I’ve been fearing this write up for some time… to say this bike is “special” is the understatement of the millenium. The actual make was told to us as a Gitane with Reynolds 753 tubing but after hours of research we have still failed to fully identify the frame. We’ll start with the back story from where we picked it up. The person who sold to us was a professional racer many years ago and she actually held the hour record in her category. The mad scientist mechanic genius behind the creation of this unreal machine was her partner at the time and was apparently very close to the Pinarello family and had the repainting and chroming work done at their factory. There isn’t one part on this bike that hasn’t been altered in one way or another to shed every possible gram from it’s overall weight which rivals any carbon bike out there. The Campagnolo cranks and seatpost have been machined down for weight and then brought back to a mirror polish. Both wheels were spun with DT Swiss Revolution spokes, the lightest round spoke in their range, with a Campagnolo Record 3x laced 32h in the rear and a Speed-Tec 28h radially laced in the front that attach to the frame with Tune titanium quick releases. This unknown to us mechanic still had his penchant for the traditional as you can see in the wheel design… but it stopped there. The crank bolt has been replaced by a lighter solid aluminum version, limit screws on the derailleurs have been replaced with titanium versions that have been machined down to sit flush inside the components and even the seatpost bolt has been replaced by a much lighter aluminum one!! One of this crazy genius’s final touches is the modified shifters with an extension for the up shift lever so that smaller hands can easily drop into the harder gears while mashing in the drops.
The result of all this madness is one of the finest bicycles ever to pass through this shop. I had the pleasure of test riding this wonderful machine and can safely say it is one of the smoothest, most responsive and fastest bicycles I have ever ridden in my 20 years in the business. She cuts through tarmac like an ancient Japanese katana with ease and never once did I feel I had to spend undue energy in pulling speed from the pedals.
If I had the cash lying around this write up would have never have been necessary, but since I don’t… one of you lucky people out there gets to have her shipped safely to your home so you can have the riding experience seldom had in any lifetime. Cheers folks, don’t let this beauty slip through your fingers.
Tubes Reynolds 753
Handlebar DEDA Shallow 215 40cm ct. – ct.
Stem ITM Krystal Titanium 100mm
headset 1″ threaded Stronglight A9
Shifters Campagnolo Record ergopower 9 speed
Cranks Campagnolo C Record custom machined and lightened 175mm 53T x 39T
B.B. Campagnolo Record Titanium
Fr. Der. Campagnolo Record
Rear Der. Campagnolo Record Titanium 9 speed
Brakes Campagnolo Record
Wheels Campagnolo Record 32/28 hole hubs laced with Campagnolo polished Sigma rims
Tires Veloflex SuperCriterium
Seatpost Campagnolo C Record custom machined polished and lightened 27.2
Saddle Selle Italia Flite Titanium custom shaped for lightness
