1979 Ciocc San Cristobal

Cast your eyes over this magnificent example of a Ciocc San Cristobal built in 1979. The paintwork features gold plating to the head tube, front fork, seat stays and chain stays. The remainder of the lugged steel frame is painted metallic white.

The bike was displayed in a bike shop for almost 35 years and has only been lightly ridden. It's in an amazing condition apart from a small paint chip on the down tube near the right gear shifter. The Ciocc decals are in superb condition.

The bike is built with a Campagnolo Super Record groupset and has drilled gear shifters, a Cinelli 1R  'Ostini' pantographed stem, and a Campagnolo Record seat post.

The Ciocc brand was founded by Giovanni Pelizzoli in the late 1960's. At one stage Giovanni built De Rosa frames. Today he occasionally restores Ciocc bicycles and has signed this fine example of a Ciocc San Cristobal on the top tube as seen below.

Although the Ciocc brand was on sold in 1980, Giovanni Pelizzoli (pictured above) still produces modern steel frames today under the Pelizzoli brand. See his new frames at http://www.ciclipelizzoli.it/

Photos courtesy of Ciclicorsa.

Safe Riding,

James @ PVC

CIOCC with Campagnolo 50th Anniversary Gruppo

Here is a classic Italian built steel framed CIOCC bicycle from the early 1980's. The frame is graced with a complete Campagnolo 50th Anniversary Groupset number 13127.

The brand became famous at the 1977 World Championships in San Cristobal, Mexico, when Italian Claudi Corti rode a steel framed CIOCC bicycle to victory.  

This particular model is made with Oria Drall steel tubing which was reserved for only the best CIOCC bicycles. 

The Campagnolo 50th Anniversary Groupset was a numbered set of 15,000 sets that were made in 1983 to celebrate Campagnolo's 50th anniversary. Coincidentally 1983 was also the year that the founder of Campagnolo, Tullio Campagnolo, died at the age of 82 years.

Images courtesy of thebikeplace store on eBay.

This is a gorgeous bike worthy of any collection. Please forward any images of your steel CIOCC bicycle to drown@tpg.com.au at Perth Vintage Cycles for inclusion in this blog - let others appreciate your fine CIOCC steed!!

Safe riding,

James @ PVC.

CIOCC San Cristobal 1983

Mr Pochez from Vintage Luxury Bicycles in Spain recently displayed his beloved early 1980's Ciocc San Cristobal bicycle that is fitted with a very special Campagnolo Groupo from 1983.

This superb example of a Ciocc San Cristobal steel frame has been dipped in 24 karat gold paint. Campy Super Record parts commemorating the 50th anniversary of Campagnolo have been fitted. The build was then finished with a Cinelli special edition saddle, saddle bag, stem, and handlebars. 

It's a very unique piece of Italian cycling culture that would be a treasured possession for any vintage cycling enthusiast. 

CIOCC San Cristobal

The group set used for this build was released in 1983 to commemorate Campagnolo's 50th year in business (1933 - 1983). Coincidentally, this was also the year that Campagnolo's founder, Tullio Campagnolo, passed away at the age of 82 years.

About 15,000 sets were made. Group set #00001 was retained by the Campagnolo museum and set #00002 was presented to Pope John Paul II. All sets were presented in a commemorative black case and were issued with a numbered Campagnolo membership card.

The group set was based on the Super Record set which sits at the top of the Campagnolo series. Each piece has significant touches such as the gold Campy shield and an engraved signature of Tullio Campagnolo. Most pieces also carry an etching of the Campy 50th logo as below.

The proud owner of this set has taken the next step by plating each piece in 24 karat gold. The Ciocc frame has also been treated with gold karat plating.

A special edition Cinelli Unicanitor saddle was also produced to compliment this series......and what a beautiful saddle it is.

Cinelli Unicanitor special edition saddle.

Ciocc, Campagnolo, and Cinelli, a fantastic trifecta of Italian cycling history. 

Until next time, safe riding.

James @ PVC.  

Italian steel and chrome.

I'm on the hunt for a "modern" vintage steel frame for a new project. The plan is to get my hands on a brand new modern frame, steel of course, preferably with some shiny chrome for that vintage feel and build it up with some modern componentry. 

The market for such a frame is quite interesting right now. Manufacturers have realised that consumers have an appetite for new steel frames and are re-issuing steel frames that will take modern components. Of course Italian steel is what I'm after and for some reason most chromed steel frames on offer are Italian, or at least have an Italian heritage.

Manufacturing in Taiwan is where value for money is within the international bicycle industry and after reading the fine print in some brochures I've learnt that some "Italian" companies are now building their frames in Taiwan and shipping them to Italy before distributing them from their homeland.  

"What parts need to be chromed?" you ask. Good question.

Traditionally the lugs, or a least the ones on the head tube, the drive side chain stay, perhaps the drive side seat stay, and definitely some chrome on the forks. The forks can vary from being fully chromed (my preference), although at least the fork crown and the dropouts should be dipped in the beautiful shiny stuff. However too much chrome can look a bit tacky, fully chromed frames don't do it for me - to me an indication that someone is trying way too hard!

Here's a selection of frames on offer from all of the big Italian brands. All of them classic, all of them beautiful.....

 "CIOCC" SAN CRISTOBAL / WORLD 77

"COLNAGO" MASTER

"BIANCHI" DOLOMITI

"GIOS" COMPACT PRO

"CINELLI" SUPERCORSA

"TOMMASINI" SINTESI

"DE ROSA" NUOVO CLASSICO

Differing styles and brands will appeal to different individuals for a multitude of reasons. Most design and styling features are common although I've noticed that the main difference between frames (and an important one too!!) is how the fork is attached to the frame.

Traditionally a threaded headset with a quilled stem would be consistent with the "vintage" aspect but some manufacturers have modernised the frame by providing a fork that will only take a threadless headset (A-head style) that requires a modern clamp style stem. And to compound the problem it is usually a 1" threadless fork as opposed to the 1 1/8" threadless on most modern setups.

Threaded headset with a Cinelli quill stem

Threadless headset with a Ritchey Ahead stem

To my eye the quilled stem is far more attractive and consistent with vintage styling even though the range of modern quill stems are quite limited. A-head stems just don't quite sit as well with me for a "modern" vintage build, but of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

So now the hard part......Which frame to buy? What colour? Which components?....and where to source them from?

Safe riding...

James @ PVC