After years of people asking me the name of the unmarked bike I was riding, I named it Ignoto, which means unknown in Italian. I do not know the origin of the frame, but the closest facsimiles I have found is Battaglin and Concorde. The Italian flag on the toptube is closest to that of the Concorde.

Tubing is Columbus SLX, it has internal cable guides for both rear brake and rear dérailleur. Note the angled rear brake bridge and the decorative shoulder on the fork.

I found the frame in a small bike shop in Solana Beach CA in 1987. The only identifying marks are Cinelli serial numbers on the bottom bracket.

I still ride the bike today, and love the performance and comfort. I also have a 1998 Waterford and a 2009 Tommassini Fire, but my fastest rides always seem to be on the Ignoto. It sure would be nice to find out who built this frame.

yes, that Italian flag braze-on was popular on bikes contract-built by Billato, they did Concordes and late Ciocc among others. But it has been pointed out that the flag braze-on was not an exclusive Billato property, so this may be somebody else's work. I'm sure it's quality work.

Concorde was the first thing that came to my mind. Looks like a fine frame!

Very distinctive fork crown, I don't think I've seen one like that before.

I know what you mean about the unusual fork crown. I have seen one other like it and that was on my Canadian made Gardin Special. Have a peek if interested...

Early Eighties Gardin Special

GardinSpecialCampyDecalForkCrown..jpg

Its a stock Cinelli crown from the late 80s...

Welcome to C & V!

There are still a ton of small builders in Italy, but in the 80's there were a lot more. For a builder to get big enough to import frames to the US, their volume may have been large enough that someone will recognize the bike. But, if the shop owner vacationed in Italy and found a deal or two from a local builder, well...

It is a very nicely made frame. And very appropriately named. Go with it.

Thanks, luker, for your response. The story I remember being told by the shop owner was that it was a salesman sample from a new builder to show the quality of the paint work. The salesman did not want to take the frame back to Italy. I think I paid $120 for it.

At first, I thought it might have been a prototype Mondonico, because of the similarity to the Guerciotti at that time. Mondonico split from Guerciotti around 1987 I believe, so it kind of made sense. But then I spoke with a long-time sales rep for Mondonico, and he said that Mondonico would have never built a frame without a serial number. Who knows??

When I saw the Concorde PDM team bike, everything looked nearly identical. That's when I learned of the Billato connection to Concorde and Ciocce, and found a guy near San Diego who painted alot of the Billato frames. He also said that Billato built no frames without ID.

Speaking of ID, what part of Idaho are you holed up in?? I have some property in Hayden, and figure to flee there someday when California falls of the finacial cliff.

The lack of a serial number would indicate a smaller entity, I think. The big guys were worried about liability, even back then.

I'm in southeast (Idaho Falls). I have some property in far southern Utah for when Idaho follows...not that Utah will be better, just a little warmer.