My rafters are filled with finished bikes for sale, and I wanted to highlight the two builds that were near misses for inclusion in last week's blog entry, as well as introduce a couple new projects that will be on a slower schedule until I clear out some of my stock.
Of course, the front derailleur needed to complete the Tommasini Prestige arrived Friday, after I had posted to the blog. Maybe the bike was just meant to have more personal attention and not get lost among the other photos of completed machines last week. I've included a photo of the matching Silca frame pump that comes with the bike.
The addition of the Falcon rear derailleur was exactly what was needed on the Atala Grand Prix. The long cage takes up all the chain length that is needed to accommodate the wide range of the 14-28t freewheel. This bike would be perfect for a leisurely ride on some of the area's many rail trails, but it has enough Italian flair that the rider may want to jump onto the tail of one of those club rides that buzz by!
I've actually had this new, old-stock Olmo Sportsman hanging in my shop for a few months. The perfect 56 cm frameset came from Arvello, Italy, and has never been assembled into a complete bike. In fact, the steering tube hasn't been cut!
Too many other projects and repair work have been going on for me to devote too much time to this, but I have casually been looking for parts. There was a start of a Campagnolo Record 9-speed group in my stock, but filling in the missing pieces has been a tough job so far.
I'm still doing some research on this next frameset, a composite Casati Fibra. I've sent notes to Casati dealers in the U.S. and to the Casati factory in Monza, Italy, asking for more information. I don't have a production date for the frame, and I was told by the seller in the Netherlands that this was a limited item only sold specifically to Casati importers.
The red-painted areas of the frame, such as the head tube and partial sections of the top and down tubes, are aluminum and the rest carbon fiber. The aluminum sections have some interesting shapes that I will have to capture with photos in future blog entries!
Casati is a highly-respected name in cycling, having been established in 1920 by Pietro Casati, who won the 1913 Tour of Lombardy. His grandsons Luca and Massimo now run the company, but they still produce some of the world's most beautiful hand-built framesets in their workshop.
More to come...
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