Bits and Pieces

   I was working through my disappointment that Strade Bianche, one of my favorite races of the year, had been cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak in Italy, and was attempting to come up with a topic for this blog. When Brendan stopped by a couple weeks ago to finish up his Vitus 992, he kinda helped me along with an idea, and it took a few hours to consolidate the subject matter, as well as put together some photos of my collection of “stuff”.

   We have a tradition of sharing cycling literature, though I admit I kinda forgot my end of the exchange this time around, but I’ll “catch up” in the future. He had brought a beautiful book full of Graham Watson cycling photography and an autobiography by pro cyclist Nicolas Roche. He also slipped me a couple of older advertising pieces he thought I’d like to look at, one of which was a fold-out De Rosa brochure that featured a model very similar to his.

   He also had a special booklet detailing a prototype Bottecchia “Kronotech” bicycle built by Carnielli. This was probably from the late-1980s/early-‘90s, since I did a college drawing project featuring some similar futuristic bikes being built at the time. The photo on the inside page of late cycling commentator Adriano De Zan that accompanied his introduction to the project was from that era, too.

   I had to laugh at the primitive computer graphics on the front, but totally dug the vintage photo of Ottavio Bottecchia in action on the back! 

   Like Brendan, I have decent selection of books, but I generally try to keep my accumulation of “ephemera” to a minimum, as the recent clean out of my mother-in-law’s house has taught everyone involved a hard lesson regarding such collecting. One item that I've hung onto is a small, mid-‘90s Cinelli catalog/booklet that includes some wonderful workshop-type shots to create “atmosphere”, along with images of their beautiful bicycles.

   Plenty of company history is included in the booklet, as well as description of the frame construction so that customers can “tell the difference between a Cinelli and the rest".

   This small booklet, maybe 4x5 inches, had been sent along with a bicycle I had purchased. Generous sellers have done this a handful of times over the years, and occasionally customers will send me something as a thank you. I formed a friendship with a gentleman who was at one time a professional photographer and had the opportunity to follow some bicycle races in Europe.

   He sent me this image, mounted to a small wooden plaque, and I have it right above my work bench. It’s kind of an atypical cycling shot, but I love the way it captures the local fans along the narrow road, crammed in to catch a glimpse of their heroes.

   Something of which I’ve accumulated a great number is stickers from bike shops, often as tucked-in schwag along with cycling component and apparel purchases. I would attach them to the side of my old bookshelf down in the shop, where I hang my apron. When the shelf started to sag and needed to be replaced, I couldn’t stand to part with the display, so cut off the panel and bolted it to the side of the new cabinet.

   I have many cycling signs enhancing the look of my shop, but one of my favorite items, both decorative and functional, is a box my brother-in-law detailed and personalized for me. I use it as a “priority project” box, and it now includes the parts for my upcoming Colnago EP Saronni build.  

   Another treasured item makes an appearance in the above photo, the water bottle I used during my Belgian birthday ride in 2017.

   Most people would probably laugh at the amount of cycling kit (both warm and cold weather) that I have, but riding nearly every other day, year-round if I can manage it, means I certainly put it all to good use! I have a rule not to wear anything by a pro team that currently exists, but among my favorites are an authentic Mapei jersey from the Museeuw era and a replica of Thomas Voeckler’s Bouygues Telecom French national champion jersey (as pictured below right) – both stars rode Colnago bikes then, of course!

   The connection I have with one of my long-sleeve jerseys is a bit of an accident. Years ago, I found the jersey of a small pro-Continental team which was sponsored by Colnago bicycles. Although the design was an attractive Italian trecolori, the squad’s principal sponsor was actually Landbouwkrediet, a Belgian bank. I only found out years later, after the team folded, that Claude Criquielion was once the team director. If you aren’t familiar with Claude by now, click here or here! 

   I also have a few casual wear items, such as Liquigas-Cannondale and CSC team trainer/jackets that are toasty warm when relaxing around my old, drafty house in the winter months. I also have a treasured Cicli Lazzaretti jacket that reminds me of my visit to this shop during a trip to Rome back in 2011.

   On the bicycle building front, I’m awaiting some deliveries before I can move toward completion of Arol’s Vitus 979 Kelly tribute and my own Colnago EP. After trying unsuccessfully to talk down several sellers from their outrageous list prices for new-old-stock Modolo parts (again, my idea is to remove the logos, as Mavic parts were manufactured by the Italian company), I hooked up with a dealer in California who happened to have grown up in our area. The gentleman generously dropped his list price for a fellow Schuylkill Valley native.

   Prior to the sale, I had gotten into an interesting conversation with another seller about escalating costs for bicycle parts. I apologized ahead of time, in case my frustration came through too strongly when questioning the asking price for the Modolo items he had listed. He was very considerate in his response, mentioned being “on my side” about the overblown prices, but he also expressed that Campagnolophiles like me often think other brands are junk. It started to become clear to me that, since he was in the U.K., we had opinions on the value of different manufacturers that was geographically and culturally influenced.

   During the big 1980s racing bicycle boom here in the states, people were buying imported framesets and building them up with whatever they could afford. Pros were using predominantly Campagnolo gruppo, but it has always been relatively expensive, and the average rider here in the states would fill in the gaps with Japanese parts. At the time this meant SunTour or Dia-Compe, which were then putting out innovative, but relatively affordable parts.

   The situation was different “on the continent”, as not only did cycling enthusiasts have less of a geographical obstacle to acquiring top-quality components, they also had the option of many European manufacturers from which to choose affordable parts. Americans weren’t going to bother with the price of importing anything but the best, and simply put, the pros used Campagnolo.   

   Honestly, Modolo, Gipiemme, Miche and the like were just copying “Campy” designs at the time, so I don’t think it’s completely wrong - no matter how well the components are manufactured - to think of those other brands as second-rate when building an ‘80s vintage racing bicycle. Other than a big Lemond fan who, might have attempted a “tout Mavic” build similar to one of Greg’s Tour-winning bikes, no one in the States back at that time had any inkling of the name Modolo...and you would have had to search for the fine print to even discover the actual manufacturer of the rebadged Mavic parts!