balindamood

More to come after I give the builder some time to give me some more information.

gomango

You have my attention!

rootboy 

Very neat little head badge. I like big cats.

balindamood

A hint:

thirdgenbird

gaucho777 

Awesome! Congratulations. Can't wait to see more pics. I'll be following this thread intently.

balindamood

A few quick photos for now. Mark DiNucci confirmed it is an '83-85 bike, but does not seem to specifically remember it. Tange Presige tubing with some oddities. Seems to be 73 +/- degree frame, with short chainstays. He left the eyelets on the Shimano dropouts, and there is ample room for fenders, but there are no corresponding eyelets on the seat stays. Full Campy Victory group which still shifts as lousy as new (not my favorite). The frame is in pretty goood shape, with only a slight ding at the top of the DT decals which needs to be touched up, and some minor surface rust on the brake cable giudes. The matching pump is in fair condition, with some dings/missing pain on the handle. I am assuming the wheels have been re-laced with Matrix rims and there is almost no wear on them, and the rear wheel is not dished correctly.

I am not a fan of Victory shifting. Anyone with some suggestions would be apriciated. I will post better pictures in the next day or so once I tear into it.

Oh, and it fits me perfectly.

thirdgenbird

I've got a build idea...

balindamood

Do tell...

thirdgenbird

It is a build I want to use, but I've got no need for another bike. My wife wouldn't be happy

Dura ace 7900 derailleurs, down tube shifters, and brake calipers
TA vortex crankset w/silver rings
silver ck headset
silver ck hubs laced to hard anodized h plus son archetype rims
Honey brooks saddle and tape
Paris Roubaix tires

thirdgenbird

I think the mix of gray, polished silver, and honey would look great on that color green.

balindamood

I had not thought about modern components, but it is a tempting idea. The clearence for fenders makes me want to go Rando, but I have too many of those. I am resisting 650B. I have a complete early 80's French parts mix, but that makes my head hurt. I have a 3Rensho with DA 7400 on it, but Kono preferred Campagnolo. Much of DiNucci's period stuff had DA in contrast. I could source a mid 80's SR group and swap them. That will take some $$ though as I would be starting from scratch.

thirdgenbird

My idea wouldn't be cheap. But it would look and work great. You could use the bike on anything from a fast club ride to a gravel trail.

7400 would be. Nice as well.

Wildwood

Since you have been in touch with Mark, give him the honor of making a recommendation.
You don't have to follow-it, but it might add a tad of sentimental significance.
The build is dictated by the bike's purpose. Custom fenders?
Dura Ace would be nice, but silver shines on vintage over shades of grey.

edit: noting your fender comment - maybe laminated wood fenders, less functional but not rando. Many of these custom fenders come with their own attachment hardware.

balindamood

I am thinking Tanaka brass fenders...copper would look better.

Wildwood

oh yeah.

Drillium Dude

I love that TA crankset - nice little details!

Another cool detail, but on the frameset itself: I like the way Mark offset the brake cable guides to 11 o'clock, very similar to the treatment on my Sparrow. In application, it's a small but appreciated deviation from the norm.

What a nice find, particularly in such good shape. What's the acquisition story?

DD

balindamood

Not much of a story. I help run the local bicycle co-op, and when they get stuff in they do not recognize, they call me (If I am not there). Most of the time, the calls are about something French, or something with a 3-speed hub. I can often times give them a sense of value over the phone. The volunteer told me that we took in a "nice Italian bike" that he had never heard of before. In this case, I was a block away running errands, so I dropped by.

Frankly, I did not know much of what i was looking at either. Here was a light-weight bicycle with rather odd and sparse graphics, what seems to be someone's attempt to compy Celeste green paint, lower-end Campy bits, no spirals in the steerer-tube, but no other tubing decal either. I was ready to dismiss it as one of the short-lived, or at least short-imported Italian brands imported in the 80's when everybody had to have Italian bikes. The Victory components, no serial number, and no spiral tubes would suggest that it was better than 98% of what we take in, but nothing too special. Four things bugged me. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I could not place it. The cable guides are off-center, meaning someone actually thought about it and had the guts to do something non-standard. The lug work is exceptional; far better than most of what was coming out of Italy at the time. Finaly, it has Shimano dropouts, which certianly did not come out of Italy. Then one of the volunteers said "It came with a pump that is the same color." I asked were it was, and after digging about for a couple of minutes, they produced a pump, the same color, and a matching headbadge. That told me that it was probably a custom of some sort, it is my size, and I still was not sure what it is.

I have been volunteering at the Off-The-Chain Bicycle Education Collective since not too long after it was founded in 2006. I have seen a number of things come and go, have donated scores of bikes, and gotten my fair share there as well. $75-$125 bikes move in and out of their like water. Anything over $150 sits, and frequently leaves after some silver toungued devel talks a volunteer into to letting it go for less. We recently had a nice old GT road bike which dissapeard about a month ago, and a local Craigs-List KDO (who we have banned before for not paying for parts) has since relisted it for the exact price I had put on it in March. Such is life at the co-op.

At the time I valued it at $300-400. The Campy parts, though not all that worn, are not the greatest. I did not really know much about the frame at the time, and it is an odd color. The rear wheel needs work, handle bars are scratched up from improper removal at least once, original pedlas are missing, needs cables and brake pads (old and cracked). I suspect that it had tubulars, but they were replaced with clincher rims, actually a plus for selling normal bikes. There is a ding (a rusty ding) on the downtube at the edge of the decal, and there is a hint of rust starting to set in elsewere (the cable guides and a hint of it on the right side of the fork crown). After spending the day driving around yard sales and spending $1, and selling a Lotus and Sekai the night before, I was feeling rich. Our leader was there and I told him that in the local market, we may eventually get $300-400, but we both know it was going to be a tough sell. Further it is my size. I told him I would buy it on the spot for that, and I did.

I found out more later that night when I was able to hook onto the interwebs. I probably got a bit of a deal, but not much of one considering the work I have ahead on it. The discussion above shows my initial leanings towards a fast/rando bikie, but futher research has lead me to find that 30C tires without fenders is about all it will take (the 20C's which are on it now make it look like there is all sorts of room). The eyelets on the dropouts still give me pause as I cannot find another DiNucci racing bike where he did that. He does not seem to recall any of the particulars.

Not much of a story, but those are the details. I probably will not ever know much more. I need another road bike like a hole in my head, but I will always make room for one of the older American builders in the fleet. One of my Japanese racing bikes, or even the Butler, may be a casualty though.

mississippimud

I know this thread was started 3 years ago but whatever became of this bike , you have had plenty of time to finish it any updated pics ?

gomango

I've often wondered the same thing.

I'd love to stumble onto a peach frameset like this one.

obrentharris 

Agreed. I don't think Mr. DiNucci is genetically capable of making an ugly bike. I'm envious!
Brent

Quebber

Very cool

merziac

As you would imagine I am going to chime in here. This was a huge stroke of luck and a grail find perceived or not. Those who don't know simply don't know, the price was a gift from a master. I challenge anyone to even find one of these at all at any price that fits in a timely manner.

As I have said before

Merz

Newlands

Dinucci

mississippimud

Ditto and that's why I bumped the thread , I really like keeping up with rare finds like this one !

merziac

Well then you should check this 1980 S W Cotton vintage custom made touring bicycle #1 .