Narhay

I briefly considered abandoning children and home to go but the bikes are all a few cm too small.

Good news is the children are still kicking and CPS hasn't come knocking.

gugie 

There's a C&V bicycle arms war going on in Portlandia. I think @Andy_K just broke some sort of armistice rules - something about "no more than 3 high end vintage bikes in the quiver" or something like that.

Hmmm, what's on ebay France today?

Dfrost 

The Cinelli frame looks brand spankin’ new! There’s no sign of it having ever had a QR skewer clamped in the dropouts, or cables through the B.B. guide!

And the lucky Casati owner will surely have tales to tell when it comes time to replace shift cables.

Andy_K 

I think maybe we're misunderstand the idea of mutually assured destruction here.

The funny thing is I had sort of decided that my stable was sufficient and rather than getting more bikes I should just focus on upgrading the parts and accessories on the bikes I have. That might have worked except I also kind of wanted a Molteni-themed bike. I even briefly considered the Black Mountain Cycles road bike which has a Molteni-themed colorway. Ridiculously, the Black Mountain bike equipped with 105 would have cost more than this entire haul, even before I subtract what my co-conspirators are chipping in for the Casati and the Cinelli.

Andy_K 

You're right, the Cinelli would be perfect for modern Campy, maybe a Potenza gruppo, but that is being passed on to one of my collaborators in this venture. The fact is, I have more than enough retro frames with modern groupsets. IMO, the 11-speed Athena group looks perfectly at home on my 1987 Montello -- much more so than any indexed group with have on this DeRosa.

As much as anything, it's just that (a) I know how to get the fit dialed in with modern bars and brake levers, and (b) I greatly prefer the feel of dual pivot calipers. Obviously these two concerns are somewhat related. I just don't have the anatomy for riding in the drops, and I can't get the braking I want using single pivots without being in the drops.

I did notice that the mounting bolt on Campy Skeleton dual pivot brakes is replaceable, so I should be able, at least in theory, to convert a pair for nutted mounting. Given that the Cane Creek brake lever shape is borrowed from 2nd Gen ergo levers, that might be something I could try, though it might still look jarring on this DeRosa.

I don't know. I honestly really do want to keep it looking the way it looks now, but I also really want to ride it and enjoy riding it. I'm still not sure how this will end up. I could very well find myself buying one of those Lycra Molteni jerseys on eBay to complete what I recognize would be an abominable mash up of old and new.

Andy_K 

I kind of hate to admit that for fear that it will consume all of the good will the Universe was clearly feeling toward me last week. Would you believe twenty Benjamins?

qcpmsame 

Nah, I can't hate at anyone getting a great deal, especially when its some sweet bikes and other swag. 'Grats on the score again.

Bill

Andy_K 

I stopped by @gugie's place tonight. He was anxious to see the bikes.

Spaghetti Legs 

I am the co-conspirator on the Cinelli. I just hope Andy ships it out before he gets attached to it! Right now I'm planning on an 8 speed Record Ergo group. I have picked up some pretty nice bikes this year and I've reached saturation point and decided no more new bikes for the near future unless something special like a Supercorsa came along. Well whaddaya know! I might have to sell one of my others to make room.

Andy put some serious time into this and has been great to work with! This one is a win for the BF C+V community and I know the original owner of these bikes and parts would be happy to know everything ended up in good hands.

gugie 

You should be glad to know that Andy got it packaged up before my torch got to it.



I looked long and hard at that Cinelli as we carefully mummified it for shipment. I've got three words to describe it:

1. Drop
2. Dead
3. Gorgeous

As I said in another thread, leave the gun, take the Cinelli. You're gonna fall in love with it.

gugie 

Plus one day of PTO, gas, wear and tear on the Andymobile...

Spaghetti Legs 

Oh boy, now I'm getting nervous. I'm gonna have to trick this bike out right. Thanks for the pack assist!

What kinda headset you guys think it has?

Andy_K 

At first I thought maybe only the locknut was actually Campagnolo because I hadn't seen one like this before and the box o' parts had a Tioga locknut in it, but when we disassembled it, it turned out the upper cup was also marked as Campagnolo. After consulting VeloBase, I'd guess it's a Triomphe.

gaucho777 

Congrats! That's a great haul. They are all beautiful. I'm drawn to the Cinelli (sucker for blue & chrome) but it's hard to find fault with the De Rosa or Casati. Can we see some better detail shots of the trick BB and chain stay cable routings on the Casati?

merziac

Holy crap, nicely done, must be all the clean living.

rowebr

That sounds perfect! Good to hear that one of those beauties is heading east, Andy_K's big score means the C&V Western Conference is way ahead of us!

unworthy1

It was on Sutter, next to the mortuary where they used to allow customers to test ride bikes in the parking lot but later chained it off. There was a franchise on Geary around 8th avenue (ish) as well as a couple more in other 'hoods. I think one in Sacramento, too. Can't remember if the shop on Lombard near the Presidio curve had been a Pacific Cyclery before it changed names but if so that would have been the largest of them I think.

jet sanchEz

The best kind of road trip!

That Casati is really special, I am sure it's new owner will give us a ride report soon.

kroozer 

For a while I lived in the Sierra del Nayar mountains here in Mexico. A lot of people from there are living in Hermiston, they were always talking about it, how freaking cold it gets!

Andy_K 

I did a mountain bike race there in late February a couple of years ago with temperatures in the teens. I know places like Minnesota get colder than that all the time, but I thought it was brutal.

Andy_K 

Sadly, no. I've already dropped it off to be boxed for shipping.

Andy_K 

I just looked up the address where the catalog was sent. It was on Beaumont, but there's no way there was ever a bike shop there. Maybe it was the owner's home address.

mech986 

Andy, thanks for the seller's story, it's always great to hear of owners who are as fanatical as we are. Just for a bit of self flagellation, what were the sizes of the bikes and frame? That way I can kick myself for not calling my brother in law in Portland and attempting to do this also.

As it is, I've come across a few nice bikes but so far none of the true classics for me or in my size. Sigh, but the key is to keep looking and be prepared to pounce. The problem is having sufficient space to hide them from SWMBO.

gugie 

I was a sales rep then, having a tough time getting into the shop. One of my lines was Puma, they had signed LeMond right after his first TdF in '86. As part of the agreement, he owed Puma a few public appearances. I called up Dave, who was one of the owners and he told me I had 10 seconds. I paused for 5, then asked, "would you like to have Greg Lemond in your shop when the Coors Classic came through San Francisco?" He told me that I had just bought 10 more minutes. We negotiated the amount of shoes and clothing he'd have to buy.

A few weeks later he started some full page ads about the LeMond appearance. The SF criterium race was in the morning. It went through one of the covered piers. The city required a couple of scuba divers at the end of the pier in case one of the riders flew off the edge. It was a really cool event.

That afternoon was the shop appearance. I was told to wait on a particular street corner and they'd pick me up (pre-cell phone days). A limo showed up, the door opened, and LeMond poked his head out and asked "are you Mark?" I hopped in, met his wife Kathy, and his parents Bob and Bertha. As we got close to the shop we could see a line backed up several blocks to get into the bike shop. We drove up to the alley way service entrance to the shop, up the stairs, and Greg was placed on a big chair up on a platform, like a king in front of his people.

I seem to collect these type of experiences. Not like Forest Gump, because he was actually involved in the experience, but more like Zelig in the Woody Allen film, without the personality shift to meet the circumstances. I guess I've been a fly on the wall many times.

Spaghetti Legs 

That's cool gugie!

I rode an elevator with Bernard Hinault. I showed him how to use his hotel card to get to the parking garage but otherwise didn't talk to him. Regret it to this day. I have this thing where I clam up and try to be cool around celebrities. Saw him hanging out with Eddy Merckx outside the hotel next AM. (Really! It was at the TdF).

I also rode an elevator with Patrick Ewing. Thats kind of my thing apparently.