Treviso Trauma

   Before I get back into the Treviso saga, I’ll let you know that I am ever so close to completing the Colnago build-up. Last week I finally found a Campagnolo Super Record seat post at a reasonable price. I polished it a bit before installing it and the Selle San Marco Rolls saddle I’ve had sitting on a shelf for what seems like an eternity.

   My progress picture above now includes those parts and the front brake calipers. I also assembled the complete drive train, including the chain and cable hookups to the downtube shift levers.  All I need are those darn brake lever hoods; I said to Sue, “Well, you can ride it, but I’d probably stick to going up hills since you can’t stop!”

   I was also able to scrape the entire failed paint job off of the Pinarello Prince and return the frame close to the condition in which it had started. It took a good deal of work with a dull X-Acto blade and fine sandpaper to smooth everything back out. I also used an old kitchen scrub pad to remove the over-sprayed areas. I was very glad that the Pinarello factory used a durable clear coat!

   The airbrush artist I met seemed very capable and showed me several samples of his work, including some NHL-quality goalie masks. Because he seemed sympathetic to my plight and expressed a real grasp of what I wanted to do, I feel confident the painting will turn out better this time around.

    Although I couldn’t be sure how many of the nicks in the Treviso’s paint were there before this +30-year-old bike was (very poorly) shipped, I was more concerned about the spokes bent around the crankset and the rear derailleur that was a bit twisted out of alignment. The seller had described the bike as in very, very good condition, but it was really far from that state, other than having been carefully cleaned. I noticed immediately a small dent in the top tube near the head tube and later found another on the underside. Both tubular tires were deformed and on the edge of dry rot.

   The listing had also stated that this bike was original, not restored, but upon closer examination, I had my doubts. The paint was a dull, flat yellow and rather thick around the lugs – not at all the quality one would expect from a factory finish. There was no clear coat on the frame, and the decals were the die-cut vinyl variety found on more modern bicycles. Looking back at the photos included with the listing, I laughed at how the paint looked so much better in the eBay photos and how each shot was strategically taken to avoid certain areas of the frame. I was pretty sure that this was a repaint job, and a bad one at that!

   Now that I was discovering inaccuracies in the description, I started to do a little research on this bicycle. I was able to find some old Pinarello catalogs that were scanned and posted online, and the closest I could find, based on having fairly similar components, was the 1982 Treviso. Unfortunately I couldn’t be sure, as it became obvious that many parts were not original, such as the more modern Campagnolo Record headset. I also noted that the fork, which had a sloping crown instead of the standard flat version with a Pinarello logo stamp, was probably a replacement as well.

   Opinions from folks who know much more than I do about Pinarellos led me to believe that the bike may not even be a Treviso. The seller may have mistakenly read the stamp beneath the bottom bracket and assumed “Pinarello Treviso” was the name of the manufacturer and model of the bicycle. However, Treviso is the town where Pinarello builds its bicycles - every one of their frames has this stamp!

   I have received some conflicting information on some details, probably because some bikes had custom features, but it seems the Treviso usually had only the right (drive) side chain stay in chrome to protect it from chain slap, and this bicycle has chrome on both chain and seat stays. By the way, the chrome was another clue that this was a repaint due to the position of the masking area, which is different from any Treviso examples I’ve seen online.

   I finally received some definitive information from a company called Gita, which during the ‘80s was pretty much the exclusive importer of Italian racing frames in the United States. A rep named Tim told me that this is most likely a Treviso because it does not have the internal cable routing on the top tube like the Prestige and Montello models. He also confirmed that the fork wasn’t original and said the stays had unpolished chrome under the paint.

   Finally Tim pointed out that Trevisos were made with Columbus SL tubing, which has a smooth internal surface, as opposed to the rifled surface of SLX tubing used for Montellos. He suggested that when the bottom bracket is disassembled I could poke a finger up through the down tube to confirm the tubing type.

   Strangely (maybe not) the seller ignored my inquiry about whether he is the original owner and how he knows what model the bicycle is. I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt and think that maybe he purchased it from someone else who was dishonest, but avoiding my questions seemed suspicious. He then gave me a story about having some other buyer (not that I’d want him to deceive someone else!) and offered a refund.

   Yeah, that would be great idea if he didn’t live in Bulgaria. Shipping large packages to Europe is MAJORLY expensive! I checked online for prices on a standard bicycle 54 x 30 x 8-inch box at 27 pounds and was unable to find anything less expensive than DHL at $941. That’s much more than I paid for the bicycle itself!

   A couple more email exchanges to relay shipping estimates and explain what I would have paid for the bicycle had I known its true condition, and the seller agreed that a $250 partial refund sounded like a better option. It has been a few days without the funds appearing in my account, so I’m holding my breath. 

   I have been thinking about what I will eventually do with this bike, and I’ll share my thoughts soon.