MadeInItaly

Doctor Who

1992 PDG Paramount Series 3 with 8-speed Ultegra. At some point, I'd like to put Rival on it, but for the bike's purpose (I keep it at my parents' house in Cincinnati for me to ride if I take the MegaBus back home from Chicago), it does exceedingly well, besides the fact that the shifter needs a sprayout with WD-40 every once in a while.

I need a slightly longer stem, just because I have some gangly limbs that make bike fitting hard. For the price I paid, $250, it works.

Old Fat Guy

Here's my newest addition, recently purchased from another forum member though eBay:




It's my third Faema livery bike. I may have a problem.

cb400bill

Looks like my size. You could drop it off at my house next spring on your way from AZ to A2.

Old Fat Guy

Bill,
I'm thinking of taking it to AZ next week, if I can fit it inside the car. I take US12 to Coldwater, then South, so I don't quite make it to Kazoo, sorry.

I may be selling one of my Faema Merckx's, though. 54 cm pics here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ypsibikes/Faema#

and here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ypsibikes/AZFaemaMerckx#

They won't be cheap!

bibliobob

That's one hot looking bike... Where'd you get that bar tape? The contrast stitching works well.

brandenjs

[QUOTE=Doctor Who;7710961]

I think that's a first for me. One downtube shifter and one STI. You're only allowed to post half of that bike in this thread.. That is a pretty cool part time bike to keep at your parents house. I would not be able to spend any time with them if I visited. I would be on that ride...

Old Fat Guy

It's Prorace tape. I got it from PBK.

Reynolds 

Lance and others used this setup at some TDF mountain stages.

stripes

I don't think I've posted mine yet. This is my daily rider, a '92 or '93 repainted by the previous owner in a more classic style.

TMB

You need to cut your grass.

And,

You need one of these ;

https://vintagevelos.com/jer-faema1.html

or, one of these;

https://vintagevelos.com/trainers1.html

brandenjs

What would be the reason for that? Maybe it was easier to use friction for the front derailleur, faster shifts...

yellowjeep

Weight, on a mountain stage you tend to stay in on the small ring in the front. This was before it was so easy to get bikes 2-3lbs under UCI limits.

I couldn't imagine riding on the hods with mismatched levers though.

Reynolds 

+1, it was at the end of the '90s IIRC.

Hocam

Sweet sweet fendery goodness

mtnwkr

'90 trek 420. The only original component is the headset. It's set up for light touring/commuting at the moment, and I'm still searching for a silver OP to go on the front. 9spd 105 except for an LX rd because I like easy gearing.

Kellan

This is an early 80s (I'm guessing) 49cm Palo Alto, built by BMZ, that I built up for my girlfriend as a surprise birthday present. It was repainted previously, so I had it stripped and powder coated locally, and I think he did a great job. It's a mix of NOS parts (Cinelli 1A stem, Sun Tour Cyclone 7000 cranks) as well as whatever new parts I could get my hands on over a busy week or two. I pretty much put on it what I thought would look nice and function well, without completely breaking the bank.










Thanks to bigbossman and others for making sure there was plenty of information on Palo Alto and BMZ archived in earlier threads.

Edit: Most of the little white lines in the closeups are either reflections or dust and fuzz. I don't know if it's a leftover effect of the electrostatic charge during the powder coating or not, but it's acting like a static cling magnet! It was pretty much flawless on delivery of the frame, though.

bigbossman 

You're welcome. I have a pile of bikes I rotate through for rides, and the Palo Alto is my favorite.

Old Fat Guy

Grass has been cut, for the last time, and I can't afford those. I did buy the cap from them, though.

longbeachgary

Seriously gorgeous bikes.

Old Fat Guy

Thanks, they ride darn nice, too.

bonechiller

From Lennard Zinn

Lance’s downtube shfter
Dear Lennard,
Lance's bike had one STI shifter and a downtube shifter for the front derailleur. Is there a performance advantage in this setup?
Tom

Dear Lennard,
After looking through photos of Lance Armstrong riding his bike, I can't help but notice the small shifter-like lever on the left side of his bike. And I doubt he still uses downtube shifters. Do you know what this lever is? I saw on a bicycle before one of these that activated a switch for a hub generator on a light. And I also doubt Lance has some light hidden away.
Ian

Dear Ian and Tom,
In all of Armstrong’s Tours since 1999, he has used a standard (non-integrated) left brake lever and a downtube shift lever for the front derailleur on mountain stages. Given that a standard Dura-Ace, non-integrated brake lever weighs 130 grams and a Dura-Ace 10-speed STI lever weighs 210 grams, you are looking at a simple weight savings. The downtube shift lever can add as little as 30 grams, plus you save a bunch of grams in extra cable and housing you don’t need looping around the front of the bike. You don’t shift the front derailleur often on a mountain – once at the bottom and once at the top – so there is not much efficiency lost. So you can give up looking for a hidden light on his bike, Ian.
Lennard

orbeamike

It started out as a well used '82 De Rosa Professional with Super Record:


It received a well deserved repaint by CyclArt, had it cold set to 130mm and upgraded to 10 speed:


After the 10 speed conversion it just didn't look right and I decided to back date it to 8 speed, the bike as it stands today:

orbeamike

Here is an older Merckx with a complete overhaul including front triangle replacement (don't ask ), new paint, carbon fork upgrade, and 10 speed update:

longbeachgary

Very nice but if the front triangle was replaced and the fork was replaced that means that the only things origianl are the seat stays and the chain stays!!! The seat stay looks different because it doens't have the EM.