Any Basso experts that can help?
 

I recently bought my first Basso, a "LoPro" TT with the black/yellow paint job. My question is can someone tell me what original equipment this came with? I believe it came with Campy. It has a Campy seat post, Head set, Record rear wheel and what looks like a Campy crank. It has a small yellow Campagnolo decal on the non drive chain stay near the B/B. Should it be Record, Super Record or something else? Also curious about what the original stem, handlebars and seat were. I have looked online and found a few pictures, but everyone seems to be different.

The serial number starts with 80, does that make it a 1980 frame?

Any help is appreciated.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4853ec0385.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3a454547a1.jpg

Like most "low pro" TT bikes, it looks fast and exotic.......and quite painful to ride for too long....:D
For gruppo preference you might want to consider the most aerodynamic designs that came out from Campy at that time, C Record/Delta might be a good default, but unfortunately way expensive and frankly, overpriced, considering the drivetrain and brake performance from that group. Athena will be a good "budget" gruppo from Campy that still has a lot of aerodynamic qualities to it, or you can go with Chorus. Also quite expensive but not nowhere near C Record/Delta. Plus the drivetrain and brakes perform much better, IMO.....
These groups might have come in a little bit later than the bike, but I think they will complement it better than something like Super Record gruppo because if their aero design.....which is what a "low pro" "funny bike" is all about....

Imported as frames. Build with cool stuff of the era. Your guess of 1980 sounds close enough to me.

The frame is from 1986-'88, at least the columbus sticker refers to this. The headset is a C-Record. And the seat post is a CDA/Chorus/Athena.

At that time, the SL tube was still top-rated, so even a C-Record would be appropriate. But I prefer the Chorus, like Chombi1. But also the SR group is a good choice for this era.

IIRC, the so-called "Funny Bikes" made their debut at the 1984 Olympics in LA. I don't think bikes like this existed in 1980, I was around, I sure didn't see any.

Yes, the first was Francesco Moser's Hour Record bike in January 1984.

Basso's did not start sporting those two- tone paint jobs until the mid-eighties, so I concur with the other posters on the approximate year.

They put some crazy color combinations together, but they always seemed to work well. You have the Rasta scheme!😊

Cool bike. Let us know what you think of the ride soon.

From my knowledge, a serial number that starts with an 8 indicates a bike that's been manufactured in 1988. Folks at Basso are quite helpful, try e-mailing them the serial number, photo of the serial number and they might pin it down for you.

Thanks guys. I am planning on contacting Basso. They offer a "birth certificate" if you send them the info and pictures.

I didn't know they were frame only. That being said and most likly right why would there be a yellow campagnolo decal on the chainstay? I have only seen there logo in black or sometimes white.

I did give it a shake down ride it this morning. Once you get used to it its a pretty good ride. You do get some odd looks from the guys on new bikes that have probably never seen or heard of a LoPro bike

Only a Gap owner can appreciate the humor there.😊

Oh, as for that Campy sticker, I have no idea. I haven't seen that on other Basso models. Is it under the clear coat? Maybe somebody put it on, like that Power Bar sticker on the TT.

Yep, my Gap serial number starts with an 8 and Basso confirmed it is a 1988.

Imported as unfinished frames requiring threading facing milling. Lower tariff. Only I ever saw as completes were show bikes.

Yeah, it would have been later 80s as other posters have it.

Builds at local TTs would have been all over the place. Still sewups for a bike like this. Mostly Super or C-, Dura Ace too. Look or Time pedals. Probably still Cinelli or TTT stem, all kinds of handlebars. Turbo saddle. Disc rear wheel, half spoke front. Most of those discs were heavy and not much good. Sorta aero Araya ADX-1 would be about best rim of era. Strung to low hole American Classic hubs. Avocet or Cateye speedo. Flashy tape to match paint.

There were funny bikes before Moser. He may have put them on the map. The wild bikes used at LA 84 Olympics were in preparation way before summer of '84. Lotsa experiments. Who remembers making aero frame tubes by smashing a normal SL tube flat?

😱🙏😱!!!

Ohhh, the humanity!!!😭😥😭

The Huffy Aerowind did that, but it was obviously not Columbus SL tubing. I used to assemble these at Monkey Wards back in '81.

http://oldtenspeedgallery.com/blog/w...erowind-01.jpg

Note the revolutionary Rubber Turkey Lever Hoods.. Try finding a replacement set of those. :rolleyes:

Peugeot flattened/"aerocized" their own Carbolite 103 tubing too and used it for, of all things, their "Limited" Centenary bike in 1982/3..... You'd think they would have used better tubing, but I guess it made marketing sense to keep the bike affordable for more people to buy it.....
They called the flattened tubing "Carboprofil".....

That "Campagnolo equipped" decal is on top of the paint. The corners are square. Must be an add on.

Very nice Basso. It must be hard to put air in that back tire.

Let me ask you guys this. Is there any significance to the black/yellow paint sceam? What other paint options were there? I like the combo just curious.

No, your paint scheme, often called the "Jamaican scheme" for obvious reasons, was pretty common through all of their models. They had a lot of crazy combo's that started around 85 and I guess the 2 and 3 tone paint schemes became their trademark.

My Basso is violet and a jade-like green. Yes, violet and green! Sounds ugly, but it is really quite attractive. The mid eighties became a time when frame builders really took license with their paint jobs, especially the Italians.

Now that I have had enough time to really research (browse the web mindlessly) the color combos, they really had some "different" ones, some good some not. I still like the black/yellow and will most likely stay with it. But I found one in black/yellow/green that I think would look good on my TT frame.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...493b439ff1.jpg

Shimano made some, for a couple years. I've got 'em on my Univega Nuovo Sport and spare pair from the Box o' Crap game. I have no idea what make those ones on the Aerowind are, though. Exotic!