jamesdak 

Well, I picked up another beautiful bike. This one was bought more with the heart than anything and maybe I paid too much. It just looked so good! Too be honest I'm not 100% sure what I've got here. The serial number is a 1981 build and it looks like other Gaps I have saw. But the Chainstays on the others were chrome and mine are painted. But it is a repaint and the one tiny chip on the bottom of one chainstay shows chrome underneath. It has the earlier Columbus tubing sticker on it, not a tubeset specific so I'm really not sure what it's built with. I can say that it weights an even 23 lbs as you see it in the pics. The pictures are all as I got it last night.

Component wise I'd say it's been stripped of what I would have expected to be Campagnolo parts. That is a shame but their's still decent stuff on it. The brakes, derailluers, crankset, etc are all Tricolor Shimano 600 in pretty good shape. Mechanically they seem to work great. It's got a Ritchey Logic headset, Campagnolo Aero Seatpost, Jagwire cable and housings, Cinelli stem and the proper (for me) 42 cm Cinelli handlebars. The hubs have no markings on them but the rims are Mavic MA2s. The saddle is a San Marco Slim Line in decent shape. The hoods are in decent shape and we'll see if a little work with a magic eraser sponge will brighten them up a bit.

The frame is a 54 CM. Can't wait to get this out for a little test today.

Would love to hear from any Basso experts on this. Is it truly a Gap and what's it made of?

And now a lot of pictures.

jamesdak 

jamesdak 

jamesdak 

DMC707

That's pretty ! --- if you procure a Shimano 600 aero post from that era, that will "unify" the build kit and I would almost think might be something you might have seen in the mid to late 80's as people were upgrading from friction to click shift

Reminds me a lot of the types of setups I saw many people running back then ---- you could purchase a whole lot of entry fees and gas money for the price differential between upgrading with Shimano 600 compared to C-Record or something

non-fixie 

Beautiful bike. I can see why you bought it.

tyler_fred

I love the deep candy red color. You have a beautiful bike there.

Wileyone 

Really pretty Bicycle. Nice job on the re-paint. Love the colour.

malcala622

@jamesdak What seat post size does this frame use?

jamesdak 

Caliper says 27.2 but I haven't pulled it yet. Actually, I forgot to as I was adjusting it earlier.

malcala622

If it's a 25.4 I'd be more than glad to donate a Shimano600 Aero seat post so it's more period correct.

jamesdak 

Man, got a late start on a 50 miler riding the Prologue and ran out of daylight. So I didn't get this out for it's first ride today as planned. Hopefully in the morning.

Bikerider007

Great color! I wouldn't think 81' would have dual water bottle bosses or the pump peg. I am no Basso expert though.

rccardr 

Bet there's spacing for a recessed rear brake under that washer combo.

If it takes a 27.2 seatpost, I have a matching 640X post I'd swap you for.

Pretty bike!

jamesdak 

I'm honestly just going by the fact that other posts about Basso S/Ns say that the first two digits of the serial number are the year of manufacture.



It was advertised as a 1985. I found one that looked like it online also called a 1981 and another that was listed as a 1988. The Columbus decal also indicates an earlier bike but I honestly am not certain of a lot of things on this one.

jamesdak 

And I just found another post from a Basso owner who says it's the first digit the confirms the year. That would make this a 1988.

drewellison 

I am not a Basso expert, but I do have an '84 (?) Gap and I love the way it rides. Very smooth, comfortable. I call it my silk bike.

The only differences between our bikes that I notice are that yours has a painted stay (and that could easily be explained with the repaint), slightly different graphics (same explanation), and yours has Basso dropouts whereas mine has Campy. I've read Basso used both at different times. Mine also only has downtube bottle bosses. Nothing on the seat tube. My bet is it's a Gap model (as compared to what, a TreTubi model?).

Enjoy!

jamesdak 

Well, I finally got it out. It moves and carries speed well but something is off with the drivetrain. I can't stand and put any torque to it without something slipping/skipping. As long as I stayed smooth and easy it was ok. Shifting seems fine. I need a tad shorter stem but otherwise it's all good in terms of fit.

I was very pleased with how smooth the bike felt and how fast it felt. I did the same 25 mile route on it I had already ridden two other times today. Once on the Fuji Opus III and once on the Orbea Cabestany. It easily felt the best of all three ridden today but it will take several more rides to make sure it's not that "new bike" syndrome making me think that. It was the fastest over this route today despite being the last one to make it. Faster by several minutes.

DMC707

Ouch --- my "test route" - is more like 4 or 5 miles when I start comparing rides back to back --- 75 miles is an ambitious day

jamesdak 

LOL, just a typical weekend for me. I just broke the miles into a few segments and switched rides.

ollo_ollo

Had a similar problem with 1 of my bikes when 1st built up from a new frame set(a Titan that co-incidentally used a Basso SLX fork): after nothing else worked, I replaced the (new) KMC chain with a SRAM and problem solved. Don

jamesdak 

Yeah, I've got to take it by my trusted LBS to get the wheels trued anyway and I'll have them check the drivetrain. One of these days I'll get a chain checker, LOL!

SJX426 

So what length stem do you need?

If you have a measuring device that is longer than 12", you have a chain measuring tool. Bicycle Chain and Sprocket Engagement and Wear

jamesdak 

The chain measures just fine. I normally carry a yardstick with me when I check a bike with all my fit dimensions marked on it. Sorta clumsy to measure a chain and most used bikes I don't worry about this.

But man, look at it right now there is a ton of grease on the RD and the chain. The chain was not that bad when I looked at it. There must have been a big ol' wad of grease hiding up in the jockey pulley cage. The pulleys look really "sharp toothed" to me. Not at all like the replacement ones I have on hand.

Are these worn or normal for this RD?

jamesdak 

Well, I'm still messing with this one sorting it out. The drivetrain was literally coated with grease for some reason. I cleaned as much off as I could by hand. Once I got the chain clean I could see it's a new appearing KMC chain which goes with what I saw when I measured it, no sign of chain stretch/wear.

I took off the Kendra tires and they were a bit dry and flaky around the bead on the rear on. Put my preferred Conti GP4000s II on this size 700 x 25. Should improve the ride some.

Still not sure what model this is though but the first ride felt good which is all that really matters. Swapping pedals and tires has the bike down to 22 lbs 6 ozs. I'm going to take it our again today for a shakedown ride and then probably get it by the LBS. The wheels need attention. I may even take the Pacenti SL23 rimmed Dura Ace wheels off the Antares to put on this if it the ride quality impression hold up over a couple of more test rides. Sometimes that "new bike" excitement can taint an acurate feel for how a bike really is.