Poguemahone

I’d pretty much given up on ever finding a nice Italian. Nothing much seems to command a higher price than a good looking Italian bicycle, and even in the larger sizes they’re high priced. It doesn’t help that I wanted certain things—like a lugged frame made of Columbus SL, SP, SL, or SPX, and campy drops. One brand I’ve always admired is Somec.
To make a long story short, I haven’t been able to ride for over a week—a combination of five stitches on my left hand and some nasty winter weather. Bored, I did a search on the bay, and this turned up:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Much to my surprise, I won the darn thing, at a surprisingly low price. Most Somec frames go for more than I paid for this entire bike. I can think of a few reasons:
1) It’s a big size
2) The parts group isn’t really a grouppo, it’s more of a messo. It has parts from at least three different Campy groups on it. I suspect the originals were stripped off. I also think the only thing Campy about the HS may be the top nut, but that really doesn’t matter to me.
3) It’s winter, and ebay prices usually drop or stagnate this time of year.
4) The seller didn’t do the best description job. The photos seem almost random, there’s not a drive side shot of the entire bike, they neglected to mention the SPX tubing (although “superbutted” narrows it down to SPX or SLX), they didn’t mention the campy drops (though they can be discerned—just barely—in one photo)
5) Shipping was high, though not bad—you could have paid more shipping if you bought an individual frame and parts off the bay.
That said, it’s still the second most I’ve ever paid for a bike. It came today, after a couple of nervous days. I haven’t bought a bike off the bay in years, and I’ve had two arrive damaged, both packed by bike shops. Interestingly, I’ve never received a damaged frame or bike from a hobbyist, they tend to do better pack jobs than shops. This bike was well packed, which is good, because it’s frankly beautiful. Judge for yourself:





















There are minor flaws on the paint (note where the pump has scratched off the white above the Columbus sticker) but very few. The decals are nearly perfect except for the “Corsa” sticker on the non-drive side. This thing could pass for NOS. It—and the components—look almost unridden. I’d be surprised if this frame had more than five hundred miles on it.
If anyone knows anything more about Somecs, I’d appreciate it. There isn’t a lot on the web, CR has a couple of catalog shots, and the history isn’t much. It is a beautifully made ride, though I’ll have to wait a while to find out just how well it actually rides—it’s only going out on the nice days. Prolly it’ll fall into a rotation with the Serotta and the Eisentraut on day rides.
I’ll likely make some changes on the bike—it’s getting retrofriction shifters and probably a different rear mech. My guess is it is an eighties bike, though I will likely contact SOmec and see if they can tell me anything more about the bike.

unworthy1

very nice, I bet you're going to like it. Have you seen this earlier one?
https://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/...y+Wifes+Somec/
or this catalog? Yours looks like it could be in here, somewhere:
https://www.bulgier.com/pics/bike/Catalogs/somec/

USAZorro

Kind of a redundant statement.

I've only seen a few Somec's, but they are real nice lookers. I've seen one way too small for me, one that's way too large for me, and one that's way too expensive for me.

JunkYardBike

I have a Campy Triomphe headset identical to yours. Because your cranks are Victory, I was thinking the headset might be as well, but the only images I can find of Victory headsets have Campy markings on the cups.

Nice catch!

Noah Scape

Pogue, that's a nice catch and a great price, but it looks more like a 66cm.

gomango

That is a beautiful bike. Love the colors. Love the details. Have fun.

Bianchigirll 

I agree it is a fantastic looking bike. what year is it? I would not be too concerned about not having all one group. lots of bikes up un til the very late '80s esp Campi equiped bikes often had mixed components.

IIRC complete groups really did not become common until shimano really got index going, then they you want the drive train you have to buy the whole group. a lawsuit stopped that so STI came along next. connect the shifter to the brake lever and make the lever only work with shimano brakes

wrk101

Huge size and a lousy ebay posting = Great Deal!! Congratulations! ebay's pics are mediocre, I think most sellers would do better imbedding pics from photobucket or flickr into the text of their sale. And those pics are free!


At least, that is what I do. I just use the one free ebay pic, the rest are imbedded into the ad.

USAZorro

From the head tube, it does, but the BB looks like it's pretty high too. Might only be about 64.

luker

this is an early-mid 80s vintage. The 70's ones had different detailing (seatstay caps, fork crown). I have a '78, and it has a flat crown fork, fluted seatstay caps. I'm thinking early 80s, as this one has a bottom bracket very similar to mine. I tried to chase a few serial numbers but they are all over the place. Somec farmed out everything to a variety of builders in the region, and provided the signature fixtures. I think that they were all painted and decalled in one place, maybe. Their finish is pretty consistently good.

The serial numbers may indicate a particular builder somehow...

cool doorknob, btw. Are all of the hardware thingies bronze in the house?

Fast Cloud

Congrats!! Pretty, pretty, pretty...If that bike fits and you only payed 300 bucks, you scored. Good job.

jebensch

I'm glad it wound up in 'the family'. I spent many many minutes staring at that auction as it neared its end, trying to convince myself it was a mismeasured 62cm, and again when I saw the sale end. Nice get! I'm happy to see a nice flat profile pic too, so I can conclude that yes, your beautiful faded Somec is too large for me.

I love the pantoed fork crown on them, the internal routing, the seatstay caps...oh baby.

Congrats!

Kobe 

I had it on my watch list too. The crappy pictures made me think it was too small for me. If the seller had used your pictures you would have had more competition. It was about 125 miles from me so I was debating weather to pay $90 for shipping or drive up to NY and get it.

Good to see you pulled the trigger and got a winner.

MarkusBe

wow! congrats man! looks really cool. :-)

lotek 

so do we change your username to Poguemahonissimo ?

shrinkboy

i need to know the exact c to c measurements on the seat tube so i won't have to feel too bad about letting one get away that was a little too big...and i think frank would say its beautiful...

91MF

that is a stunning looking bike. crap now i want a tri fade paint scheme bike...

sykerocker 

Guys,

Patti and I just got back from Poguemahone's place and we got to see this bike. Close. Like two inches. The photographs do not do it justice, the bike itself is way nicer than what came through the camera. Damn! He got himself one hell of a deal on this one. And yes, unless you're looking in a couple of specific places for scratches, it appears to be a new bike.

Poguemahone

Thanks-- that makes it four Campy groups on the bike (Gran Sport, Record, Triomphe, Victory). It's getting Super Record pedals, and I do have some Athena/Chorus levers and Veloce brakes. Tempting...

It does, doesn't it? But I assure you, it is a 63 and has the same standover as my beloved beater UO8. The headtube is long-- like 2 cm longer than the one on my like sized Masi team 3v...

I'm cool with it. I think it helped hold the bike's price down, having such a mix. In my opinion it has quality where it counts: the frame and the wheelset. And the retrofriction shifters, as soon as I put them on.

I think the vintage is right-- it has the bling of an eighties Italian, which I confess to wanting, being a sucker for aesthetics.

I'd understood SOmec was a bit of a loose confederation of builders, but I'm not sure on that. Your info seems to point the same way.

Brass doorknobs are only on the closets, everything else is faceted glass.

I range comfortably from about 59-63, depending on details. I think you could've ridden this just fine. I've got about 2" of clearance, you're about my size IIRC. Seat is probably currently about where it will be, I think.

It is hard to mix the Italian and Berber languages, so we'll leave it as it is...

Thanks all! I'm really happy. The stitches come out tomorrow, and the @#$! snow is melting. Maybe I'll get to ride this thing within the month...

ohjonnybegoode

What a find...congratulations...can't wait for the ride report....!

Exit.

Holy hell. This is the third or fourth Somec I've seen with an absolutely crazy paint scheme. The only brand I know that beats them at that game is Zunow.

luker

SOcieta MEChanica. from wikipedia:

"...The Societa Mechanica was organized by Giro d'Italia mechanic Oliviero Gallegati in the 1960s, in order to set a group of working standards. When he opened his bicycle shop in Lugo, Italy, rather than following the almost universal custom in the Italian cycle industry of naming the company after himself, he instead named it Somec, for Societa Mechanica. A very small artisanal shop, Somec makes only a few bikes a year, out of steel or aluminum.

The Somec Cavallino logo is often confused with that of Ferrari but has the horse's tail hanging down instead of held upwards, by personal agreement between the two men, according to the official story..."

I just can't make this stuff up.

Poguemahone

I got a bit more exact. seat tube measures 62.5 cm center to center, 64 cm center to top. The other auction measurements look correct-- 61 on the top tube, 66 down, with a 101 wheelbase (dropout to dropout measurement). Like I said, it's a long headtube, which makes the bike appear larger than it is, I think.

Crap, it's supposed to snow tomorrow and then a couple days next week. I'll never be able to ride this thing at this rate