.) The Tommy project bike is nimble and fun as heck to ride. It weighs in about 24.8 lbs and is stiff and responsive. I used the following from old stock: Sugino Mighty Aero crank, Shimano 600 rear derailleur, Dura ace shifters, and Shimano 600 hubs with Super Champion rims. New equipment includes Gatorskin Ultras (25mm), Campy Veloce brakes, Nitto 220mm stem, Tektro Brake Levers and handlebars.
I want thank all of you who weighed in here and helped me move forward. The build was fun with lots of little problem solving along the way. I managed to fit the old wheels to the 130mm dropout opening. The rusted dropout adjustment screws did not survive (I may need a machine shop to drill one out.) I'm not sure about the vintage of this frame (if you have any ideas about a Tommasini Prestige with the Air fork, please let me know.) The fairly upright posture works for my nearly 60 year old body.
I'll need to add a front derailleur altho here in sunny and flat NE FLA I use about 3 gears depending on wind conditions. Thanks!