balindamood

Any one of these:


(Picture from dudeona3v, hi-jacked from another thread. Clearly he is hoarding them and should give one to me)

iab

Wow.

Both definately grail worthy. I am looking forward to the pictures.


BTW, do you have any clue to what happened to the bikes of his racing career?

rhm

I was in Berlin, Germany, a couple years ago for a wedding. Locked to a street sign was a bike, of German manufacture, looked like something from the 50's. I can't remember the name on it; it was an English name, at any rate --in the English language, that is. It had aluminum fenders with an emblem of a leaping dog (a greyhound or something) at the peak. Fancy head badge as well. Drop bars with grips, and F&S Torpedo three speed hub / trigger shifter. Steel cottered crank. Aluminum sidepull brakes, I think they were Weinmann's. The lugs were chromed and rusty but rather fancy in the German style (with windows, like an old Puch).

It was way too small for me, so I didn't steal it, but wow, what a pretty bike. Wouldn't mind finding one like that, but with a 60 cm frame.

toytech

Not typical c and v I guess, but an early late 70's Champion BMX cruiser would rank high.

norskagent

In my 1975 copy of "Bike World" there is an article about coppi's 1953 bianchi, with lots of build details. I don't have access to a scanner but can relate any of the specs that anyone is interested in.

Mike Mills

Holy Grail = Rosebud = 1970 Rolls, powder blue, discrete amounts of drillium and yellow paint-filled engraving.

It looked a lot like what I now know to be a Colnago - clover leaf cutouts in lugs and components. The blue and yellow are identical to the MASI colors.

phillyrider

I'm easy...a well worn Gloria frame would suffice.
I feel fortunate with what I already have - but I've always wanted a gloria as a sunday rider.

Mike Mills

I also remember lusting after the early KLEIN frames. I never really wanted one enough to actually buy one, but I surely did know they were new and different and special.


I always wanted a Raleigh Pro, too. I only wanted the one with fast back seat stays and the full sloping fork crown in light blue.

mustang1

Introducing the first $500,000 bike...

Fast Cloud

Hmmm...I've seen a lot of great ones on this forum before...It's hard to say. I'd reeeeeeaaaaalllllyyy love to have that Gazelle team bike that guy posted on here a while back. (and he actually had the original matching jersey) I guess that'd be it.

edited to add that a nice Raliegh Sports would be right up there...not as rare of course but I've just gotta have one.

Mike Mills

I don't understand your post. Please explain it to me.

martl

Holy grail?

a 1930ies Gloria Garibaldina.
https://www.vintagevelos.com/Gloria48.html

.

Cyclogeek

The bike looks nice but I never can't imagine that will shift gears great. The gearing was a good try of Campa but not really usefull during cycling.

gridplan

Depends on your skill level. Bartali won the '48 TdF over some rugged terrain with his Cambio Corsa-equipped Legnano.

martl

I care about as much about the shifting performance of this bike as i do about the cooking abilities of Gina Lollobrigida

Mike Mills

What I suspect we are all missing, including me, is the concept that the Holy Grail was not just any, old chalice. It was not the chalice we wish we had. It is not the chalice we wanted as a kid (this is the "Rosebud" I referred to in my post). It was THE chalice used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. It is a chalice with a history. It is a chalice with a clear, documented "provenance".

For example, it is not just any, old Cambio Corsa-equipped Legnano. It is THE Cambio Corsa-equipped Legnano that was used to win the 1948 Tour d'France.

I think you are free to choose that which represents your "Holy Grail" but it has to be more than a grail, or it isn't "Holy".

embankmentlb

That's what i am talking about!!!!

KonAaron Snake 

So I think Mike is saying that a Next bike isn't a proper Holy Grail...the first Next bike to ever be sold at x-mart is the Holy Grail.

Citoyen du Monde

As I stated previously, I have recently purchased a rather special bike from a top Italian builder. It was custom built for and belonged to the wife of the owner of the company. It is super-cool, unique and with provenance. Photos will be available towards the end of the month.

Bikehead

A 70's blue Bob Jackson, with chrome frame lugs. With Campy. In size 54 frame please

joe englert

i still say A MARIO CONFENTE any mario confente is the holy grail every bike collector is searching for. oh well, just my opinion. i must say, you guys have some super super holy grail candidates. lets take a vote and see what the majority of vintage forums readers think

cudak888 

I'm searching for one. Preferably from a thrift shop, so I can flip it and retire with the proceeds to my more mundane stable of two-wheeled steeds.



-Kurt

rhm

Yeah, I have to agree with you 100% on this. But wait, there's a whole nother level to the "Holy Grail" that you're missing, if you'll pardon me.

First of all, I will stipulate that JC was a historical person who lived and died and who must, therefore, have had his last meal at some point. And that meal must have involved a drinking vessel of some kind. Therefore the Holy Grail is something that must have existed at one point.

The odds of finding it, however, are vanishingly small, for many reasons (glass is fragile, metal is recyclable, and the item was last seen in Jerusalem, which has been destroyed dozens of times since then). Even if we assume it remains undamaged today, we know nothing about its particulars (even whether it was glass or metal), so our odds of recognizing it are meager in the extreme.

So... the good news is we agree the gent (let's call him Bambino) won the 1948 TDF riding a Legnano equipped with Cambio Corsa gears, and this bike existed at one time.

Okay. IF your Holy Grail is that particular bike, and you want it, then...
--You must believe it still exists.
--No other bike will do (not Bambino's other bike, not Bambino's wife's bike, not Bambino's brother's bike).
--Your odds of finding it so small that you cannot really expect to ever find it.
--Should you happen across it, you will need faith to confirm that you have indeed found it.
--When you find it, your search concludes. You'll know you have found your Holy Grail when you close your ebay account and can drive past yard sales without turning your head. If you find yourself still questing for the Holy Grail after you thought you had found it, well, then it wasn't the Holy Grail at all.

Hey, no one said it was supposed to be easy.

KonAaron Snake 

Would it help if a thousand year old knite showed you to a room of bikes and said you had to chose which was his?

In all seriousness, I think some of the above are semantics. I think we all know what we mean by Grail...we aren't really making an analogy to the carpenter's cup...we're saying the hard to find bike that we most desire.

On further reflection, I think the analogy is being misunderstood as well...the analogy isn't so much the bicycle to the cup....it's the chaser of the bicycle to the person chasing the grail. The analogy is the chase, not the cup. What the above posts are really doing is criticizing the worthiness of the object being chased.

I am reminded of a Calvin and Hobbes...where they are discussing what they would most wish for...Calvin says things like a fighter jet, a billion dollars and a tank. Hobbes says a tuna sandwich. Calvin is in disbelief that he;d ask for something so mundane, and Hobbes responds...well, I'll get my wish. I think the best chase is for something difficult...but POSSIBLY obtainable with effort and searching. I might get my Hetchins or 753 Team Raleigh someday.

rhm

Yes and no.

A holy grail has to be something that exists, but is of such rarity that you cannot expect to find it. What it would cost to find it, and what it would cost to buy it, do not enter into the argument. An all campy bike built by Orville Wright, for example, would be a silly fantasy rather than a holy grail. As for a Hetchins Raleigh... I don't get it.