bamab2

The complete bike:
Columbus frame with dove stamped seat stays and fork crown. BMZ stamped into the bottom bracket. Chrome fork, chain stays, and seat stays. No decals other than the Columbus material decal. Full Campy. NR derailleurs. Pedals. Brakes. Seat post. Record hubs and Mavic MA40 rims. Apparently all original. Bar tape even looks original. I have not yet seen in person. Assuming good condition but in need of cleaning and the normal service, which I'm good with doing.

Here's what I think i know from searching old forum posts. BMZ stamped frames were apparently made by Biemmezeta, usually for Performance or Palo Alto? Some said the frames were very good and may be made to order. Some said they were basically production line frames at the time. I'm guessing they are pretty good quality either way. There was mention of some weird geometry frames but this is not one of those types. Beyond that, any info would be appreciated.

My size.

What would be a fair price for buying to ride?

Thanks

3alarmer 

...I haven't seen one for sale around here lately on the CL. They were priced lower than some of the recognized Italian marques here back when I did see them more. But I'd not be in agreement that the vlue is entirely in the components, unless you were looking at reselling it. Since you're asking about value as rider, I find the one I have owned for about ten or twelve years (a Palo Alto branded BMZ made frame) to be a remarkably steady and quality rider.

So what it's worth depends on where you live and what it's worth to you (assuming your size, etc.). I would happily pay again the 500-600 bucks I paid for mine ten years ago (also Campy equipped), but prices for everything C+V seem to be somewhat depressed lately. There are still a lot of bikes on the San Francisoco CL that are priced higher than that, and probably not as good in terms of ride quality as that BMZ. I have difficulty with pricing anything these days. Most of the money that used to chase these things went off in a different direction.

It's a full Columbus frame with all the high zoot components of the day.

3alarmer 

...a sensible approach might be to look for other full Columbus Italian made frames equipped with Campy in your location on the local Craigslists, and maybe knock off a hundred or a hundred and fifty bucks from the average asking prices (for stuff in similar condition overall and needing similar work), because of the lack of name recognition.

bamab2

Thanks for the replies @wrk101 and @3alarmer.

So, 3alarmer, you have a Biemmezeta?

thinktubes 

I owned a BMZ Palo Alto, similar in color to the OP pic.

Ride before you buy - I didn't care for the ride characteristcs. YMMV...

Sold it 10 years ago for $250-ish with a mishmash of Japanese parts.

3alarmer 

...yeah, it's toward the back of the rotation right now and I was just gonna dig it out in the next couple of weeks. They used to show up on the Bay Area Craigs list a lot, because the Palo Alto bike shop (still there in downtown Palo Alto) sold a bunch of them through their catalog. There were a couple of makers, but most of them seem to have been BMZ.

https://www.bikeforums.net/attachmen...hmentid=238527
For those who rode in the "Steel Era"

scooterpants

I just built up my Biemmezeta Cronostar a month or so and it was well worth the wait. This is one of my top 5 bikes I own. The craftsmanship is pretty nice

KonAaron Snake 

I have a BMZ Palo Alto...it's a damned cool bike, and a very nice rider. Mine is basically an Italian sports tourer...which is not such an easy thing to find, and it truly is a great bike in terms of build, aesthetics, ride...

As far as value...tough to say. I'd focus on the parts, the tubing, and that BMZ is highly regarded. I think, well marketed, it has similar value to other sub-prime Italians (Ciocc, Olmo, etc.), and is probably a good deal nicer than most of those.

bamab2

Nice bike @scooterpants. I like the green brakes. @KonAaron Snake, thanks for the info. I'm still trying to work a deal.