1986 Gios Professional...nope...replica...yes -RETURNED

Here's an update. The seller wouldn't accept a reasonable price so I've decided to part with it. He can have it back try to sell it as a replica or whatever. Thanks to ebay for its money-back guarantee on authenticity.

Actually got the refund and the bike frame is back in the hands of the guy who sold the fake and will remain unnamed in this blog. At least he was honest enough to refund it completely without a hassle. Oh, well, I'll try again with something thats legit.

Scored, what I thought, was a red 1986 Gios Professional frame and fork. Its in wonderful shape, made from Columbus SLX and is 56cm. When I finally unpacked it and examined the details there seemed to be a few details different than my research. While the seat stay ends look typically Gios, the bottom bracket doesn't match anything I've seen online and the lugs were different, the had a slight peak which wasnt evident in any other Gios pic. A quick email to Gios-Torino with some pics confirmed my fears, Marco Gios replied that while very close, it wasn't a Gios. Bummed, but I still built it up for a short time and its a really nice ride. I hope the ebay seller, who seems legit will refund a good portion of the cost. At least it has an authentic Gios head badge....

The columbus fork, although it has Gios stickers looks to be a repop SLX. still nice though.

Campagnolo stamped drops that are drilled, which is common,
but with 6 not 8 holes.

The seat stays look authentic to me. One forum member suggested that it may be a Sannino, who worked for Gios.

they didn't typically have pump pegs

This was the confusing part. The cable guides look correct,
but no cutouts like all the other examples I could find.
Also, no marking, panto or stamped serial numbers.

Well at least the head badge is authentic.

Gipiemme seat stay bridge.

two sets of bottle mounts was another detail that was off
according to the internets...

1990 Basso Loto

UPDATE: Already switched up a few things. Swapped the threadless stem with black Cinelli bars, 1R stem and seatpost. Keeps the black and white theme going well I think. Much more comfortable with a little height on the bars. Score! I finally found a Basso Fior di Loto. I've been searching for this color variant and model for a while now and this one popped up on Ebay from Brownsville Texas. Super excited to build this up with the Campagnolo parts from the Pegoretti upgrade that's in the works. From what I have gathered so far, this frame is most likely from 1990. Its a 55cm Columbus SLX steel frame and fork, Basso Fior di Loto model in the Caribe colorway. It has a few fandom stickers on it that removed fairly easily and with a little elbow grease. The paint polished up nicely afterward and there are only a few nicks and scratches. This 1990 Catalogue cut shows the color variants available for this...

1989 Pinarello Treviso

I was able to find a new frame update for my collection, this installment is a 1989 Pinarello Treviso, Cobalto Smoke, 56cm frame. It was in decent shape when I purchased it locally off a bike forum member in SC. It has some ugly stickers on the top tube (subsequently removed) and a paint scheme that can only be described as.... classic 80's italian. An odd "smoked" blue, thusly named Cobalto Smoke, from the catalog. Here are some pics from the forum post. The paint was pretty dull and very fragile. One of the first tasks completed was to remove the unwanted stickers and try to rehab the paint. I tested a few paint options, using thinned testors model paint, and found a near match for the base blue. My brush technique wasn't great but it worked well for small scratch marks. Added a duple-color clear coat after a thorough polishing. Turned out well and should be better protected. Next up was to replace the decals, which were long gone, but g...

1984 Bianchi Nuovo Racing

Finally got sick of the Origin8 tiki mustache bars, so I decided on a change. I really dislike them. Only one comfortable position, out on the ends. Went back to one of my favorite configurations for this build. Bullhorn bars with Suntour bar end shifters. Even broke out some left over celeste bar tape and the old celeste Selle San Marco Ponza saddle from the 2008 Bianchi. The first changes came quickly as usual. I ran into some trouble putting 700x32c tires on the Mavic rims with 700C wheels. Surprisingly not enough frame clearance for the rear brake bridge. So, decided to swap the 650b Wheelsmith wheelset with Weinmann Zac19 rims from the Gios and install some SKS Bluemels mudguards. Wiped it down with Gibbs Oil so we'll see how long it keeps clear of rust. Just recently added a set of Suntour barcons and will give that a try for a while. Below are the pics of the first build. Its missing one of the toptube cable braze-on guide...

Cicli Meacci

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