NomarsGirl

He wanted to take the wife somewhere real nice.

CliffordK

People lose cars in shopping mall parking lots all the time.

I could imagine cell phones and bike locator chips for that pile.

A few mountain bikes. A few road bikes.

But, a lot of 3 speeds & 5 speeds and commuter bikes.

Reynolds 

The headlight at the center looks like a B&M. Also it's strange the bike at at right has 2 headlights.

TimothyH

2x headlights isn't strange to people who ride at night.

My bikes each have two headlights and three tail lights.


-Tim-

I-Like-To-Bike

Not strange at all. The dynamo powered lights such bikes came equipped with are erratic, especially in wet weather. The second headlight could be a backup for all weather reliability. I added two battery powered headlights to the original equipment dynamo powered light on my German commuter bike when used in the U.S.



Note redundancy of rear lights also that I felt necessary for commuting on a 55mph highway without rideable shoulders.

Doctor Morbius

I don't know what you people are talking about. Olive Garden is the best restaurant in the WORLD!

Reynolds 

2 headlights would be strange because an old bottle dynamo could barely run one...

CliffordK

Thinking back to my 80's trip to Europe. Lots of micro shops around Parma where one would buy bread in one shop, cheese in another, and meat in a third (a little mall of micro shops).

I can't remember the bags, but I think they were plastic, at least for outer bags.

At least two of the bikes have welded aluminum frames which would put them dated around 2000, or later. There had been earlier aluminum frames, even back into the 50's or earlier, but mostly lugged and bonded aluminum.

Are those 650b tires on one bike? Most of what I saw were typical 27" x 1 3/8, or the equivalent metric size. 700x35?

I see one bottle generator in the background. I'm surprised there aren't more hub dynamos in the photo.

I-Like-To-Bike

At least one probably was battery powered.

I-Like-To-Bike

Quality of Olive Garden really isn't an issue. Gratuitous OT smarmy questioning/badgering the OP because he chose to eat there is.

_ForceD_

Lemond1985

Thank you for starting this thread, I enjoyed reading it. And it was good to be reminded why it's almost always a bad idea to start a thread here. I forget that sometimes.

Doctor Morbius

Well, in that case, carry on!

Slightspeed

Wow, tough crowd tonight!🙄

clubman 

Guys, it's a relatively recent picture and bikes, staged or not. You can find Italian Montana Biciclettas for sale with a similar features. The guys are well dressed, modern men with retro styling, like their bikes, with, as mentioned a nice sepia toned photoshop filter. Nothing too exciting.

Could be an e-bike, looks like the same battery under the rack. The old pic obviously precedes v brakes but the rest of it???

Go here. Bici elettrica Montana E-Bluecity Uomo 28" e-bike 2018. Di Ruvo - Bike Store

Happy Feet

It's funny how everyone has a different take on this.

I looked at the site linked above but those bikes do not have cottered cranks and have modern stems. The ones in the photo are not modern. One is a welded one piece stem /bar combo and the other is an old school one bolt clamp.

I think not staged (as in not new bikes in a made to look old pic) because of that and again, the rims. If you look at the far right rim it is very similar to this one from a 60's bike I discussed earlier. Note the wide 700c steel rim with a raised center section where the spokes come through. Not really a modern reproduction that I have seen anywhere.

livedarklions

Nothing indicates ebike, and this looks more like the bike pictured: https://www.montanabike.com/catalogo/consumer/r329-m-streetland-man-3x7-revo/

This one even appears to have the same rack and shifter: https://www.montanabike.com/catalogo/consumer/r1930-m-lunapiena-man-ty-300-3x7-sti/
That shifter might be the best clue-- anyone know when that style first appears?

Also, I don't think it's staged -- the bag and cheap lock hanging from the handlebars on the right is just such an unglamorous lived-in level of detail that I don't think anyone would think of staging it.
I still think the complete lack of led lighting puts this pic back in time a while. Definitely pre-2000.

clubman 

All I meant by relatively new was as you suggest, yes, in the last few decades and not from the camera era that produced black & white or sepia toned pictures You're right about the lack of battery, I saw that plate as a box.

Wilfred Laurier

"I am offended that this picture does not accurately reflect traditional Italian culture", said OP... while eating at Olive Garden.

eja_ bottecchia

BonkonFleet

There's no way this pic is that old. If you look closely the bike on the far left is clearly running a dura-ace groupset.

Wilfred Laurier

That is a Pletcher (sp?) style rack - it has a spring loaded 'trap' holding down that package of prosciutto or smoked fish or whatever.

That is not an Ebike, though... there are only 2 X brake and 1 X shifter controls coming off the handlebar. I have no doubt it is a modern photo, but it's not an E bike.

livedarklions

Define "that old". The first Dura-Ace was 1973. There's a lot of reasons I wouldn't think the picture was THAT old.

eja_ bottecchia

livedarklions

And unlimited salad and breadsticks.