retrodude

Thanks, looks like I've got the year of my Special incorrect, SN - 91876, so must be a 1989 rather than 1990. I'll need to wait and check my grey one as it lives at my summer trailer

Cheers

retrodude

Whoops, looked again, stamp is not very clear, first number is a zero not a nine so I was correct with 1990

Thanks again

dan911

Finish product !

hoyc

Does anyone have any feedback on the quality of brand new Marinoni steel frames in 2019, specifically the tig-welded ones? I'm interested in getting a Piuma, as it seems like a screaming deal for a frame with Columbus Spirit tubing and custom geo.

I've heard mixed reviews, as apparently frame-building is a smaller part of the company's business now, as they are also a Canadian distributor for Campagnolo and Columbus and have a whole line of Asia-made crabon bikes.

merziac

Marinoni quality, cache, etc. imho has never been less than stellar, I would do it in a heartbeat if I were already headed in that direction like you.

Assume you have already watched "Fire and the flame", great story and exemplifies how good they are.

hoyc

Thanks, I have ridden some of the older stuff and the worksmanship has been impeccable. I was just curious if the true is same for their contemporary (and non-lugged) counterparts.

merziac

Well I'm no expert, but I have one of each, they are both stunning to me. The lugged one is well used and still exudes class as does the filet one, even with a big dent in the toptube, not sure of the year, may be a 90 something so not sure about the brand new ones.

Are you close enough to visit them?

T-Mar

Frame building is a smaller part of the business only in that the other aspects of the company have grown. Even back in the 1980s they were a distributor for Campagnolo and Columbus and offered contract manufactured frames and clothing.

edouble8

Here's my '87 Marinoni:

_00_

Sweet picture!

T-Mar

I'm a bit surprised to see the non-descript fork, absence of a front derailleur hanger, only a single set of bottle bosses and exposed brake nuts on a 1987. That plus the fastback seat stays has me thinking mid-range frame but this would seem to be contradictory to the extensive chrome on the rear triangle. Do you know the tubeset?

edouble8

Tubeset is Tre Tubi (SL is my guess based on blue border on sticker):

I also wrote to Marinoni, who confirmed fiscal year 1987. They also sent me what appears to be the original order form, which said "3 tubes" on it. But there wasn't a lot of detail besides frame size associated with serial number.

I forget what the dropouts are, but here's a pic:

I'm not sure about fork, since i'm not original owner. I got the bike from a local co-op, who told me someone had donated it to them (minus the wheels and pedals). Here's another shot of "non-descript" fork:

T-Mar

Thank-you edouble8. Yes, the tube set would be Columbus Tretubi SL and is consistent with what I expected given the frame characteristics, with the exception of the chromed stays. However, the stay finish is explained by a custom order sheet. It sounds like the original owner preferred to put his money into the stay chroming rather a full SL frameset. That would be Technotrat branding on the dropouts.

fvernon

Hi all! long-time lurker and finally decided to set up an account. Lucked into a '91 Marinoni Special the other day: columbus tsx tubing, dura ace 7402 8sp groupset in a color the good folks at Marinoni called 'Pit Pink'. I emailed them with the serial number and they sent me its original paperwork indicating it wasn't built for anyone in particular but made specifically for display at the Anaheim Bike Show as a high-end example of their work.

One of the folks there said that in their 11 years with Marinoni, mine is the first they've seen with TSX tubing, though I assume others exist out there.

Seller's asking price? $50 usd. Yup.

So...advice time! It looks like it has seen heavy indoor trainer use over the last decade or so, and as such has some pretty bad paint loss and surface rust in the usual places (top tube and top of the seat tube where sweat accumulated, especially around the openings in the top tube for internal cable routing). I'm seriously considering getting era-appropriate decals and sending the frame back into Marinoni for an in-house repaint. It seems a good investment given the low up-front cost on my end. Have any of you sent a frame back to Marinoni to be refinished? Or would you recommend a different route? I intend to keep it & ride the bejesus out of it, but hope to clean it up in a way where it holds its value if I ever do decide to sell somewhere in the future, and the paint loss + spider webbing around the top of the seat tube has me concerned about ongoing damage without a quality refinishing.


NOTE: I need to get more posts in here before I can attach pics. Sorry for being too new to participate in show and tell! I'll come back with pics when I'm allowed.

reissue59

Funny i just saw this thread, i was just at Marinoni picking Up parts.
i've had two frames painted there
a Marinoni and a Rossin
200$ CAN for the Noni
Rossin: changed the steerer tube on the fork
spread rear triangle to 130, aligned derailleur hanger, removed stuck seat post
paint and logos: 250$ CAN
mind you i go there often and they know me
expect 350$ CAN for one color and painted on decals
very Nice job and ghetto are still cheap for Montreal

merziac

Welcome aboard, glad you finally stepped in.

Go around, say "Hi" and or comment on any posts that interest you, then "pics or it didn't happen".

Absolutely get it redone by Marinoni, they are one of the best deals going and of course it will be as original as it can be done by them.

Assume you have seen "The Fire and the Flame", if not you must, should be on youtube.

$50, huh, you lucky b*****d.

fvernon

A) Hi! I'll be doing that a lot until I rack up 10 posts.

B) I've been meaning to watch that doc for a while now thanks for the reminder!

C) yeah, $50. still don't know how that happened, but I did pull my maruishi record out from under a tarp in someone's backyard. maybe northern arizona just has a glut of nice rides stashed in dusty corners. I have an older, retired neighbor with an all-original '78 Centurion Semi-Pro hanging in his garage; probably hasn't ridden the thing in 25 years but he isn't willing to sell it to me (yet).

merziac

Sounds good, I would get the plan nailed down and waste no time getting it to them, you will not be disappointed from what we hear. They are very reasonable and do a great job.

fvernon

Great, thanks for the heads up!

fvernon

Pics as promised: 1991 Marinoni Special, custom built as a high-end display for the 1992 Anaheim Bike Show. Pics below are all as-found; the final pic is after a cleaning while I was debating whether or not to repaint or just clean & rebuild. I decided to repaint and restore. I'll post pics after the paint & decals are redone!


I'm currently working with Omar at Oasis Custom Cycles in Phoenix to clean up the frame; it was chem-stripped, spot-treated, putty/sanded as needed, and he's masking off the chrome & painting in a light metallic green from his old stock of Dupont Imron plus a layer of frame saver inside for peace of mind. Old-style decals are on the way, so hopefully later this fall/winter I'll have pics of the full rebuild up.


Bought the bike for $50 from a guy who hadn't cleaned it in quite a while and was using it on a trainer without wiping it down. There was serious deterioration at the spots sweat was collecting, but after stripping off the paint it was clear there wasn't any sort of internal or structural rust damage--luckily only some surface rust & pitting.


Frame: full Columbus TSX; seat & head tube like a 62cm, but lower top tube gives it standover height of a 57cm. Perfect if you're like me--6', but with a longer torso & ape index.

Groupset: full 8sp Dura-Ace 7400-7403

Also: 3TTT Competizione bars; Zoom Lightweight seatpost, Selle San Marco Squadra saddle.

Drillium Dude 

Does Omar still work out of his garage in Glendale?

He refinished this Atala frame for me way back in 2006 or so. Beautiful job and inexpensive as well. I think it was around $200 including decals which he made or sourced - can't recall which.





DD

fvernon

Yup, he's still working out of his garage! Looks like he did a bang-up job with your Atala. Yeah, he's super-reasonable on pricing and does high-quality work; looks like he has a lot of very well-built frames in there too. I'm really excited to see the end result with my Marinoni.

fvernon

Can't recommend Omar's work highly enough. I did the decal work myself--a couple weren't as perfect as I had hoped, but on the whole I think it turned out great. Loving the metallic green! Now for the build.

T-Mar

While they may be somewhat rare, Marinoni did market stock bicycles with Columbus TSX. The model name they were assigned was Giro and they were offered stock with Campagnolo Chorus, Shimano Dura-Ace and Campagnolo C-Record. MSRP for a 1991 Marinoni Giro/Dura-Ace was $2350 US.

fvernon

Interesting; the original order sheet from Marinoni doesn't list a specific model name, but it was originally outfitted with a Special decal on the non-driveside chainstay. It may be a one-off though, since it was a build for the 1991 Anaheim Bike Show instead of a customer (unless the Giro models from the early 90s still came with a Special decal, too)