Skip to main content

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.





Popular posts from this blog

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 model. I've always been at
Read more

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
Read more

1987 Pinarello Veneto-SOLD

UPDATE: I sold the frame fork and headset to a guy in Nashville, Tn. Kept everything else for the next frame. Not sure what that will be...maybe a Basso. A few parts went toward the Treviso. You can read that post to see how that build turned out.  I was able to mark another classic italian bike off the wish list this past weekend. This "Record Blue" 1987 Pinarello Veneto. The bike is 56cm and is equipped with: Columbus Aelle tubing, 3TTT Bars and Stem, Ofmega Headset and Cranks, Campagnolo shifters, NR front, Victory rear derailleurs and Modolo American brakes. I found a set of Mavic MA2 wheels with a campy front hub and a shimano rear 7 speed. Finally a bike where the old blue Michelin Kromium tires actually look decent. Its not exactly the model I was searching for but still rare enough to make an effort. I'll continue the search for a Montello SLX. Until that time, its not the lightest of my collection, its not in the best shape, but its still a joy to ride.
Read more