Gifted Basso
 

A friend of mine bought this bike used in 1991, from an ad posted on the bulletin board at Citybikes in Portland. It was his first good bike, so it was a big deal. He rode it for years before passing it on to a friend, who converted it to a single speed. That friend returned it, and now it’s been passed on to me. It has shed many of its parts along the way, but it looks like a fun project. I’ll probably put it on the back burner and try to find some Campy bits for it. Who knows? Any info about the frame would be much appreciated. Thanks!

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So many pics posting sideways these days. I wonder if it has to do with image size?

JacobLee,
For being passed from one person to the other it certainly presents very well.....it should not take much searching for the correct campy parts, you have most of what you need with just a few exceptions.
Be sure to give it a good service....BTW the color is great.
Best, Ben

Thanks! Yeah, I think it’s been passed around respectfully, so that’s good!

A few frame details: 120mm rear spacing, 70mm bb shell. The only stampings I can find are a 58 on the bb shell and steerer. 27.2 seatpost size. It’s in really nice shape, other than some rust on the top tube.

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Now we're talkin, great score, glad it found it's way to you, agree with Ben on all counts.

These are fantastic, this one is in good shape all things considered.

Basso's have plenty of cred and deserve it. :thumb:

27.2 SP easy enough to come by, BB spindle already there as long as its the one from before the 1x.

Looks like an '81 or '82 Gap. Astounding riders. Which means it might be original Nuovo Record stuff.

Generous gift. Enjoy!

Yes, I’ve got a healthy collection of 27.2’s! This UN52 was in it, with the Campy crank on it. I thought the taper was different, but my Campy knowledge is limited.

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That’s what I came up with searching threads. I can’t find a serial number, but the rear dropouts have the two threaded holes (what are those for?) and the fork has the five twisty ridges, do probably a GAP.

Generous indeed. I think it was stressing him out to have it laying around in this state, but the sentimental attachment is still there, so if someday we take a ride together and he gets to watch his old Basso, he’ll be pleased.

at 120mm, sounds like it was modified for singlespeed duty, so reverting to 126mm wouldnt be heresy.

Actually, it sits at 122, but had a 126mm American Classic hub stuck in it, so I wasn’t sure. I guess 126 is proper for early 80’s?

Its all good, this far down the line many have been mix and matched. It can change where it sits on the taper so you have to be aware and it can often be a hunt and peck anyway so swaping around is part of the process, be mindful if it ends up close to the chainstay before its fully seated and it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Keep all the spindles and cartridges you come across to use in this process for test fits. After a few you start to get the hang of it and it gets easier. Overhauling BB's is good practice too and since most of the cup and cone ones need it, its good for building both skills. ;)

Dropout adjuster screws, don't leave home without them, seriously, they are for locating the wheel in the dropout the same everytime you remove it. I think a frame is incomplete without them looks wise. ;)

I was actually referring to these holes:

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Oh, sorry, the one by the RD mount may have been a spring hole for an older RD but maybe not, the upper one may have been to tap for a fender mount, again maybe not.

Someone is likely to correct me very quickly here. ;)

I found this in an earlier thread:

It has the Campagnolo Portacatena dropouts. Those started like 1977 and only ran a few years, right? They should help narrow down the date

Porta-ca-what?

I guess they hold a chain keeper. Found an article: http://bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com/...whose.html?m=1

DOH! always forget about those, you kind of rarely see them, not an idea that caught on and kind of pissy imo with two holes we don't want or need. ;)

I told you I would get corrected, again. :roflmao2:

Those rear dropouts were around till about 1983 on bikes...... then most bikes just reverted to plain chain hanger pegs brazed on to the lower seatstay. A simpler, less expensive approach, I guess. What was bad was, even chain hanger pegs also started to fade away from most bikes by the late 80's. Part of the cheapened approach to steel bike building in the late 80's and into the 90's, along with the introduction of Unicrown forks, the elimination of frame lugs and maybe include the elimination of chrome.
So take care of this one and enjoy riding it as much as you can as it came from what I consider the best era for steel bikes.....

I love my Gap. It is what got me back into biking and wrenching. So smooth and responsive.

Yes the two holes are for a “portacatena”. I think translates as “chain bridge. It’s to hold the chain when the wheel is removed. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one mounted on a dropout before. I have a 1984 Gap and love it, see pic in today’s “where’d you ride?” post from me. Mine doesn’t have a Cinelli BB shell. Technically the Shimano BB shouldn’t mate well with the Campy crank as they have different tapers but if it works then all is well I suppose.

Too many tapers to consider (old Campy, ISO, JIS) but as mentioned above, if it works you're good. Generally I believe with JIS you'd use a shorter spindle than ISO for the same crank and chainline as JIS taper would kick it further outboard for the same crank/spindle length, but don't quote me. Google is your friend for figuring that part out.

Basso Gap though, what a friend! Enjoy the heck out of that bike.

Portacatena and chain pegs became unnecessary as the newer derailers having two sprung pivots took over. These would take up a lot more chain slack when the wheel was removed, just as a longer cage would.

Portacatena unfortunately reduced the gear-count space so was detrimental to performance.

I saw your red ‘84; that’s a beauty. I’m really excited to ride this one, which means I’ll probably cobble together a rideable build for now, and then ride it like that forever. We’ll see.

Thanks, and thanks for the info! I’ll be interested to put the bb and crank back on, because I hadn’t scrutinized it until I noticed the plastic nds cup!

Makes sense. Yeah, seems kinda backwards thinking. Why would you want to lose a cog?

Mr. Basso gets a bath!

Some beautiful spots, some funky spots. This thing seems to have suffered from sweaty toptube syndrome. Maybe this is a candidate for an acid bath? Please offer opinions on what you might do with this frame (after cobbling together a build to see if it fits!) Also, crank is toast, headset race is pitted, so a complete NR build might be a pipe dream.

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Bummer! I was going to transfer the rings and bolts from another Campy crank that has deep wear grooves on the arms. Another beautiful piece of scrap.

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