My Current Bike Collection - A History

 I put together this page as a reference to a future blog entry. Presented in the order that I acquired each bike, here is a background story to the machines I currently have in my collection. I used the photos and text below to create small plaques to display with the bicycles around my home:

   The story of this brand’s famous color is a bit murky, but to me, if it’s not celeste, the bike is not a Bianchi! I felt it was necessary to have a bike by the world’s oldest existing manufacturer. Since 1885, the Milanese company has supplied bicycles to legends such as Fausto Coppi, Felice Gimondi (pictured) and Marco Pantani. The 2022 Bianchi Camaleonte allows me to take advantage of the many unpaved rail trails nearby.

 

   My 2012 Cannondale SuperSix 5 is in the colors of the Liquigas-Cannondale team. The squad during that time was loaded with stars like Peter Sagan (pictured), Vincenzo Nibali, Ivan Basso and Elia Viviani.

   Because all-time favorite Sean Kelly rode a Vitus to countless victories, I simply had to have a bike by the French brand in my collection. I went a slightly different direction with this 1995 Vitus 992 in Lotto-Isoglass team colors, which is similar to the one ridden by Andrei Tchmil (pictured) in that year’s Paris-Roubaix. The Soviet star had won the “Hell of the North” the previous season, and won many other Classics during his career.

   The Del Tongo team rode bikes in a paint color that became known as “Saronni red”, named after Italian legend Giuseppe Saronni, who won the Giro d’Italia twice. The Colnago he rode to a 1982 World Championship had a scheme similar to that on my 2008 Colnago Extreme Power.

   Claude Criquielion was an immediate favorite when I first became a pro cycling fan. When I saw a 1989 Eddy Merckx Century in Hitachi team colors, just like the one the Belgian star rode to victory during that season’s La Flèche Wallonne, I had to have it! Although the team bike would have been outfitted in Mavic components, I decided to go with Campagnolo C-Record – the stuff I lusted after in catalogs when I was a teen during that era. However, I did equip my bike with the handlebars, saddle and pedals that Claude used.

   Spaniard Alejandro Valverde has been a more recent favorite of mine, and I loved the 2008 Pinarello Prince bicycles ridden by his Caisse d’Epargne team. My desire to own one of these machines intensified during a 2011 visit to the Lazzaretti bike shop in Rome, where I saw dozens of the frames with the cool, curvy fork and seat stays.