I don’t want to
rehash a bunch of information I’ve provided in a past blog entry about my
Saeco-Cannondale bike, the city of Lucca (above) and Mario Cipollini, so I
encourage you to skim through my blog entry from September 5, 2012, for
background information. However, my wife says much of what you need to know about
“Cipo” (pronounced CHEEP-oh) can be
gained from looking at the intro photo (below) for the website promoting his
bicycle company - no helmet messing up his hair, "bad boy black" kit with cut-off sleeves to show off his guns.
Mario has always
had a reputation as a flamboyant womanizer, even proclaiming once that, "If I weren't a professional cyclist, I'd be a
porn star". You might look at that photo of the 48-year-old,
note how the guy really takes care of himself and assume it is probably for the
benefit of the females. However, you would probably be just as correct believing
he really likes to look at himself in the mirror!
The Giro d’Italia
is starting this Saturday, and the race’s stages 5 and 6 pass through the
outskirts of one of my favorite cities in the world, Lucca. This means that the
local tifosi (Italian cycling fans)
will probably be in store for plenty of Cipollini sightings as their hometown
hero takes in the race. This doesn’t mean “Super Mario” won’t be around during
any of the other 19 stages, as he will take every opportunity to promote his
bicycles, and himself as well.
During last year’s
Giro, I started a successful project to celebrate the late Italian star
Marco Pantani. Since I had some parts around the shop that I wanted to use, I
thought I might try something similar this year in honor of the great
Saeco-Cannondale team, which had a roster loaded with stars like Cipollini,
Paolo Salvodelli, Salvatore Commesso, Ivan Gotti, Gilberto Simoni, Danilo
DeLuca and Damiano Cunego (including a young Cadel Evans in 2001). Between 1996
and 2004, the team won three national titles and one World Championship, a
handful of Classics and twelve stages of the Tour de France. Perhaps most
importantly they won the Giro d’Italia overall three times, as well as an
amazing 34 stages in their home Grand Tour!
At the 1999 Tour de
France the team set up Cipollini (his bike pictured above) for four
consecutive stage victories! At one point he approached
the TV camera to say, "Cannondale makes the best bikes!" which
provided an incredible boost to the manufacturer’s popularity worldwide.
I came across a lightly-used and reasonably-priced
2000 Cannondale R4000 frame pictured below (I never cease to be amazed by the
crap some folks will have in the photos for their auctions!) on eBay and intend
to do my own twist to the team’s build. An immediately noticeable difference
will be the black fade Cannondale Slice Prodigy fork on my bike, versus the
TIME-sponsored red version on the team bicycle. I was a bit shocked to find
that the Italian team had bikes outfitted with Shimano Dura-Ace, but I am thinking of going
the Campagnolo route, mainly because that is what I prefer, but also because I
have a set of the company’s excellent Vento wheels on hand.
I will also leave out the “Lion King” embroidered,
limited edition Selle Italia saddle, which would cost a couple hundred bucks,
if I could even find one - a similar decision was made with the “Pantani”
Bianchi build. I think the fear of wearing out an expensive saddle would provide a reason not to want to ride the bike! I will find a nice Selle
Italia stand-in.
I am planning on doing most of the trim much
like the team bicycle, with similar yellow bar tape and Vittoria tires. I’m
also toying around with the idea of splurging for the unique Cinelli Alter stem,
which is somehow ugly-but-cool. I would definitely opt to leave off the pinup
girl inserts that some pros chose to apply to the stem tops for added scenery during
the long rides. I don’t need the Cipo-type “rep”!
No comments :
Post a Comment