Originally Posted by
redxj
I will say it was a catch of my life time. I have had a number of great catches in my relatively short 2 year vintage flipping/riding collection, but that is by far the best. I got two valuable and collectable bikes with the best part being they are my size. I still have the guys number and plan to call him up and bring both bikes back to show him they haven't went anywhere and I ride them. The parts I got paid for the bikes themselves. I have sold maybe 5 or 6 items from that stash and got more than I paid for everything.
The Marinoni was up for auction last summer (June/July I think) from NY. It was a mid/late 90's lugged steel that wasn't drilled for brakes. It included the original undrilled fork and another that was, and it was setup with a front brake as well. From the auction it said it was a custom build for the owner (6'5"), and I want to say it was blue. I thought I printed out the auction, but haven't been able to find what I did with it. After the auction ended I kept asking for a shipping total and never received a reply. Then I get an email that says, "I left the country, sorry no sale". I contacted Ebay about it, and sent a couple emails to the guy trying to see if we could work it out. I am guessing he just didn't like the price he got on Ebay (around $500 for the complete bike with two forks). Just before that one I bid on a GT team bike that was made from True Temper steel with nice parts on it (Mavic starfish crank, Dura Ace hubs, etc.), and lost that one. I was bummed I lost on the GT so I went after the Marinoni. I figured I had a track bike from the US and one from Italy so a Canadian/Italian would fit well into the collection.
I think I know the bike and so does Antipodes, I watched... it was the only other Marinoni Pista in 62 I have seen... It was redone by argon 18 (it was blue) and had a new fork made for mounting the brake. Am I right? The only part of the story that doesn't jive is the guy didn't have the original fork. I know he didn't because I exchanged something like 5 emails with him as I was skeptical of his dating, but it turns out I think he was pretty close to the mark. He messaged me a few weeks ago asking if I knew where he could get a suitable fork or it to make it more original. I told him to contact Marinoni to see if they had old forks kicking around but that I thought it was unlikely and his best bet would be to have one custom made but that it would cost to much. I thought it was odd because I remembered watching the bike and seeing it sell.
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1 Super Record bike, 1 Nuovo Record bike, 1 Pista, 1 Road, 1 Cyclocross/Allrounder, 1 MTB, 1 Touring, 1 Fixed gear