Maui_Jimmy

Howdy!
I'm new here and have decided to post up and ask a few questions about what I'm thinking about doing to my bicycle. Thanks for your time and opinions. Pics on the bottom. Sorry I didn't take pics before I pulled the stuff off

I bought this Tommasini in 1984 at Daniel Boone Cycles in Houston. I knew nothing about Tommasini bikes, I just liked the color. Me and my uncle had been riding together awhile and he decided we needed better bikes than the Schwinn's we were riding. So $1,000 later I owned a Tommasini with the Shimano 600 group. If I knew then what I know now I would have never put the Shimano on it Anyways... Been looking at getting back into riding and reading on this forum steered me away from the new fangled carbon and aluminum stuff and brought me back to my hand made Italian frame. I decided that the worst thing I would be doing is stretching the chainstays out a bit to accommodate some new Campagnolo hardware, but other than that I wouldn't mess with the paint. Now I'm thinking about messing up the paint and customizing it and using powdercoating on the frame, but polishing out the chainstays all the way. You will still be able to tell it's a Tommasini frame by the markings, but it will destroy the originality. If I could replace the stickers with exactly the same ones I would be less worried about it. So... Thoughts, Ideas or suggestions? One more thing. There is the number 27 stamped into the bottom of the BB, Anyone know what this means?

As part of the grouping I'm getting, I wanted Record, but settled with Centaur, I will be getting a carbon crank. I'm thinking about using a Record Alloy 10 speed crank with the square tapered bottom bracket, just because I think they look cool. Should I use the Centaur Carbon or Get the Record one? If I were to go with the Record, I would like to sell the Centaur. Anybody have an idea what I could sell the Centaur one for with an Italian BB?

Thanks again!!

James

Reynolds 

Nice frame. I wouldn't repaint it, and I'd go for the alloy crankset. Just my opinion.

Gary Fountain

Nice story and a nice frame.

I wouldn't paint it either but I would touch-up the paint. I would try to match the paint myself as I have done this a number of times before. The last bike I retouched was a Bianchi and, without meaning to brag, you could not tell where it had been touched-up. Just mixing the right colour took me about 3 hours of trial and error though then a number of repeat touch-ups. I did use an airbrush to achieve the result. The good outcome was a bike with the original finish in very good condition.

Decals can also be touched-up with model paint as well.

I,m sure a reputable auto repainter would be able to mix-up a matching colour and give you advice as to how to apply it.

As for the chrome - it's amazing what you can achieve with steel wool and a bit of elbow grease. I have seen some really rusty tubes brought back to life with the aid of steel wool.

Best of luck and enjoy your renewed interest in riding,

Gary.

shopgirl

That's a gorgeous frame. As the owner you're free to do whatever you want with it, but I wouldn't repaint; it's is in great shape, and they're only original once. Like others have said you can touch it up if you like.
As for the crank, I like having all my components "match," but I also think alloy cranks would look nicer with the paint. If you sell the Centaur cranks, just check what others have sold them for on ebay to figure out a price.

shopgirl

Also, pics when it's done please!

Maui_Jimmy

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will leave the paint original and get with my local body shop to match it.

Anyone know about the number 27 on yhe BB?

thirdgenbird

i love it! my tommasini was bought in texas by my dad in 96.

i'm not sure i would even touch it up. a little patina never hurts. i would also go with an alloy crank.