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1984 Tommasini Super Prestige 'Los Angeles Olympic'

Yet Another Update: So I finally emailed the current importer to see if they could tell me anything about the frame. They kindly referred me to Tommasini in Italy who I emailed. After a surprisingly fast response from Barbara, she informed me that the frame was made between 1983-1986 exclusively for the US market and distributed by Lewis William Imports in Texas. If I were to draw a more likely conclusion to its exact provenance, is that it was crafted in 1984 for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Probably a Team USA tribute of sorts and it resembles the same style as the team jersey. Either way good to know more about it. Its currently built with the 9 speed Campagnolo Chorus group and Campagnolo Proton wheelset. Its finally settled!

Another Update: Picked up a Campy Chorus 9-speed groupset on another frame and it only seemed fitting that I rebuild the America once again with Independence Day approaching. 





UPDATE: So, in honour of Independence Day 2019 it's only fitting that I rebuilt the Tommasini. 


This is an interesting frame I just picked up off a bike forum member. He contacted me from a prior post after I had missed out on a white Super Prestige. At first I thought the stars and stripes where some kind of home-grown paint job, but after some cleaning and research, it appears that they were in fact a limited run in the early Nineties, called....wait for it...'America'. It's kinda growing on me....maybe this blog is deserving of a new tagline..."Making Steel Bikes Great Again."  

 Still cant find much information on the year or manufacture or any other details. I have seen a Rossin frame painted with almost the exact scheme. Maybe its was related to the Olympics or US National Team? One forum member valued it at $800. Hard to believe, but then again if it is a rare limited run paint scheme, maybe so. Rather than ride it around I decided just to display it on the wall.



Here is the last build. I've always wanted to try a set of Moustache bars, so I picked up a set of Origin8 Tiki bars and swapped them with the bullhorns. Used the Modolo brake levers and moved the Thompson Elite stem and Brooks B15 over. The wheels are Mavic Open 4CD rims, Shimano Tri-color hubs and a 7 speed cassette. It has an Ofmega crankset and bottom bracket, off the Pinarello Veneto, a Campagnolo Record Headset, Chorus rear derailleur, Athena brakeset, NR shift levers and a Cinelli stem. Its a bit cobbled together, but its a daily rider, so whatever. 

 



This was the last version, where I cobbled together most of my left over parts after the Daytona set went on to the other Tommi. Its has Ofmega cranks from the Pinarello, Campagnolo Record headset, Athena brakes, Nuevo Record downtube shifters and a 980 rear derailleur, a cinelli stem with chop and flop bull horn bars. The wheels are a set of 6 speed shimano tricolor hubs laced to Mavic Open 4cd rims. 




The pics below show it from start to finish on the first build...which didn't last long, an increasingly common occurance. 
It came with a lousy headset and a shimano bottom bracket, italian threaded. 


Added a few random parts for the first build.

Here it is with I the Campagnolo Daytona Groupset I found on ebay for a steal (thats the name they used before Centaur). Its finished out with a Campagnolo Record headset, Cinelli 1A Stem and 66-40 drop bars. All that stuff is now on the 650B Tommasini.





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