Hello from Clover SC
 

Hi All --

Just found this forum while searching for info on my old-school Mirella. My name's Patrick and I'm currently living in Clover SC, which is about 40 minutes WSW of Charlotte NC.

The Mirella belongs to my older brother, who bought it from a road racer in the Scottsdale AZ area in about 1980. Actually, this was his second Mirella, the first being an identical model in a beautiful emerald green color that was stolen from the bike rack at Motorola, where he worked at the time.

In '94 he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and hasn't ridden since about that time. While training for the 2008 Mid-Michigan MS150 fundraiser, it dawned on me that instead of riding my crappy Schwinn, I should roll with some style, so I called him and asked if I could freshen up the Mirella and ride it. I thought it would be a cool connection, you know?

Anyway, here's what it looked like when I dragged it out of his basement:

http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/41...600x600Q85.jpg

The front fork is not original. I crashed this bike in about 1982 and bent the original white fork really badly, and the chrome Tange replacement was what it ended up with.

Other details: Balilla brakes, Shimano 105 front derailleur (bro had to replace the OE simplex part many years ago, before the vintage movement), Simplex shifters on the down tube, Simplex rear derailleur, Perfect rear cassette, Campy hubs laced to Araya rims (replacements, I assume), stem and handlebar have a large "3" and the Olympic rings on them, Campy cranks and chainrings (39/52 iirc), and of course the really cool Campy cable clamps. Not sure about the pedals, but they've got Christophe toe clips on them. I believe the seat post is also Campy, but will have to take a closer look. I've since replaced the gumwall tires with Bontrager blackwalls (27x1-1/4 for that smooth comfy ride) and have put about 1000 miles on it over the last 18 months or so. I really enjoy keeping up with the carbon guys on it. :)

I'd really like some info on how to identify how old it is, and even though I'll never sell it, I'm interested in knowing what it's worth.

I've got some more photos of it in a webshots.com album. Link to album is below:

http://sports.webshots.com/album/563795340VOJStD

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Welcome to Bike Forums. You might try posting your question in the Classic & Vintage forum.

As stated above, you might get more feedback in the Classic & Vintage forum.

I have a '71 Mirella but it's got Campy Nouva Record components with Wienmann brakes. The handlebars are like yours though the 3T ones. I heard they came with Balilla brakes but no idea that they also came with Simplex.

Thanks for sharing..

p.s. You can find some photos of mine if you do a search.