A proper photoshoot of the Vanni Losa built Krapf bike.

[jamesdak]

[jamesdak]

[jamesdak]

[jamesdak]

How it all began:

[flying]

Beautiful & Excellent assembly!
Congrats !

I see something like this & my mind says ..."A Real Bike"

[Peter P.]

How about giving us some history of this project and the builder?

[Gman79]

DAMN!

Love the Superbe

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

How about giving us some history of this project and the builder?

A bit of history on him:

https://go-mamil.bike/losa-background

As to this bike. I first spotted it on Ebay back in 2018 somehow and spotted the telltale signs of a Losa build. Did some research and found Krapf was a bike shop in Switzerland (still exist) that sponsored some racing. The bike was listed at a shop as part of a collection they were selling off. More than I wanted to pay. Finally this winter the price was were I was willing to go and I wound up with it. Original plan was a full Suntour Superbe build. But ran into issues. One was how tight the rear was. Needed to go with a narrow rim and properly sized tire to have a few mm's of clearance from the crimped seat tube. Then the Superbe FD wouldn't clear the large chain ring. I tried several other FD's and had the same issue. Doug Fattic chimed in that it was an early Shimano braze on that required a early Dura Ace FD. Found one to solve that problem.

I still want to find a higher quality wheelset for this one but what's on there will do for now.

What's cool is I found this matching Jersey for the bike in the Ukraine.

[Hilltopwalters]

daaayyyyyuuuummmmm. This is great. Every picture felt like a treat.

[NHAero]

Spectacular!
Which bars are those?

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by NHAero

Spectacular!
Which bars are those?

Soma HWY Ones, 42CM

[merckx]

Holy krapf, that machine is drop-dead-gorgeous!

[Anthonys]

Sickkk. Downtube shifters ftw!

[jamesdak]

Updating this with some pictures from it's first ride today. It was freakin' awesome in all aspects and not at all what I was expecting. I thought it would be pretty harsh riding with the tight rear end and probably twitchy. Not the case at all! Smooth on the rough chipseal but it did take off when I got on it, held speed well, and was faster under me then a 20 year newer steel racing bike I took out in comparison also.

Real happy with this one and expect it to just get better when I get the handbuilt wheels for it.

[jamesdak]

Another update showcasing the wonderful wheels built up for this by Oldpotatoe himself. Absolutely beautiful wheels.