1988 Benotto Triathlon-SOLD

Ok, so technically this Mexican produced frame isn't Italian per se, but it certainly has Italian heritage. In honour of my Mexican friend and the italian heritage of the brand I bit on a deal for an inexpensive Benotto Triathlon frame. Found it on the BF at a decent price of $40 +shipping. Since I had all the parts to build this up....why not. Who knows. Maybe I'll give it to Carlos as his first bike in the US.

From the research, its a 55cm, Hi-tensile steel frame, manufactured in Mexico that has some very interesting shaped tubing. Not the lightest, but still reasonable for this tubing type. Built as a single speed, mostly because I already had everything, except blue bar tape, which is on the way.

3T Zepp stem

Flop and chop CODA bullhorns

Cane Creek Forty headset

Nashbar Carbon 1" fork

Origin8 track wheelset

Sugino VP cranks (converted to a single ring)

Shimano Ultegra brakes

Shimano ITA bottom bracket

SR LaPrade 26.4 seatpost

Its got a fair amount of scratches, but not dents or dings. Maybe I'll replace the decals, but Im not so sure its a keeper just yet. I'll be curious to see how it handles. Its fairly heavy, but

Here are some pics from the guy I bought it from. Will post some of the build as it progresses.

Not in the greatest shape. No dents, dings or serious rust.

Benotto dropouts

Not a DeRosa, but still a cool BB cutout. Not sure what the "29" means.

Its missing the actual "Triathlon " top tube decals, but that ok. They were dated anyway. At least the others are intact.

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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