DMC707

Have been on a long 10 day sabbatical out of town that was very stressful - so when I was sufficiently recovered I wanted to go for a ride, but another ride on my late model wouldn't do --- seems like the rest of my C&V "riders" had some calamity -- one had a flat and the other is affixed to the trainer at my office ----

Alas --- trudge upstairs to the loft and much like pulling a sword from a stone, I plucked one from the wall -- The DeBErnardi -- it has not been on a real ride of any substance since it was restored 4 years ago , and prior to the restoration, -- the last ride was probably 2002 ---- so call it 18 years





It is trimmed out in really nice early-mid 90's Italian accoutrements






Observations --- bike is still fast -- the deep section wheelset rolls fast once up to speed -- drawback -- the Continental Gatorskin tires are an extremely poor choice for this --- iknow these tires ar enot known for being fast rolling, but anytime I coasted for just a second or two, it felt like I was throwing out a parachute -- to such an extent that I actually stopped once to make sure I wasn't dragging a brake pad (I wasn't) -- And honestly, I think the only reason these are on there is because when I put the bike together, they were the only skinwall tires I had on hand and they just looked good on the bike

Compared to modern stuff --- those bars are long and Deeeeeeeeeep ! -- its got a short stem on it and I still felt stretched out ---- but the 8 speed Ergopower worked as it should - the Delta brakes - not so much
Also - compared to modern bikes with compact drivetrains --- sheesh - you have to be in shape to handle a 53-39 with a retro 8 speed cassette

Those issues are easily rectified to be sure -- but truly wouldn't even be an issue if a person was in shape ----- I found it interesting that a bike that I put over 30,000 miles on in the 90's would feel so foreign to me now though

Epilogue : Still a great bike with some issues related to my parts choices and current fitness level -- but bike would still be ready to open it up in any crit in the country to this day with those fast wheels, aggressive positioning and tall gearing

Also interesting to me is that my late model is a 2 year old S Works Tarmac -- a "take no prisoners" machine by most accounts --- it is easier, mellower and more Clydesdale class rider friendly than this old soldier. But my times on the particular loop I rode would not have been too much different except for running out of gears on 2 hills and having to muscle up at a walking pace, - and those gosh darn Gatorskins


Was a fun day revisiting an old friend

rccardr 

I remember when you repainted that frame. Still looks very nice. Agree completely with your remarks re Gatorskins...unless maximum flat protection is required, there are many better riding tires out there.

Have a soft spot in my heart for DeBernardi's. Once owned a MAX framed one in their Diamond Black finish that was foolishly sold. Recently acquired a teal colored late 80's F/F/HS in SLX and am looking forward to building it up this summer.

DMC707

Yes - my restoration of this bike reminds me of jjhabbs restoration of his Cannondale in this thread -- https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...s-rebuild.html - that is, putting more money into a restoration of a bike from your youth than makes good sense

Im not done with this ones "comeback" -- I have ordered some Open Corsa tires. Im leaving the deep drop Cinelli's alone (most of the rest of my vintage fleet either wears the Soma Highway One bars, which mimic a modern short/shallow position, or Salsa cyclocross type bars which are also pretty shallow ) - but for this bike, I can tolerate the bars for a few miles at a time and it is a motivating factor to keep pushing the diet -- being a bit skinnier would help all the way around

--- these old bikes are still too much fun. I post on Instagram a bit and another old trackie remarked that the bikes we all rode as young men in the 90's could still be relevant today,

was this your black one?


This one is a Gooch -- but I tried to wear a hole with my eyeballs through the Zar International catalog back then with this black on black Gooch being my favorite build they had pictured


This catalog is 90's so color choices differed, but this is the closest to Teal I could find

rccardr 

Yep, that was it. A 59, so a little too large for me. The third MAX frame I tried (Dancelli, Tommassini, and DeBernardi), none of which really made me happy. Hopefully the one that's on the way will do the trick.