Skylinechili

Hello, new to this forum and hoping to learn more about a bicycle that belonged to my father. I remember him having it built back in the 80's when I was very young. He probably road it 3 times then gave up on the hobby and put it in storage. It's been there since the late 80's until recently. I know very little about these bikes and was hoping to learn more about what I have and approximate value before I sell it. It appears to be a complete bike minus the wheels. The finish is chrome I believe but is also black, almost like a tinted chrome. I've taken a few photos of what I thought to be the important components but have not been successful posting them on this site. I very much appreciate any help given. Thank you!

machinist42

OP's Album

Skylinechili

Thank you for posting my photos!

Dave Mayer

I own a Montello from '86. I've ridden a lot of bikes, and the Montello is right up there with the very best. A great bike for long rides; not a touring bike, this was probably designed for classics and stage races.

I also volunteer at a big-city bike Co-op, so I've seen and worked on hundreds of steel-framed bikes. The Montello is the best workmanship I've ever seen on a lugged steel bike.

Value: this should return you about as much as is possible for a vintage steel bike, except for rare historical bikes, such as those raced by Coppi or Merckx. Condition looks good, and the size is in the desirable range.

Components: always photograph the bike from the drive side, and take separate pics highlighting the major components. The gruppo looks to be early C-Record. The crankset is worth a fair amount of money. The Delta brakes have a lot of resale value if they are Record, and much less if CdA. However, the brakes, are a major pain to set up, are heavy, and they don't brake that well. The Campagnolo Synchro (1) shifters had the nickname Stinkro for good reason: the indexing on these was hopeless. Nevertheless, some collectors like this stuff. Me personally, I kept the frame, the wheels and the crankset, and replaced everything else with Ergopower gear from the mid-90's. Been riding it since.

Summary: you have something high value here, both to riders and collectors. Take lots of high quality photos, and advertise widely, including Ebay.

Dylansbob 

I have one in red with slightly different parts and have had offers in the $1k range.

gkamieneski

Something’s making me think this Pinarello is newer than you describe. For one, the internal rear brake cable.

Skylinechili

Thanks for the information Dave. Much appreciated.

gkamieneski

BTW for a Pinarello the paint and decals are in remarkable condition. For its age, wouldn’t expect to read Pinarello by now. Possible repaint?

Skylinechili

I don't know anything about the internal rear brakes on these bikes and I'm not sure the exact year it was built but it was no later than 1988.

Why would paint or decals deteriorate just hanging in a storage room for 30+ years?

well biked 

I agree with the earlier post that stated "you have something high value here." The Delta brakes alone are worth more than a lot of fairly valuable bikes. Late '80's, assuming original components, seems accurate.

BMC_Kid

If it has just been hanging around for 30 years, the paint should be in great cosmetic condition same as the decals because I have to assume that it was stored the whole time and never ridden. However, the paint on this bike is called cromovelato and is a semi-transparent colored lacquer over chrome finish. After many years, depending on where it was stored the adhesive ability of the paint to remain adhered to the chrome weakens and the paint begins to flake off. Obviously, the better the environmental conditions the frame is subjected to, the better and longer it will last. But eventually, if this bike gets ridden regularly, the paint will begin to fail, first will be the most delicate areas, I.e. the main Pinarello decals. This is why the comment was made, speculating the frame had been repainted. I highly doubt that, as a cromovelato paint job cannot be attempted by just any good painter and be expected to be last. It takes a skilled painter to get it right, and that will cost you almost what the frame is worth and from your description, it doesn’t sound like that has been the case.

Now here is the problem, the more this bike is exposed to the rigors of riding, the more that the chance is taken that the paint will eventually fail, in that pieces will begin to flake off. Once that process starts, it will spread like wildfire. I have this same bike. Yours, like mine, is finished in the Cromoner finish. Mine is a 1989 and is/has been stored in my climate-controlled garage, and it is in near-perfect condition. In fact, mine has the matching cromovelato painted and panto’d seat post and stem, both in pristine condition. It doesn’t get ridden because of the reasons listed above. I am thinking about having the whole bike clear coated but haven’t yet spent the time to determine if that would be of benefit. Once I do that, I’ll rebuild it with 11 speed silver Campy, probably Athena but I am currently working on two other retro-mod builds, so it is on the back burner or I might just decide to let someone else decide what to do with it as I have too many other bikes I need to put miles on or get rid of as well.

Here is a photo of mine - unfortunately I don’t have access to my good photos, first bike on the right.I had the head badge refinished and haven’t reinstalled it. It originally was a decal that was a bit chewed up.




And here is a good example on the web

https://the-hunt.de/pinarello-montel...ero-from-1989/

Without color...

DMC707 

Very nice!

I'd gently clean it up and ride it on special days

​​​it's the cycling equivalent of finding Dad's old Tag Heuer watch , stuffed in a drawer and forgotten about for 30 years

Value? Probably $1500 if you still have the wheels. Compared to the cost of an equivalent new bike, (probably cost $8000 to get this level of bike new) old bikes are a bargain, but the pristine condition of yours makes it sweeter

repechage

Yes, the full bike price vs parting out does not favor selling whole unfortunately.

repechage

The paint is unusual, was hard to tell, but seems to be a tinted finish. The lug lining is definitely non standard.

joesch

Super find and one of the best classic road bikes.
I never had a cromovelato and love chrome so would not mind the missing paint if it were not for the decals.
I would think the wheels are also somewhere in that storage, would be nice to have the complete machine!

repechage

there was a BF participant, gone? Now?
Rad55 or something like that who stripped a Pinarello to all chrome- it looked pretty good
did something unusual with the branding graphics, mask and blast?

Dave Mayer

Addendum: my '86 Montello has internal cable routing for the rear brake. Pinarellos of this era had notoriously bad decals; they will flake off into dust if you even look at them. I just carefully removed them and now I have a stealth Pinarello with a mix of utilitarian Campagnolo components. But again, my motivation is to just ride the thing.

BMC_Kid

The lug pinstriping was standard for this finish.

repechage

Kind of British or French in Style.

Chombi1 

If he rode it just 3 times from new, it might mean the special "Chromavelato" paint finish and the decals could very well be original, and the bike would be higher value than most other Montellos out there with the typical flaking off Chromavelato paint and decal work.
If you are not planning to ride/own it and would want to retain top value for resale, be gentle with handling the bike to preserve the great finish and graphics. Do not leave it exposed to too much UV light and heat like in a hot attic.
Especially watch out for that loose chain so it does not scrape against the frame or any other parts on the bike.
There Delta brakes and what might be a C-Record drivetrain is major icing on the cake.
Your dad had impeccable taste and that's definitely a Pinarello grail bike he built as all the boxes were ticked!

steelisreal19

congratulations on a great find! I sent you a private message with my email address in case you’re interested to sell it, please let me know!

SJX426 

Demonstrated paint deterioration and decal flaking on my 1989ish Montello
P1010723 on Flickr


The decals that fell off left a ghost
P1010724 on Flickr


In addition, there appears to be a pearlescent topcoat that is flaking off. I have no idea what to do. I really don't want to repaint and I don't want to have it look this bad! The paint condition does not reflect the value of the ride!
P1030582 on Flickr

Mackers

I like neither C-Record nor Pinarello but complete C-Record (looks like only the hubs and pedals are missing) in good shape like that is worth 1K easily and an SLX tubed bike by a reputable brand would not be without value either.

I'd estimate end-user value at $1500 at the very least but of course a flipper is not going to offer you anything near that.

Skylinechili

Update, I did receive an offer of 1200 Euro for the frame. Based off other's who have commented, I should take that offer and sell the other components on Ebay? Thanks

Mackers

Are you absolutely sure that's for the frame only?