garthb

Okay, so I'm the first to admit I don't know much about vintage bicycles, and all I've been able to read about are the Gimondi Chiordas that were sold through department stores. This Gimondi popped up on my local craigslist:
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/bik/2661227531.html
And it's really screaming at me to pick it up. Can anyone with more knowledge than I tell me a bit about this? It certainly seems to be a a higher pedigree than the Chiordas.

Thanks, C&V'ers.

-Garth

GrayJay

That stylin seatcover alone must be worth the asking price!

Components look to be from around 1986, give or take a year. Ultegra brakes are likely a slighlty later addition to the bike, owner probably updated them to get aero brake cable routing. ID or picture of the tubing sticker woud tell a lot about overerall quality of the frame, doesnt really look like a typical renyolds or columbus sticker.

5cagm

It looks to be a in great condition and appears to have a Deore or 105 group (based on the colour scheme). I don't think it's a steal at that price but if you're looking for a rider and it fits I would definitely go have a gander

bikingshearer 

Definitely not a Chiorda. My guess - and it is only a guess based on the photos - is that it was built by one of the Italian contract builders, (Biamazzeta, or BMZ, being a well-known example) to somebody's specs to be sold under the "Gimondi" name. Since Gimondi was associated with Bianchi for most of his career, it is possible that Bioanchi made them, but that is pure speculation. That is not a Reynolds frame sticker, so no 531 or 753, nor is is a gold-colored Columbus sticker, which means it almost certainly not SL, SP, SLX, SPX or the like. It could be Aelle or Tron tubing, which were at the lower end of the Columbus spectrum - still good tubing, but heavier and possibly seamed instead of seamless. The frame could also be made of something less well known and I just don't recognize the sticker.

Based on what I can see, I am guessing that this bike was meant to be an "entry level" racing bike, with a good but not top-drawer frame (meaning it probably rides well but is heavier than top-of-the-line tubing) and good but not top-drawer components - maybe the equivalent of Shimano RX-100 when it existed. You know, stuff that performs reliably but is lacking the refinements that Dura Ace or 600/Ultegra or Campy Chorus/Record would have,

I've never seen a "Gimondi" badged bike before, so I cannot be sure about any of this. But it was not at all uncommon for racers and bike makers to try to capitalize on a retired racer's fame by branding a bike with their name. These efforts have ranged over the years from very successful (e.g. Merckx) to not-so-much. Gimondi had God-like status on Italy - still does - so I would expect that most of these sold in Italia. At the time he was riding and winning (mid-60's to mid-70's), I kind of doubt that his name would habve resonated enough in this country to sell very well here.

IMHO, the $350 price sounds a tad high. I think $200-$250 would be more like it. If it fits you, and you are looking for what is likely a decent riding bike for not huge amounts of money, it's worth following up on.

Plus, it is not likely that you'll see anyone else on one, so you get that "one of a kind" factor going.

5cagm

Yea the ultegra brakes are nice for sure, I have a set. The tubing sticker doesn't look like Tange either...Excell maybe?

garthb

You folks are great. Thanks for the input. if it's still available I'll be taking a look this weekend!

bigbossman 

Hmm..... at $350, if it as clean and fresh as it looks, I'm be real tempted if it were my size and I liked the way it rode. A tad high in price? Maybe. But not by much, and it does have some panache to it.

Besides - Seattle is a pretty hot bike market, I would imagine. You might not be the only one taking a shot at it.

thinktubes 

If you wait until the weekend it will be gone. I'm sure the seller would take $325 cash-money.

Roger M 

It's been listed for at least three weeks now. I would take guess, and say that the low end parts are probably keeping people from jumping on it. Someone might be able to wave three Ben Franklins(or less) in front of the seller, and have a groovy new seat cover... and bike.

unworthy1

pretty sure it's an Oria tubing label... exactly which Oria tube I couldn't say, but probably not their top shelf tubing.

Puget Pounder

You should've seen what the first seller had it up for

I would've picked it up, but I'm far too short to ride something this size