Trading Places

   Sure Randolph, I'll take your cash for the bike. Wait, you say that you have a bike that I've built for you in the past, and you'd like to exchange it with a few bills thrown in? Sounds good to me!

   I have had a few repeat customers over the years, when a former buyer sees something else he or she sees something new and interesting that I've been working on through my blog or Facebook page. I had yet to have anyone ask to swap old build for new, until this week, when I had TWO!
   Five years ago I had assembled a mid-1990s Colnago Superissimo for a nice guy named Dan. He was living in the York area, but was an Allentown native. After sharing some stories about our respective childhoods, we realized we were kindergarten classmates!

   A nearly fifty year break left us a lot to catch up on, and when Dan stopped in last weekend to take a look at the Rossin SLX bicycle I had built, the conversation was flowing freely once again. He had brought along the Colnago and asked if I might consider it as a partial trade in. He had taken good care of his bike, and only because the rarer Rossin was a more expensive project, did we agree that a bit of cash would be necessary to even out the deal.

   I listed the Superissimo shortly after Dan left, and by that evening I already had a couple inquiries about the bike, including from my friend James, for whom I have built several bikes over the past few years. He told me that he was having some back issues and that he felt much more comfortable on a couple of the slightly-smaller-framed bicycles in his collection.

   Tuesday afternoon James was here with the late-1980s Olmo San Remo that I had converted to a more modern compact drivetrain setup about a year ago. After a close inspection of the Colnago, he gave me a "thumbs up", and he kept me company for an hour or so, while I swapped out a few of the parts he wanted to keep.

   Again, a bit of cash was included in the deal, not only because the Colnago frame was a higher quality grade of Columbus tubing, but also because I had expressed some concern about being able to sell such a large bicycle as easily as the average 54-58cm-framed machines I usually put together. James conceded that the Colnago name also carries more of a cachet than the Olmo.

   That said, James is a lot like me, in that he is very meticulous in caring for his vintage bikes, and I don't think the (excellent) condition of this frame has changed at all since I sold it to him. The bike is remarkably light for how big it is, and James had added a pretty VeloOrange seatpost and stem to go along with the Campagnolo Chorus 8-speed group already on the bike.

   I'll say goodbye with some photos of the San Remo, and hope that it finds a new home as quickly as the last two bikes I've listed...and don't rule out a swap for something nice!

Ardennes Week

   Gone are the cobbles, and the hills become noticeably longer, as the roads are turned over to the climbers in a prestigious trio of events through the Belgian Ardennes and the southern Limburg region of the Netherlands. Sunday is the Amstel Gold Race, followed by La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday and Liège-Bastogne-Liège the following Sunday.
   I had this period on the pro cycling calendar in mind when I turned to my next project, as the Rossin SLX bicycle I’ve built is remarkably similar to those ridden by the 1987 Hitachi team. My first cycling hero Claude Criquielion rode for this team, and he was a two-time winner of La Flèche Wallonne. Sue and I visited the brutal, iconic climb of the Mur de Huy, where there is a monument to the late Belgian hero, during our 2017 trip to the Low Countries.

   I was well aware that no Rossin frames painted in the Hitachi yellow and orange scheme (photo above) were ever made available to the general public, but I thought, because the frameset I purchased appeared to be the red and yellow cousin of those team bikes, that it was most likely manufactured the same year. Some deep research has confirmed that this SLX frame is a couple years older.
   The frameset had seen some use over it’s nearly 40 years on the road, but it was still in really nice condition, considering its age, and I did some minor touch-up to the red nicks, which were the most noticeable. Although Campagnolo Ergo shifters weren’t around until 1992, I wanted this bicycle to perform well, so I equipped it with a Chorus 8-speed group, as well as a set of Campy’s Omega wheels.

   I consider this one of the most attractive bicycles I’ve ever built, and it really is a special machine. Marco "Mark" Rossin was the lead frame builder for Ernesto Colnago until 1974, when he was enticed to leave by wealthy businessman Vittorio Ghezzi, head of the Iclas Sports Group. Ghezzi had been angered by the Colnago-sponsored SCIC team luring away one of the rising stars from his development squad, and got revenge by backing Rossin in the start of his own company and using his frames for the team.
   Rossin frames are known for their pantografia (logo engravings) and elaborate paint schemes, and this beauty was imported by the famed Ten Speed Drive company that was once THE source for European bicycles in the U.S. through the ‘70s and ‘80s. Their sticker is still under the down tube:

   I’ve moaned about the price of vintage Campagnolo parts in today’s market, and the rarity of this frame certainly didn’t help to keep the bike within my usual build budget. However, I think this Rossin bicycle is well worth the price, and I guarantee that no one else out on the roads will be riding anything like it!