Hello, I recently bought a bike that was advertised as a certain maker (one reason I bought the bike) but I'm quite dubious that this bike actually comes from this maker...

Mostly because of the panto on the fork but also because it lacks much of the panto common for this particular maker.

I've attached some photos.

I've not include the name of the supposed maker as not to sway the results... Can anyone ID this frame, particularly the "R" on the fork?

Regardless, I got this bike for a bargain and it came with campy record/super record/cinelli/etc so I'm not that worried about getting ripped off I'd just like an ID on the maker.

Thanks!

How about telling us the bb thread?

The lack of embossing elsewhere on the frame may be because it is a mid-range, contract built frame. Embossing on the crown only, was quite common at this level in the mid to late 1980s, with many of the smaller margues.

The pantographed "R" on the fork can be found on Rivola bikes of a certain era (they had at least two other panto styles).


It's possible the frame is also a Rivola, but we might need to see more detailed pics.



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Bam! another winner by Mr. Moss!
but who's keeping score?

Actually, I am, and Maurice is a champion!

That looks like it! Thanks!

For the record, the bike was sold to me as a Rossin, but like I said, I was quite doubtful of that because of the fork panto "R" did not match the usual Rossin R which is more stylized. I thought maybe the bike I bought was a Raleigh or something like that, but couldn't find a match and it didn't make a ton of sense anyway since I bought the bike in Italy where Raleighs are not that common.

And also, like I said, I bought the bike based on the parts and the price and with the idea that I will probably turn it into a townie type bike with some upright bars. It's a cute little bike regardless of the maker. But what's the story with Rivola? Any more info?

I will take some more photos when I get home now that the mystery is maybe solved.

From what little we see in the first pics that bike would seem to be quite stunning and well made. It could be an awesome road bike if the rest of the details are up to the same standard.

Welcome to BF!

I agree, looks like a nice bike. You gonna use those Simplex shifters? ��

The Rivola family is from a town called Massa Lombarda (roughly half way between Bologna and Ravenna). Giovanni Rivola started out working on customizing parts and doing repairs, and eventually produced the first bike in 1963. Umberto Chiesa was building the Rivola frames until 1978 when Gianni Rivola (the son) took over.

In the early 90s Giovanni's health was deteriorating and Gianni ended up farming out some of the work. Eventually, Gianni closed the shop in 2006.

During a stage of Giro d'Italia (not sure what year) that was passing near Massa Lombarda, José Manuel Fuente needed a repair done and his bike was brought in to Rivola's shop. Fuentes was impressed enough with the work and the man, that months later he ordered two frames to be made for him. These were not marked Rivola but wore sponsors' decals, but supposedly many races were won on those bikes.

Rivola had also apparently collaborated with Campagnolo on testing their products before release (as is indicated on the troppebici blog, see the link below).

All the Rivolas I've seen look like really nice frames. You can check out some of them here (in fact, one of the pics I initially posted is from the troppebici blog):

https://troppebici.wordpress.com/category/rivola/

RIVOLA - FRAMETELLER


Honestly, I'd rather have a Rivola than a Rossin, but that's just me

Thanks!! Just adding another tiny bit to the BF encyclopedia of bike knowledge.

I still have a looong way to catch up to knowledge and contributions from masters on this forum, including you and juvela and drillium dude and...

Sorry for the super delay on the updates... Here's a pic of the bike from my ride this morning.

I'm really liking it so far.

Thanks again for helping identify the maker... It's really cool living in Italy because there are so many little builders that even the Italians have no idea what they are half the time.

Share very much the last row you wrote! 🙏🏾
Fortunate enough to share finaly the same R initital on fork crown too, even adorned with a laurel wreath; since I was named Ravi although my mother is of milanese descend with roots to parma and my father is from cologne, germany.

mia Rivola azzurra va pure con puntapiedi/fermapiedi/gabbiette ICS Ergonometrici XL (nos/nuovi/new old stock) come cinghiette / cinturini / laccetti (Cinelli) ;-) Alfredo Binda Prestige nos & nip.
Got another pair as backup plus a thrd one for an other special project (still in progress), a Giovanni »Vanni« Losa - Losa Professional from about 1980 with my first and only Cinelli SCM bottom bracket shell, although already with the flying C logo by Italo Lupi, leaving the old heraldry behind .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/159022...77720304429079
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