http://farm1.static.flickr.com/172/3...66a61eee_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/3...a7dddc16_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/3...1617188a_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/3...ba5d3cce_o.jpg
I believe they are 980s

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/165/3...fc775ae8_o.jpg
Big scratch from the shifter, but thats really the only major blemish, pretty clean all around.
I absolutely love the paint job, if it was all one plain-jane color I dont think I woulda got so excited about it!

Yeah Baby! SHe's a beaut. SPecials are top of the line as you can tell by the SL, beautiful Panto on the seatstay caps, wish mine had that. Enjoy!!

Beautiful bike! Probably sold for $1000 - $1500 when new. When I bought my Nishiki Ultimate, back in the day, I was torn between it and a Marinoni. I just had to have fancier lugs than the Italian style that Marinoni used.

Congratulations enjoy the ride! I particularly like the chrome chainstays. That paint job will be a head turner.

Absolutely brilliant find. I love the 80's paint scheme too (seriously).

Not to hijack the thread but I thought Marinoni stopped building about 2 years
ago. I seem to remember reading something like that.

Marty

You mean the man himself Guiseppe Marinoni? I wouldn't be suprised, that would have been the 30th anniversary...

Judging by the frame attributes and decals, a nice sample circa 1988-1990. They are nice handling frames with very good workmanship.

Beauty. You made a great purchase there. I'm glad you will not have to kick yourself for passing it up.

I believe if you email the serial number to Marinoni they will tell you the year it was made and maybe even for who. Not sure, I haven't tried it myself, I bought mine off the original owner.

Cool.. thanks for the tip, I think I'll give that a shot.

Brilliant bike----YES!

Don't worry the scratches, that's just charm.

Definitely worth it. I'm glad you listened to the people who told you to get it. :)

I can tell you the year, based on the serial number.

Ok, I never spotted any serial number when I was going over it yesterday, so I figured it would be under the BB.. Nope nothing there, just the M cutout, double checked everywhere else - seat tube, drop outs, zilch?!

Bumping this oldish thread cause I finally got to take it out for a real ride..! I was always worried it might be a tad small - well it fits PERFECT! Best fitting cycle I ever rode in fact, a lot of that has to do with the 120mm stem swap! It also rides like a dream, fast, light, excellent handling, you name it! Im really, really, really glad I bought this bike now, defently worth the $400!

I only had about an hour to ride it around today as I gotta head into work in a bit, I wrapped the bars with black cork wrap I bought this morning.. shop didnt have yellow ): But oh well - kinda did a sloppy job wrapping even as I was in quite a hurry, so at least the day I find some nice yellow wrap I could change it and not feel bad about wasting perfectly good tape.

Changes since them first photos include: Aero Levers, a two tone yellow black selle italia turbo 2 seat, yellow and blue cable housing, and a michelin pro2 yellow tyre on the back. No pictures, but next time I go out for a ride with it I'll have to take some!

And Oh yeah, I found the serial number, it was just really hard to notice on the bottom of the BB, and T-Mar confirms its a 1989!

Congratulations on your beautiful Marinoni! Looks like a keeper. Ride her in good health.
The scratch looks like it was from the adj knob of the front brake hitting the down tube when the handlebar went in a sharp right angle. Many brakes have a rubber bumper over that piece to prevent that from happening. Don't worry it's just a character mark.
Gerry

It says in there that all frame are made by Giuseppe Marinoni and I believe that document is dated to 2000.[/QUOTE]

I have 2 Marinoni frames made from OS Zona and they are a good deal. I paid 875$ Cdn. for custom 64cm frames with custom paint jobs. Giuseppe does not build anymore and they don't want to expand their business which is about 3000 units a year plus a very big parts business.

His best market now is custom road bikes for women.

Ouch! What happened, looks like a vehicle hit? Very sad indeed!

niiiice. I've always had a burning desire for a lugged Marinoni. The paint gives me a warm fuzzy. That bike totally deserves yellow tape and a blue saddle. Maybe yellow and blue tires, once those wear out. No such thing as tooo matching in my books. If the parts are all good, then you got a nice deal, especially since you got it in a shop.

Sometimes I think I overpay for bikes, then I remember that nekkid IRO framesets cost $460CAD including tax at my LBS.

What's your RD? Looks like a CdA, though I've never seen one with the engraved black script.