Help identifying a bike, please. ~1968 or so.

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 18:56:12 GMT, <ns_sevre@ns_liquiddata.org>

Quoted message said:

I have an old bike that used to be my mom's. She got it in the late 60's/early 70's.
I have no idea what kind it is or what it is worth. If anyone would like to take a look at pictures, I've made a page available at:
http://again.liquiddata.org/bike/bike.htm
Any help would be appreciated.

Nice looking bike. Try doing web and newsgroup searches on the stuff
that's written on it. http://www.oldroads.com/ may be helpful.

I'd suggest putting some air in the tires; it will ride much better
if you inflate them. 😉
--
Rick Onanian

Wed, 21 Apr 2004 18:56:12 GMT,
<[email hidden]>,

ns_sevre@ns_liquiddata.org said:

http://again.liquiddata.org/bike/bike.htm
Any help would be appreciated.

The chromed cutout lugs and Campagnolo equipment would focus my
initial search in the Italian pages here:
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Italy.html

It doesn't look like any of the Torpado bikes on the site. I thought
it might be one of their production bikes from the early 70's which
did have chromed head lugs.

Any other clues? Thread sizes stamped on BB cups or shell? Any
engraved or stamped names on lugs, stays fork end or dropout? Any
guesses where was it purchased?
--
zk

As the story goes, she was living in Philadelphia in the late 60's/early
70's and was dating the owner of a local bike shop. Supposedly he was one
of the top sellers of <something> at the time and that manufacturer sent him
this bike. A year or two later he got a nicer one and gave this one to my
mom. She rode it all over the place for a few years, it has pretty much
been stored hanging in her garage for the last 15-20 years, however. Used
to have a Cinelli frame-mount pump, but that's long since missing,
unfortunately.
I'll swing by again tomorrow and get some more pictures of details, but
there isn't really much stamped on it that I recall.. The handlebar stem is
stamped with 'mod record' on one side and 'mm.75' on the other.

As for putting air in the tires, I brought it to the LBS to see about
getting it running again but they didn't have the type of tire it would have
needed in stock and pretty much convinced me that getting a newer bike would
be better for starting out with a bike obsession than restoring the older
one right off the bat. Otherwise I would be riding it right now!

Dave

"Zoot Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Wed, 21 Apr 2004 18:56:12 GMT,
<[email hidden]>,

ns_sevre@ns_liquiddata.org said:

http://again.liquiddata.org/bike/bike.htm
Any help would be appreciated.

The chromed cutout lugs and Campagnolo equipment would focus my
initial search in the Italian pages here:
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Italy/Italy.html

It doesn't look like any of the Torpado bikes on the site. I thought
it might be one of their production bikes from the early 70's which
did have chromed head lugs.

Any other clues? Thread sizes stamped on BB cups or shell? Any
engraved or stamped names on lugs, stays fork end or dropout? Any
guesses where was it purchased?
--
zk

Wed, 21 Apr 2004 17:48:45 -0600,
<[email hidden]>,

Dave Eckstein' ns_sevre@ns_liquiddata.org said:

I'll swing by again tomorrow and get some more pictures of details, but
there isn't really much stamped on it that I recall..

It is, according to its decals, a Di Campli Super Corsa.

It could be a name the dealer chose for his bikes produced by a larger
manufacturere or just some lesser known brand.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/vrbn-a-f.html
--
zk

"Zoot Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Wed, 21 Apr 2004 17:48:45 -0600,
<[email hidden]>,

Dave Eckstein' ns_sevre@ns_liquiddata.org said:

I'll swing by again tomorrow and get some more pictures of details, but
there isn't really much stamped on it that I recall..

It is, according to its decals, a Di Campli Super Corsa.

Indeed it is, Zoot.
Apparently, we've been had by a guy plugging his Ebay item.
Isn't this it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=7298&item=3672375013&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

http://tinyurl.com/2mhlr

Even the story matches:

"Nick DiCampli was the owner of a bike shop in Philadelphia that was one of
the top sellers of cinelli bicycles. Because of this Cinelli sent him this
bike as a 'thank you for your good work'. A year or two later, the bike was
given to a girlfriend when Nick got a new bike."

So my question to the original poster: Why play so dumb when you already
know what bike it is and have already put it up for auction? And, now that
I'm curious, why did you withdraw it from auction?

Quoted message said:

As the story goes, she was living in Philadelphia in the late 60's/early
70's and was dating the owner of a local bike shop. Supposedly he was
one of the top sellers of <something> at the time and that manufacturer
sent him this bike.

It wasn't uncommon, IIRC, that smaller European manufacturers would
sell in the USA under an importer's "house" label. I can't find any
reference to DiCampli but obviously it exists, there's an interesting
mix of components on that bike.

The Stronglight crankset is pretty high-end, the derailleurs are
looking like mid-range Campy out of the late Sixties, and Universal
center-pulls were used nearly everywhere.

Tubular racing tires of course, headset might be a Stronglight,
stem obviously a 3ttt, bars probably Cinelli. No idea on the
rims or hubs, hubs MIGHT be Normandy's or Campy, can't tell.

Very nice condition if the frame is straight, well worth the work
of cleanup and perhaps restoration, IMHO. The spokes are [censored]
and I can't tell which rims they are.

Overall it looks like a bike that might be equivalent in price to
a $1200 road bike today, at the time it was probably considered
the equivalent of a PX-10 and priced accordingly, say $400 in 1970
dollars.

JMHO.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________
------------------"Buddy Holly, the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>[email hidden]__________

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 17:48:45 -0600, "Dave Eckstein"

ns_sevre@ns_liquiddata.org said:

As for putting air in the tires, I brought it to the LBS to see about
getting it running again but they didn't have the type of tire it would have
needed in stock and pretty much convinced me that getting a newer bike would
be better for starting out with a bike obsession than restoring the older
one right off the bat. Otherwise I would be riding it right now!

You may be right about starting with a new bike and restoring the
old one after you're addicted; however, the tires are not a good
reason to avoid riding this bike.

Is there anybody here who can identify what's special about those
tires?
--
Rick Onanian

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 08:10:59 -0400, Rick Onanian <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Is there anybody here who can identify what's special about those
tires?

As someone else mentioned, a couple of very flat tubular tires.
Evidently since that bike shop didn't carry them, the bike shop people
felt they no longer exist in the world anymore.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

Dave Eckstein said:

As for putting air in the tires, I brought it to the LBS to see about
getting it running again but they didn't have the type of tire it would have
needed in stock and pretty much convinced me that getting a newer bike would
be better for starting out with a bike obsession than restoring the older
one right off the bat. Otherwise I would be riding it right now!

Well, they are both right and very wrong. This was, in its day, a fairly
nice bike, but not top of the line. The Campy derailleurs would have
worked better than most, but a $5 Shimano derailleur now would be far more
reliable. As for the tires, don't bother trying to pump them up. They
are badly rotted and will not hold air. These are "tubular" tires, and
replacements can be had for $20 apiece, but they do require more
maintenance than ordinary tires.

In general, riding this bike would take some investment of time and
energy. Many parts will have to be replaced (cables, bearings, maybe
bearing cones/cups, spokes, saddle. Derailleurs maybe should be replaced
also, although that might detract from its value. However, I suspect the
derailleur is not original. Certainly the bike dates from the late '60s,
but I would have thought that derailleur was mid-70s low-end Campy.
I may be mistaken on that, though.

As a bike to be ridden, it would be like driving a 20-year-old car.
It would have cachet, but would spend a lot of time in the shop. It has
some collector value, but not a huge amount since it is an off brand.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | This is my religion. There is no need for temples; no need for
_`\(,_ | complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our
(_)/ (_) | temple. The philosophy is kindness. --The Dalai Lama

Mike Kruger said:

Apparently, we've been had by a guy plugging his Ebay item.
Isn't this it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=7298&item=3672375013&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

http://tinyurl.com/2mhlr

Even the story matches:

Ah.

Quoted message said:

So my question to the original poster: Why play so dumb when you already
know what bike it is and have already put it up for auction? And, now that
I'm curious, why did you withdraw it from auction?

That's clear. No one would meet his overly-high starting bid. It ain't
worth that much.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | This is my religion. There is no need for temples; no need for
_`\(,_ | complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our
(_)/ (_) | temple. The philosophy is kindness. --The Dalai Lama

Yep, that was my posting...

I was posting for my mom, who thought it was a Cinelli. When I received
feedback from people browsing the ebay auction that it was not, I revised
then dropped the auction so as to not mislead anyone into buying something
that I found out it was not. So now, I'm trying to find out what it actually
IS. And it won't be reposted for auction, since it seems it's more
worthwhile to hang on to it as a cool old bike than to get fifty or a
hundred dollars for it. <shrug> For $400, she was going to sell it as she
is moving and getting rid of 20+ years of accumulated 'stuff' in her house.

I still don't' know what it IS, and am not trying to pass one over on you
all. Just honestly hoping someone knew what it was. A separate post says
it's a DiCampli Super Corsa, which is what the sticker says, but the
discussion continues to say that euro manufacturers used to sell bikes to US
shops to be rebranded... (and thanks for that post, it does help settle my
mind) I guess what I'm trying to figure out would be who made the bike, not
who branded it, although that seems much more difficult the more I hear.

Finally, unfortunately for me, I'm not 'playing' dumb. I seriously don't
know much about bikes and am trying to find out as much as possible. Not
just about this bike, but in general.

Dave

"David L. Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mike Kruger said:

Apparently, we've been had by a guy plugging his Ebay item.
Isn't this it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=7298&item=3672375013&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://tinyurl.com/2mhlr

Even the story matches:

Ah.

Quoted message said:

So my question to the original poster: Why play so dumb when you already
know what bike it is and have already put it up for auction? And, now

that

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm curious, why did you withdraw it from auction?

That's clear. No one would meet his overly-high starting bid. It ain't
worth that much.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | This is my religion. There is no need for temples; no need for
_`\(,_ | complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our
(_)/ (_) | temple. The philosophy is kindness. --The Dalai Lama

Curtis L. Russell said:

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 08:10:59 -0400, Rick Onanian <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Is there anybody here who can identify what's special about those
tires?

As someone else mentioned, a couple of very flat tubular tires.

Well, that's no big deal...although it would probably be a good idea
to seek a better bike shop, at least one that is familiar with
modern tubulars and could show him how to mount them.

Quoted message said:

Evidently since that bike shop didn't carry them, the bike shop people
felt they no longer exist in the world anymore.

Silliness, I say.
--
Rick Onanian

Thu, 22 Apr 2004 14:53:27 GMT, <H%Qhc.2824$IW1.360814@attbi_s52>,
"Blah" <[email hidden]> concluded:

Quoted message said:

I guess what I'm trying to figure out would be who made the bike, not
who branded it, although that seems much more difficult the more I hear.

Without contacting your mom's old boyfriend, the shape and cut-outs of
the lugs are the best clues to its possible origins.

Quoted message said:

Finally, unfortunately for me, I'm not 'playing' dumb. I seriously don't
know much about bikes and am trying to find out as much as possible. Not
just about this bike, but in general.

You can type sheldonbrown.com/ into your browser and find out almost
everything about bicycles, in general and detail.
--
zk