There are a couple of listings on eBay where it looks like bikes may have been repainted and standard decals are missing. Both bikes have BuyItNow options and I can't help but wonder whether these are really lower end frames made to look like better bikes through components, etc. The Basso, in particular, seems a little strange. I have asked questions of the sellers and am awaiting responses. Here are the links. I am curious to hear opinions.

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:X:RTQ:US:1123
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT


The seller of the Ciocc has been very responsive, indicates it may be a repaint, and that it has a 10 Speed Import decal, but is also curious about missing decals, and actually gave me his phone number. Seller's feedback is low but the 2 occurences seem relatively minor (very inexpensive items). Can anyone tell if this is, in fact, a San Cristobal?

The owner of the Basso has yet to respond. Plenty of Basso stampings all over the bike, and the seller says it is Columbus SL (the dropouts are Basso), but there are none of those classic Basso decals except for the small ones on the chainstay. I find the selection of pictures a bit odd also, no good shots of the fork or the seat stay area. The serial number is 407189 and the seller says the bike is an '89, but the components are a real mix, some Super Record components, C-Record brake levers, and the front derailleur looks like it might be late 80's Chorus or Athena. I don't know much about Basso. It just seems like a lot of things don't add up which makes it really difficult to value the bike. I'd welcome any plausible explanations.

I would not take a chance on the CIOCC unless I could do a local pickup. His feedback is poor, and he got blasted by a couple of people that have ample positive feedback.

Plus I do not trust a repaint. Frame condition including paint is the number one thing I look at on a used bike. Anything else can be fixed. Fixing frames, paint and decals is an expensive undertaking, and a bike only has it's original paint once.

I would pass on the Basso for the good reasons you have listed.

Hello I would certainly not pay what the seller is asking for the Basso. he obviously knows very little about what he is doing. look at the position of the "Super Record (Simplex??)" shifters. he labels the shifter as Super Record but simply says Record rearderailuer. as stated previously about the front derrailer the brake handle levers are Chorus or Athena so while the bike has complete Campagnolo components it is a complete group.

However I am glad the brakes have "campagnolo Handle Levers" as I find the NONHandle levers hard to use *giggle*

The seller of the Ciocc actually posted here looking for info. So at least I'll give him/her credit for making the effort to research the bike. I do think it's a San Cristobal, as I wrote to him/her. It looks like a relatively early Ciocc frame (at least as far as Ten Speed Drive imports go), as some of the markings use the earlier, non-flying-C version of "Ciocc." More importantly, the bike has the one thing that really sets Ciocc apart from so many other Italian builders of the period - those very cool skinny lugs. Getting those lugs trimmed and brazed up right took real skill. It's certainly no "lower end" frame. The repaint looks good to me (from what one can tell from auction photos anyway) - the fact that the painter used the correct Columbus repaint decal is IMO a good sign. So there's a tradeoff - yes, it's a repaint, but OTOH it looks pretty well done and the bike is currently in great shape. The Buy It Now is definitely very optimistic. To me, that's maybe an $800-900 bike. If it was original paint I'd say a grand or a little more. Ciocc's from that era are not super common. Of course that all assumed that the seller is on the up-and-up and has done his due diligence.
Even as a repaint, if it's truly well done, a grand would not be out of line.