Yeah Thrifty Bill makes a good point, that there are a lot of bikes out there to play with, especially here in NYC. And if you're willing to make a trip up to the Hudson Valley where values are a lot lower, you can buy there and sell in NYC and make a profit.

Oh man, you guys are gonna kill me. I'm heading up to the Glens Falls area later this month for a family vacay, and I'm already taking a look to see if I might grab something on the way.

I also have a brother that lives in Delaware, so I occasionally check that CL as well. I swear I don't have time for this...

I hope you like riding bikes as much as many of us do.

So, as Dave Stoller might say, "The Basso, she is mine!"

Final price was $350 (completed the transaction last night at about 12:20am. The city that never sleeps, right?)

The forks are definitely original, and the seller was the original owner that bought the bike new in 1992! It's actually a 1990 model (see below), that he got as a leftover. He's a photographer (hence the high quality pics in the CL ad) and a rider, and he has finally decided to upgrade to something new.

Luckily (perhaps because he is into photography), he made a scan of the original catalog for the bike. This is is great, and helpful, although it hasn't quite completely solved the tubing mystery. According to him, the 3 main tubes are Columbus SL, while the others are Aelle. This seems to be backed up by what is written in the catalog (again, see below), but... BUT, the photo in the catalog doesn't seem to match up.

The sticker is hard to see in the picture, but I'm pretty sure it is a Cromor sticker (silver and blue) and not gold, as it is for SL and SLX (see the Loto next to it for comparison). That said, my bike also has a chromed chainstay, while the picture in the catalog does not. And of course the original sticker isn't on the bike. The head, she is being scratched!

Anyway, I had spent about an hour futzing around on my Lotus Unique earlier in the night, so as soon as I got on the Basso it felt like a f--ing rocket ship! It wasn't even set up for me, and it still felt amazing.

More to come, including my appointment with the Legend guy tonight, who said he would take $180...

Very nice. You've got something to take to the races in Central Park.

I suggest after this picking some sort of grail bike that is really really hard to find. That way you can really.delve into the search and it may take you 10 years before you actually have to buy it...if ever.

I like that advice... especially in light of recent events (see below)...

So it's two bikes in two days! Or, actually, two in 24 hours.

Last night I made the trek (small "t") to bumble**** Brooklyn, to check out the Lotus Legend. The bike was in decent shape and completely original, aside from the tires and the mysterious addition of the suicide levers. I confirmed that it was Tange 1 construction, and so for $180 I pulled the trigger.

It's going to need a lot of cleaning and a thorough tune up, and there is a very small den't on the top tube, but I think it will end up being quite nice. I really love the "Pearl Coral" color, and I need to figure out the best way to clean, polish and protect it, since the finish almost feels matte at this point (I don't know if that if from prolonged sun/elements exposure or what).

I'll try to post pics and stuff when I have the chance.

Gotta admit that having three bikes side by side in my living room looks pretty awesome to me! If anyone cares, the total for these three buys was exactly $600 ($350 for the '90 Basso Paris B, $180 for the '86 Lotus Legend, and $70 for the '82 Lotus Unique). I'm not sure how well (or poorly) I did, but I'm not particularly concerned about it at the moment. Now I want to get into working on them a bit, because I know I'll enjoy it, and perhaps I'll keep an eye out for good deals on the bits that will bring the Basso back to more period correct and matching spec.

Thanks to everyone who offered up some advice and guidance during these few days of hot and sweaty bike mania!

[MENTION=465722]robertorolfo[/MENTION] -- You've still got one more purchase to make, if you haven't already: a repair stand. I can say from experience this isn't something to wait on. Without it everything is a PITA, and when you finally bring one home you'll kick yourself for not doing it sooner.

I went with the ParkTools PCS-10. Collapsible, reasonably economical, and very functional.

There was some recent chatter on this forum about the bike stand available at Aldi stores -- about $35 compared to the $100+ of the Park stand. I bit the bullet, and it's a great value if they stock it at the Aldi store near you. A good start for a new hobby if you don't want to spend too much right out of the gate.

Ok guys, I need some expert (or at least experienced) opinions/advice.

I'd like to replace the bar tape on the Lotus Legend with something as close to the original as possible. Thing is, I can't quite figure out what color and/or material it is. I'm pretty sure it isn't white, but I don't think it's grey or silver either. I thought it might be clear, but it isn't translucent at all. It some sort of dark pearl white, perhaps?

Keep in mind it has aged for 31 years in who knows what conditions. Any advice or feedback is very much appreciated.

Pics are of the current state, with the brochure pic below that.

That's vinyl tape. Many hate it, but I like it, as do others. Benotto was the shizzle back in the day, but I think it's out of production. If you search for it on ebay, you'll find old stock and also reasonable imitations of it.

Wow, great, thanks so much for the help.

Next, since you are a NYC guy, I need to pick your brain on the best technique for going in and out of doorways with the bike, especially those with a few steps right before the door. Plus the best hand positioning for carrying the bike up flights of apartment stairs...

For stairs, it might depend on how tall you and the bike are. I tend to lift by the top tube. Going upstairs, I hold towards the front so the rear of the bike tips down and towards the rear going downstairs. I hold the bike on my right so the chain doesn't soil me, which sometimes means I have to walk on the left to hold the handrail.

I try to swing doors open wide. Sometimes I have to catch it as it self-closes towards me when I'm halfway through and swing it a second time. Be careful not to let the door hit the rear derailleur, as it can bend the hanger.

You should put your location in your profile, too.

I have a couple of rolls of a similar bar tape to that shown in your post. Found it on eBay from a seller called 2Velo. Its a store mainly for decals and bar tape of various types. Its a no name knock off of the old Benotto bar wrap that was popular back in the 80s and 90s. Not real pricey just slow due to being mailed from Europe.

If you want two rolls to get the bike going let me know and I can let you have a couple of mine.

Very nice looking bike, I see why you were asking about my Tommasini with the pink pearlescent colourway.

Bill

I threw my location in there.

That's pretty much what I was doing with the stairs (top tube, toward the back going down, front/middle going up). I'm getting plenty of practice with a 4th floor walk-up.

As for doors, the one to my building is pretty heavy and swings closed very quickly. It's really a PITA. The headbearings on the Legend are kinda stiff (not too bad, just a bit more than usual), and I actually like it because it helps me wheel the bike in straight when pushing on the seat with one hand and holding the door with the other. On my other bikes the front wheel is constantly flopping right or left as soon as I take my hand off the steering stem to grab the door, and it makes things considerably more difficult and/or awkward.

Ha, didn't take you long to figure out my questions about your Tommasini, did it! I have to do some touching up on my bike, and that's why I asked, but yours looks a little bit brighter. I already stopped by the local drugstore to look at some nail polish colors (the girl working there was really nice to me, and seemed to believe that it was for my bike, not because I'm crossdressing, not that there's anything wrong with that). I'll let you guys know what I find and how it turns out.

As for the tape, I appreciate the offer. Let me take a look for it online, and I'll buy it there if I find it (I don't mind spending a few bucks to support the industry). If not, I'll take you up on your offer.

Here's an alternate technique. Orient the bike with the rear wheel toward down the stairs, the front wheel toward up. Stand in front of the bike and grab the front rim with one hand, lift the wheel and roll the bike on its rear wheel. You always keep the bike in front of you. For going down the stairs the bike moves backwards as you let the rear wheel drop down one step at a time. For going up the stairs you step up the stairs backwards with the bike moving forward. You keep the bike from tipping by how you hold the front wheel.

This technique keeps the bike in a nearly vertical position which lets you negotiate tight corners easily. It isn't as fast, especially going up the stairs, as picking the bike up by the TT or throwing it over your shoulder and walking. But it is surprisingly easy and maneuverable in tight situations. If your staircase is narrow it will help. But if you have to go three flights it might be too slow going up backwards. Still, it's worth a shot.

Probably due to mine being a pearlescent finish and out in direct sunlight in the picture. I tried fingernail polish, it was just too thin to effectively fill the chips, and in the couple of larger spots it looked terrible. Very thin and inconsistent in its appearance, kind of runny no matter how much it was stirred and applied in coats. Many here have had luck with it, usually reds and in smaller chipped areas it seems to work well. Best of luck with the touch up, do a search for some of the really good threads here regarding paint touch up and repairing finishes.

I prefer using Testors or Tamiya scale model paints, from a long time favorite hobby shop. The Testers Model Masters for enamels, and Tamiya for acrylics (their regular gloss pink is what matched the Tommasini colourway, I need to apply a semi gloss clear to give it the luster needed now.) When the picture was taken that you asked about, it hadn't been touched up properly, and that is a poor shot for any look at paint work. I had to go back and remove all previous touch up attempts by the PO and myself. I followed the advice from one of the threads in this forum about touch up work. Next step will be to purchase an air brush, I gave my hobby brush from the early 80s away long, long ago.

If you change your mind about the wrap just shout out, its not really all that expensive for the knock off stuff, but the NOS/NIB Benotto items get pricey. Also, I gave the wrong vendor name to you, its Velo-Bitz https://www.ebay.com/usr/velo-bitz?_t...72.m2749.l2754, 2Velo is where I found some nice pink cloth tape that snow in use on the Tommasini. Both are good places to find some nice C&V detail products and even some crochet back leather gloves.

Bill

1-you are already n+1 afflicted.

2-you came here for advice.

It's over. Time to enjoy the ride.

So a local guy (turned out to be a gal, or at least his wife) was selling a Park Tool PC-9 for $25! I jumped on it, and other than having sat outside in the sun for a couple of years, it's great.

Other than that, I've just been riding and trying to figure out what will be the best way forward. Perhaps I can make do with one less bike? Or perhaps I need just one more? Probably the latter...

But of course that hasn't stopped me from spending money unnecessarily. I've decided that seeing the mishmash of Shimano and other stuff on the Basso isn't right, so I'm looking for Chorus/Athena parts here and there. The nice thing is that the late 80's and early 90's Chorus and Athena lines seems to have some common, or very similar parts (hand me downs, I guess you could also say), and without specific names stamped on them, then blend together well. (If I'm wrong about this, feel free to let me know and/or chastise me for it).

So far I've gotten a Chorus crankset circa '88 and an Athena/Chorus cartridge bottom bracket circa I don't know, plus some Chorus Monoplaner brakes (early '90's) that I love the look of.

Next up I want to get rid of the modern bar and stem conversion (and swap the front brake to the right, since motorcycles) in favor of something in the 3TTT or Cinelli flavor, while keeping an eye out for the rest of the gruppo stuff: brake levers, headset, hubs and derailleurs. I'm not in a rush though (at least that's what I'm trying to tell myself), and trying to patiently wait for nice deals to pop up on craigs or fleabay. Hopefully this will give me something fun to do during the winter.

As for the Lotus and the vinyl bar tape, I'm just going to try conventional white tape for now, since I have NO experience wrapping bars and could only find a couple of expensive white vinyl options (although other colors seem to be plentiful and cheap). Once I feel comfortable, I'll probably switch back. Also found a local place in Astoria that rents out workstands/workspace for $10 an hour, so I figure I can stop in there for the occasions when I need a specialty tool that is cost prohibitive.

Going thru doors and up stairs -


Grab the bike by the balance point on the top tube and raise it in the air. Put your arm completely thru the frame and rest the frame on your shoulder (on its balance point).


You will often see photos of muddy cyclo-cross racers carrying their bikes this way, mountain bikers, too.


If it's too long to get thru a doorway, you can tip the front end downwards to shorten the effective length.

Great deal on the PC-9. It would have been a bargain at more than double the price.

Hi guys, I was going to update this thread with some, err, updates, but something more pressing just came up.

Can someone please tell me, and I mean it this time, why I shouldn't be very seriously interested in this bike? Aside from hating that it has DuraAce instead of something Campagnolo flavored, why else should I try to get it out of my head? And yes, it's local, so I could go and see it in person. Please tell me I'm being dumb.

Tommasini Prestige 15th Anniversary | eBay

You should be seriously interested in that bike. It's a Tommasini. Build quality will be top-notch. It's going to ride beautifully.

The Dura-Ace components work better and shift better than their Italian counterparts. Dura-Ace is for riders, not poseurs.

Assuming it's your size - go see that guy ASAP, before some one else snatches it up.