Euro Lugged?

[Dr. Doofus]

As I sit here recovering from my first meeting with Mr. E. Coli (get over the flu, get food poisoning...soon, the locusts will come), I wonder...if I was going to suddenly turn into dave or doug and buy bikes like mad, what sources remain for a lugged frame from where the girls don't shave but the guys do...?

I'm sort of partial to the geometry of my Corsa and my CSi (yeah...we got that worked out...turns out I was about 2.5 cm behind the spindle, so we just moved the seat up 1cm, and it'll be fine), so, apart from Pegoretti and Colnago, who will do a custom, who else is out there who will use heavy steel tubes and pipe fittings?

Is this the lug love list (for current frames, not NOS):

Merckx
Colnago
Pegoretti
Gios (with the assinine replacable dropouts)


Robert

PS -- and I hate the banana. Posting that thing will get your ass kicked at casa Roberto, almost as badly as putting on anything before Help or after Revolver...except for the George songs. George stayed cool.

[dnovo]

If you like Merckx geom, the MXLeader with those outstanding tubes and lugs, in Molteni Orange and blue panels in 54cm and up will be available from Gita through any of their dealers this year. As far as who will build custom, Dave Kirk can go with the tubeset and lugs of your choice. Give him a buzz. Dave N.

[Dr. Doofus]

Dave --

My Corsa was custom, with a very un-Merckx 74 STA on a 58 frame.

I've thought about Kirk, but...man, I hope Dave doesn't take this the wrong way...but the decals don't do it for me, not one bit, and that crap is important....

What I'm thinking about it a nice lugged six-pound slug (including fork) from the Old Country...maybe if you're really, really nice to Gita you could get a lugged Pinarello custom made???


Robert

[rePhil]

For a nice journeyman Euro type frame check out Marinoni.

[pale scotsman]

Does Pinarello even make a lugged frame anymore? I'd do a custom MX Leader like your Corsa if it were me. Only thing I didn't care for on mine, mind you this is and was very trivial, was the "face" picture on the head tube. I'd prefer the merckx crest myself. :)

[dnovo]

Dario will do a lugged frame (Luigino) prettty much painted the way you want. But I know that Dave Kirk has Cycle Fantasy paint his bikes to order and decals can be sourced pretty much from anywhere. I also believe Gita can have Merckx paint a frame pretty much in any of their old schemes as well. You may want to call Gita (1800-SAY-GITA) and ask for Nelson. Dave N.

[dbrk]

For OldCountry lugged steel you have to look some nowadays. But Carrera's Volans is a really nice bike and runs "square" into the large sizes. (Personally I wish the top tubes were shorter.) I love Carreras and they have as much appeal to me as any Italian builder (except for Pegoretti). The fork is likely chromed as well as the lugs, and the tubes are nice Columbus----but perhaps too light Nivachrome tubing. DeRosa's Primato is a nice bike too, I've had more than one of these over the years, though I prefer my current Neo Pro (there are a few of these NOS still around, ask Gita). For stout tubes, I suppose the Merckx is the only certified steel clydesdale bike. If I were getting an Eddy I wouldn't get the MX Leader, not for a buy my size (yeah, I know it's smooth etc), but rather I think the Corsa 0.1 would do just fine and it's not likely as stiff overall. Moser makes a nice filet brazed bike and there are Olmos out there too. Look at redroseimports.com. A shop like ERA Pro deals in these Red Rose bikes and I've had good experiences with them.

dbrk
no smileys, no dancing bananas, never from me...

[Dr. Doofus]

douglass --

I'm with you on the MX Leader. At a "fat" 158-160 these days, and considering that, even at peak fitness, I never got a bike going over 35 in a sprint, I'm not one for the Max tubes...the Corsa is fine for me, and I'm looking forward to being out on it....

Thanks for the info about what Kirk can do with the decals. Personally, I'm a plain script guy...the Serotta decals are a little flashy for me...and if I ever got a Pegoretti, I'd ask Dario to do something in cursive, kind of a 60s DeRosa look.

Sartorially conservative,

Robert

[MadRocketSci]

I never spoke to anyone at Gita on the phone, but over email they didn't seem too keen on getting a 7-eleven painted Corsa 0.1. They basically told me it was going to be expensive, and when I asked them how much, they told me to contact Spectrum Cycles to see if they would do it. I really like that paint scheme, and I think many others do, too. I recently lost a bidding war on ebay for a NOS Corsa Extra frame/fork in 7-eleven colors...I didn't think it would go as high as $670 + $70 for shipping from Germany! If someone were to do a limited production of belgium-built extra corsa's in 7-eleven colors, I think they'd have a really easy time selling them.

[dnovo]

I would go through a dealer, which perhaps Gita would prefer. Try calling Brendan Quirk, who owns Competitive Cyclist at his toll-free number. He has done some custom through Gita for me in the past, and he is very astute on the ins and outs of doing so. Nice fellow to deal with as well. Dave N.

[Dr. Doofus]

Rocket --

That seems really weird: if that is the product you want, and you have no problem with paying the price, then what is the difficulty?
Perhaps, you might have better luck going through your LBS, rather than contacting them as a consumer.

Now, is I'm so turned on by the Corsa that I develop a Merckx fetish, getting another one in mid-eighties Panasonic colors would be kinda cool...

Wonder if Colnago would do one of those wacky Superconfex green and white polka-dot fades on a Classic...hmmmm....


If you don't go fast anymore, its all about style,

Robert