LgReno

I have a contact through my dad who bought a brand new 6000+$ racing bike (an older man in his 60's).

My dad told him i was into bikes and he said he'd sell his old one and here's word for word what he wrote on his business card:

Gianella (Marinoni Frame)
54.5

Full Shimano Dura Ace 16 Spd.

Shimano Med. Profile Rims

$750.00

So the size seems perfect. if the 54.5 means size in cm. and he mentioned the wheel set alone was worth something like 1000$ and the bike was 3000$. I have no idea what year the bike is (yet alone if its a steel frame - columbus maybe?), all i know is the 16spd DA info. and i dont know the range of years shimano went to 8speeds.

Please let me know if this is a "vintage" bike worth the 750$. I say that because if its more modern then vintage I feel it looses the appeal a lot especially since i have a 2007, 20speed Al + carbon/al fork bike with 105 which i find is really well equipped for the time being (speedplay zeros,neuvation aero wheelset and a whole lot of upgraded BBB parts like the saddle). If that gianella is going to compete with my current racer then i will have a tough time choosing. If the gianella is a nice vintage ride then i am totally down because i love quality steel bikes and i've never had the chance up until now to own one.

thanks for your input.

Reno

ps. does this DA bike have brifter shifters? or downtube?

cb400bill

Sounds like a nice bike. For info, you could always call these guys.

https://www.gianellacycles.com/location.html

Cycles Gianella Cycles
4795 Boul Des Sources
Pierrefonds, QC H8Y 3C6
514-683-2240

Mon – Wed : 9:30AM – 6:00PM
Thurs & Fri : 9:30AM – 9:00PM
Sat : 9:30AM – 5:00PM

prof2k

Dura-Ace 8 speed was intriduced I believe in 1989, and brifters were introduced maybe 2 years later (I think in 1991). Dura-ace was 8-speed until 9-speed was introduced in 1997. There's a very good chance the bike has brifters. As well, the it's more than likely that the frame is steel, because most bikes of this period were still steel.

I would also imagine that the shimano medium profile wheels are not as vintage as the rest of the bike and are a much more recent upgrade, because larger profile rims started becoming a lot more popular and in the past 10 or so years. (8/9/10 speed shimano wheels have the same freehub bodies and are all interchangeable)

cyclotoine

deep profile alloy wheels were popular in the mid 1990s and onward... probably sell, probably sweet. but I do think a little expensive unless it is in tip top shape.

miamijim

Full Dura Ace equipted bikes start at $450 and go from there depending on a variety of factors such as, but not limited to STI levers, condition, size, make and how 'full' of a group it has.

Full: Dura Ace means everything including the headset, pedal and bottom bracket. Those 3 parts may not sound like a big deal a good pair of pedals can set you back upto $125 with headsets and BB running $75 each.

STI levers: Expensive. Can add ~$100 to an otherwise similar bike

Make: The big boys cost more than the little boys. Gianella are 'little biys'

Condition: Self explanatory

Size: The 'bell curve' peaks between 54cm and 58cm. Smaller bikes like 48's demand a small premium (pun intended) while bigger bikes like 62's have a market penalty.

Tires: Tubulars are death sentence

Color: Wildness is a penalty

Comapring 2 hypothetical bikes:

A 48cm with STI levers, clincher tires and a single color or 2-tone paint scheme could possibly sell for $250-300 more than a 62cm with tubular tires, DT shift levers and a crazy wierd paint scheme.

Road Fan

Marinoni then as now made really good steel frames - you're looking at some of the best of North America. The DuraAce speaks for itself. I'd rather have Campy, but that's just my preference. Tubular tires may conventionally represent a penalty, but there are a lot of tubular equipped bikes on Ebay going for decent prices. Besides, if the tires are collectible (and some are) there's a sweetener in the pot. It's one thing to become educated with the conventional viewpoint on valuation, and it's another to evaluate an object on its merits. In any case, at $750 (US or CD, BTW?) you're looking at a fine riding bike pretty much ready to go, not a flipper at wholesale price.

This is definitely a high-end bike.

mainducoyote

I think it's a little much for Montreal and yes, it would have brifters. I have a nice frame in 55cm if you don't mind pink

LgReno

Thanks everyone sofar for their input.

I will contact this man very soon and see if I can come take a look at it, post some pictures take notes on everything and see if hes willing to negociate on the price. Its funny because the first time my dad talked to the guy he said 600buck. but then he wrote down 750. its as if the closer he gets to the selling point it becomes more difficult for him to let it go.

i guess the color is important too, and the tubular tires although i dont get why everyone started mentioning those (is it becasue the shimano rims weren't clinchers?)

im eager to see that thing.

Reno

SingeDebile

clinchers on high end race bikes is a fairly recent development

Charles Wahl

I beg to differ.

jtgotsjets

It's a fairly recent bike.

Ronsonic 

Just another set of comments and lore, though I gotta say, Jim's got this down to a science.

Worst case, it has the 1988 8s D/A hub which would mean you can't get a cassette for the thing for anything like a civilized price. OR, pay 80 for a new freehub IF you can find one. Those have gotten rare too. From 89 on the freehubs will fit common 8-9-10 cassettes. Easy way to tell is look at the cogs, 88 was the last year on D/A for the twist-tooth.

I don't mind sewups, but I'm fooking weird. Most people won't want the hassle and the resale goes way down. In fact, one of the reasons I like sewups is that I can buy really awesome wheelsets for dirt cheap.

For that money, you should be looking at a clean, complete bike with STI and clinchers. That it's a Shimano wheelset makes it more likely to be clincher in my experience. They didn't do sewups much.

Take a look and have a talk.

Post pictures.

LgReno

Hi Guys,

thanks for commenting... what was it now... almost a year ago? Lol....

I Finally contacted the gentleman again since I've been saving up and sold 2 bikes in the last week (ironically my '88 gianella for 250$ with mid range shim components - the rear rim was not doing well with a few fatigue cracks along the rim at the spoke hole level, but thats another story)
So i bought the bike for 600$ (two wheel sets)

Mostly DA except pedals (Campy Centaur) and a Shimano 600 head set. I think the BB is also DA (see comment below). Seat post is DA and even the brake pads.

Theres a Cinelli stem and Cinelli HB 62-40 GIRO D'Italia, a selle San Marco "Rolls DUE" (whatever that is)
the current wheel et are medium profile shimano with a DA casette. but i also got the original wheel set with FIR ea60 rims laced on DA hubs.

All DA components have serial numbers DA-7402 and 7403.

check out my pics:





my only concern... and the paint is chipping..... oy oy oy...what should be the best thing to do?


the serial is 20723 and i can partially see the BB bracket through the "G" . its a shimano BB-72?? so i think its DA

the new wheel set hubs are WH-R540 shimano medium profile rims and the original wheel set hub and rim are:




So all in all i think its in good running condition. The bike was always well maintained and cleaned after it was ridden in the rain etc... the owner used it heavily since he got it. Its probably got a somewhere close to 50000km. The rust as you saw is my only real concern and it occured due to a "marinoni" frame pump that was wedged along the seat tube. So water must of gotten trapped and over the year started corroding that area. its a nice white pump though.. no pic however.

Thanks for looking,

Best,
Reno

LgReno

oh.. and not to forget, the saddle bag includes tire pliers and a spare tube. and in case you didnt notice theres also a simple speedometer.

wrk101

Better deal with that rust soon. It will only get worse.

LgReno

That the best course of action?

SoreFeet

Italians don't know how to paint bikes...

20grit

the rolls due is a titanium railed version of the rolls. they pop up on ebay quite a bit. if it doesn't strike your fancy, watch one of those auctions for a value.

Drillium Dude

Aw, that's too harsh: note that the Columbus decal is a "Riverniciato" slashed one - that means a repaint at some point, and not necessarily done by an Italian

Plus, sweat is sweat - it'll get through the paint (any paint, by any painter) one way or the other!

OP: nice score! Just needs a full kit of Nuovo Record

LgReno

i did not realize this,... however i had my suspicions...


Im a shimano guy.... i dont know what everyone is raving over campy. As a kid i was quite exposed to the shimano brand not for biking but for fishing. it was my first fishing kit brand and every since i always got shimano fishing grear. Fast forward until i was 24 and started getting into biking after knre surgery.... and i have been stiving everysince to get a "vintage" (if i may...) full dura ace steel bike. Today i got my wish and im super happy with it!

Drillium Dude

I was just kidding about the Campy part - of course everyone is entitled to their favorite. Personally, I'm a Campy guy because since at least 1994 (when I got back into cycling and began again with old-school stuff) I've been putting on thousands of hard and fast miles on the Italian stuff and it's still going strong. I guess there's no arguing it lasts and lasts and lasts...

cinco

The BEST course of action would be to mask the surrounding areas, "sand"blast the affected areas, fill the pits with something like All-Metal body filler, and repaint to match. That may not be the most practical of options, however, not in the least because it's tough to find a sandblaster who knows how to deal with bike tubing. I'd do it for you, but you're not exactly across town.

The next best option would be to remove the necessary amount of paint and treat the rust with phosphoric acid. It converts iron oxide into iron phosphate which, for practical purposes, is chemically inert. That should keep things from getting worse, but you'll still need to seal the area, either with new primer and paint or with a good coat of wax, etc. I get worried when rust gets bad enough to bubble paint like that - I'd expect you still have a fair amount of metal left but keep an eye on it.

PS: Sure, Campy and Shimano stuff is nice, but it didn't work properly until they copied Suntour's rear derailleur design .

cudak888 

$600? With that rust?

Boy, between this and LeicaLad's Mercian...

-Kurt

LgReno

Seriously... i thought a bent stay would of been way worse...

roccobike

Beautiful bike. Fix the rust by taking the least invasive approach. If it were me, I'd do pinpoint sanding, then follow with rustoleum primer to arrest further spread. It's worked great for me in the past and is not a complex fix. Finding a direct match for the paint may take forever. An expensive approach, but effective is to take it to an auto paint supplier and have them custom mix the color.
As for the cost of the bike, when you get into that level of quality, it's a sellers market. In all my dealings in the Raleigh area, I've never seen a vintage bike of that quality and that nice. Maybe Robbie has, but I haven't. I think you did good. Enjoy riding that bike knowing you've got a real thorough bred.