superunleaded

Looking to sell this Tommasini and buy another Tommasini with a 52-52.5cm TT. Any advice on pricing is appreciated.

Kevindale

Sorry, can't help in locating a small Tommasini frame, but I'm curious about the BB stamping. Is there a number next to the 'US' stamping? I'm assuming that would be the year the frame was made, based on other Tommasini frames I've seen from the mid to late 80s. This looks like an 84-85 frame to me. Beautiful purple paint, except for the couple of scratches it looks like it's in spectacular shape.

Oh, and I'm sure you've checked eBay. There are a variety of new steel Tommasini frames, most in rather small sizes, up for sale. Prices are steep, but most have in OBO option.

superunleaded

Hi Kevin, I am not too sure how to date this one but there is a letter K on both of the cable guides. It could be a color code from my DD on some Tommasini threads here in BF. Unfortunately, RideTommasini is no longer active and here is I think his comment on a Tommasini inquiry.

I have checked eBay for sold listings and yes, prices are steep. I'll keep checking and maybe post it in the "frame doesn't fit" thread in a couple of weeks.

BTW, how are hierarchy go? I've seen infos on Prestige, Super Prestige and Velcista but not much on the Racing model.

Kevindale

So I guess there's no number next to the 'US' stamping on yours. I've seen one bike that apparently had 'US86' and was a US export frame in 1986, and one that had 'US87' that was supposedly an '87 frame. Your frame looks to me like an '84-85, so maybe they hadn't started putting the year next to the 'US' designation.

I think mine is an '83, but it's stamped with a very faint '30'. I've seen others from around that era that are stamped '12' or '13'. There seems no rhyme or reason to it. The 'K's on yours are also baffling.

As for hierarchy, my impression is that 'Prestige' and 'Super Prestige' started in the mid-80s, and before that there weren't model designations except for 'Pista' and 'Strada', and perhaps 'Racing'. Yours is the first I've seen with 'Racing' on the top tube. Mine has 'Tommasini Racing' on the chain stay, which I've seen on many Tommasinis from the early '80s. I don't know that I've seen a Velcista.

Mine has slightly more conservative graphics, which I've seen all the way back to the late '70s Tommasinis. One thing I've learned is that through this period these bikes were exported as frames, and built up in the US. I think once the 'Prestige' and 'Super Prestige' designations came on, they may have started coming over with components attached, but I'm not at all sure of that. Hence my bike has mostly NR, with Simplex Retrofriction shifters and Suntour freewheel and jockey wheels. I think that's how the OR had it built up.

Spaghetti Legs 

Here's my Tommy Racing. I bought this a couple of years ago from one of the Dutch eBay sellers for somewhere around $450 -475 shipped. I felt like I got a decent deal at the time. Mine also has a beat up "Professional" decal on the top tube, opposite side near the seat cluster. As Kevindale notes, the commonly seen Racing models have the decal on the chain stay and yours and mine are the only ones I've seen with Racing in the same location and script used for Prestige, etc.

Mine has only single set bottle cage bosses and no FD braze on, under BB cable routing - makes me thing '83 ish. I've been meaning to ask the Tommasini folks for more info on this.

Kevindale

Interesting. Yours has the decal pattern that I've been thinking came into use around 1984, ('Tommasini' in script on seat tube, 3 swoopy lines in front of the down tube 'Tommasini', and a model designation on the top tube). I thought the pattern on mine was in use through 1983, but perhaps mine is an '82.

I wonder if the lack of FD braze on and second set of bottle cage bosses is less about the year of your bike and more about the tubing used for the seat tube. Weren't some of the lighter tubing types not suitable for braze-ons? Also, Spaghetti Legs, your bike has the rear brake cable routing through the top tube, which I didn't think began until 1985 at the earliest.

I have the feeling that mine is an 82-83, superunleaded's is an 83-84, and Spaghetti Legs' is an 85-86.