This is up for sale on Ebay Italy for $200 Euro (Make an offer though). Good international seller.

Lots of cool touches on this one...a 55 CTT ST, 54 CTC TT. SLX. Too small for me otherwise I'd do something stupid.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/19685847236...2367&recoPos=4

Same seller...
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item...ssn=sellarotta

That's so very nice. Thanks for sharing that, it's made my day just to see it. ...... I need more frames like I need a hole in the head, but luckily ,or unluckily, too small for me too

"John the Star"?

Have a read through here. SUPER rare (and cool) to see a John branded Pelizzoli frame.

John, terrific name, my size even.
interesting attributes.
i have too many deserving projects to be done.
i find myself also leaning toward longer wheelbase and more relaxed angled bikes now. A gravel bike before that was a term.

And the opposing pisser is that it's too big for me.
Get in line for sympathy

Here’s one with the Italian spelling.

the scuttlebutt (FWIW) was that when Pelizzoli sold the CIOCC name to the Bonati/Conti firm he also sold the rights to use his "signature" decal on the top tube as well as the "John" and maybe "Gion" brands, too.
But this one has "Pelizzoli" times 4 (at least) panto'd on the frame so I'd be pretty certain that Giovanni had a hand in this or at least directed his apprentices (maybe his Son, Samuel) to build it!
That's a fantastic deal for 200 euros!

I was wondering if it is a repaint and then redecaling of a Pelizzoli? The decal font doesn’t seem Ciocc-y enough.

I cannot find a single picture of a "John", so no clue if this is the font it used or not.

It’s SLX, so at least 1985-6 for it to come out, but no later than 1990ish, I’d presume.

Hmm...wonder if it will fit for a single speed...

check out post #125 of this thread:
Ciocc San Cristobal
it's a loooong video so slide forward to about minute 34 and there's long shots of the factory van with logos for Ciocc (largest) and below that smaller logos for Cicli Conti and Cicli John.
I'd say the "John" logo is pretty darn close, maybe exact, but missing the "Fleur de Lys" which I believe was the mark of Conti (and nothing I ever saw Pelizzoli use on any of his frames), maybe a ref to Florence (Firenze) but maybe not.
Further speculation: seems like Pelizzoli got the rights back to use the brand John again in this late '80s early '90s era, and maybe he never had any trademark infringement issue with "Gion" since it wasn't a brand he sold away to this bigger concern when he let go of Ciocc, etc.

I believe the John font is correct, in that it matches the only other one I've seen a picture of. And, of course, I now can't find those pictures.

Assuming this is roughly a 1988, I wonder if Mr. Pelizzoli had any part in building it. I believe one of the other posters quoted him as saying he was the only one who is allowed to put HIS name on a bicycle.

Wow, 2-3 cm too small for me otherwise I would have ordered it. As someone who has spent years working in Italy and named John, this would be perfect.

I am still ruminating about it honestly. I keep wondering if it would make a good fixie/path bike. Ugh...

Found it! These are screenshots from a FB for sale post from a few years ago.

Someone bought it. Great deal and it saved me from myself.

Thanks to this thread, I now have a new obsession: find a John or Gion Frame.

John the Fatto A Mano? Is that Italian for John the very fat man?


Relax, I'm joking.

1. I'd say yes he had a hand in the building of the white/yellow/chrome example frameset, I think '88 is a pretty good guess as to the build-date.
2. maybe he's the only one entitled to brand a frame "Pelizzoli", but for the "handwritten signature" used on hundreds of frames (on the DS top tube near the seat cluster): nope. That's hard to read cursive, sure, but it's his surname Pelizzoli, followed by his what may be a contraction of Giovani since it's short, so perhaps "Gion". That's all over frames that were built by the Conti/Bonati factory, and never touched by his hand.

Thats what I think he meant. Not the signature decal but the marquee brand and the pantographing he placed on his Pelizzoli bikes.

Oddly, the color palette on the John the USA Star bike is ultimately what made me hesitate despite the size. I thought that any repaint would require decals which would decrease its rarity as an original JOhn.

Andddddd... the Rossin is now gone. More
temptation removed.

Relisted....let the temptation begin anew!

Some completed build temptation. Not too many branded Pelizzolis out there. I think this is the 12th modern-ish GP frame Sr. P ever made, and perhaps the last.
Meeting with him in his shop in in Bergamo in 2015 for a custom frame measurement:


At which time he was in his mid-80's and a recent cancer survivor.
A year later, this showed up:




Intended to fit both 700 X 32 and 650B X 38, it has worn 80's Campagnolo SR, Shimano Deore, and Dura Ace components



It also travels well, having been to Cino, Eroica, El Tour de Tucson, Storming of Thunder Ridge, and a bunch of other 'legendary rides'.
In other words, it's worth the scratch. Make a bid.