pcb 

Very sweet! I snagged your frame's cousin, 32nd frame from '76. Mark saw it last year at Cirque, confirmed he built it. Similar head/seatlug treatment, my seatstay scallops are a little longer and pointier. There are fork crown tangs on the inside of the fork blades, no tangs on the rear brake bridge, and tangs on the inside of the chainstays, flowing from the bottom bracket shell, pressed into the chainstay dimples. Hard to photograph with the rear wheel in place. I've never seen that done before---does your frame have them, too?

My main frame paint is original, the fork developed paint issues and the original owner had the fork repainted. Seems he had issues with the painter, fork wasn't painted to match the frame. Came to me with no decals whatsoever, but it has a metal head badge. Mark wants me to repaint it, thinks the dark paint hides the lugwork. Kinda on my Maybe List at the moment.

She rides very nicely, one of the few mostly-vintage builds I have.

texastwister

Sweet build , i like the Ritchey crank& barend shifters ! Pcb very NICE ! they are cousins, mine does have the long pointed lug work on the inside of the fork and stays, whats crazy they are a lot alike but also a few things are different , for instance: my headtube is decaled , not drilled and I have the clamp on shifters,not barend, (maybe the customer requested them ?) but then again when a bike is handmade they can change the builds up bike per bike,as they say "a handbuilt bike carries the heart and soul of it's builder" , thanks for sharing your story and pictures ! Hopefully some more will be posted please if anyone has pictures of any year Strawberry's or DiNucci's feel free to post !

pcb 

Cousins fer sure, 4 builds apart is close enough they could have conceivably both been in-house at Strawberry at the same time. You can spot DiNucci's handiwork on both. I posted these pix on my flickr page last night and Mark's bud Bryant Bainbridge commented: "Classic DiNucci Lines everywhere you look."

I got this as a bare frameset, so the component choices are all mine. I don't know if this left Strawberry as a bare frameset or built up. It's an interesting transitional setup, no top tube casing guides w/over-bb cable guides, but bottle cage bosses. I'd guess we'd see top tube casing guides by '79-'80, maybe a second bottle cage mount. I think you're also right that, as built-to-order customs, a lot of this would be a la carte and vary from frame to frame.

I have a few pix of current DiNucci frames from recent NAHBS and Cirques, I'll try to post a few here before the weekend ends.

texastwister

Here's a another early one from a member on here , i did contact him but he had sold it .this one looks to be a post 70's ? It has top tube cable guides and shifter braze on bosses.

texastwister

Not mine but it does show nice pics of the lug work .

ktk17028

Nice Strawberry! Happy to have just purchased a 1976 Strawberry frameset also built by Mark DiNucci (Serial #SRC676 ). In original paint and decals, except missing 531 tubing ST decal and don't know for sure if it ever had a HT decal or not???
Attached a photo, plus more photos can be viewed here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/404020...7645479077505/
Currently in transit and will post more photos once received.

texastwister

Nice find ! I like the Strawberry cutout in the bb, it ought to be a fun build, I sold the blue one but i"am always on the look out for another frame or a complete SRC

ktk17028

Just posted photos of my 1976 Mark DiNucci built "Strawberry" to Flickr. If interested, you can view the photos here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/404020...7645479077505/

This bike will be displayed at the 2014 Bicycle Art Meets Form (BAMF) Mark DiNucci display held in High Point, NC from September 5-7. This is a fantastic event and I highly recommend attending if you like vintage lugged steel bikes.

You can access the BAMF site here to learn more and to sign up:

Bicycle ArtForm > Home

gaucho777 

Spectacular machines, all around. DiNucci's lug lines are truly sublime.

fiatjeepdriver

There is one of those for sale at my LBS, the one big difference is the seat post binder bolt is in the top tube, in front of the seat post.

coolkat

I just picked up a set of Strawberry brand toe clip straps. Same brand? A local LBS was selling off some NOS 70s-80s stuff; they had 5 sets of these for just $1 each.

bg18947

Newbie on Bike Forums. I created an album of my 1985 Strawberry. Still a work in progress. Fresh grease around seatpost, binder, and headset. Just did the touch-up paint today (I got Dodge Plum Crazy Purple which is close enough) before I apply 3M paint protection film around the chainstays. Once I get it all waxed up, I will retake pictures outside. I also bought and sold a Strawberry show bike used by Modolo at a New York Bike Show after the Coliseum closed. It may have been a 1985 also. It was a Red & White two tone frame with the Mavic Gruppo. Mavic sold the Modolo brakes as part of the package deal along with Simplex retrofriction shift levers. Walter Modolo was at the show with his wife when I went to pick up the bike since Andy didn't want the bike shipped back.

https://www.bikeforums.net/g/album/19156344

CV-6 

Your bike deserves a new thread of its own.

bg18947

Yes. Strawberry Cyclesport was the importer of VAR tools, Machetti Lange frame building rigs, Gipiemme, Modolo, Mavic, Ambrosio rims, Toutan toe straps, and some other supplies. Besides selling their own handmade frame.

Having a PC was a big deal in 1987. That's when I got my first PC as well.

1985 is when I got my Strawberry frameset. I still have the receipt.

Frameset specs for 1985

Rebecca Twigg in the ad was America's darling. Strawberry was covered in Bicycle Guide.

Strawberry marketing postcards.

Back of the postcards

Article on the frameset. I ordered my frame in February 1985.

Bianchigirll 

That FD tab jig is neat. I never really gave thought to how the aligned them.

merziac

texastwister

You and many others may be sorry you asked.

I have 3, this one is brand new.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ou-decide.html




The other 2 are older ones, one is too small and needs the fork repaired so it is languishing, the other is my size, was kinked pretty good and kinda rough.

I stripped the really bad paint and it is being evaluated to see how to proceed, if its bad I may not keep going, we'll see.

The smaller one has the SP binder in the TT, these were mostly after DiNucci left i have been told and is in good shape aside from the fork that needs the blades rebrazed.

Both of these frames came from members here. I will work on getting them here.

merziac

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...l#post20941684




https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...cles-54cm.html

bg18947

I'm pretty sure those are rebranded Toutan toe straps from France with the Strawberry imprint. They are kevlar reinforced and barely stretch. What is nice about them is they get through tight pedal holes easier than leather. I had used them on my Suntour Superbe track pedals which used to be on my Strawberry.

bg18947

Yeah, your 54cm 1985 Strawberry is just like mine. Off-center top tube cable guides. I just finished applying touch-up paint to my purple frame and waxed it. I also experimented with painting the seat binder hardware. I like the way it turned out. Mopar purple is slightly darker than the Imron purple.

79pmooney

My introduction to Strawberry was about 17 years ago, relatively new in town, and out for a 70 mile ride. Crossed paths with a tandem captain I knew on his single. He U-turned and we rode ~60 miles together, He was on his bright red '85 built for him Strawberry. Gorgeous bike! First wishbone stayed bike I'd seen. A few years later, learned that Andy Newman's house and shop were a block from a Saturday morning appointment I'd been making for years, usually on bike. Stopped by his shop a couple of times, Would see him at trade shows and he'd remark on seeing me in his 'hood.

pcb 

Gee, mine's been unbuilt for a few years now waiting for me to decide what to do about a repaint. This is making me feel like I should get that done and get it back on the road.

bg18947

That's a cool story. I just finished touching up and waxing my Strawberry today. Decided to experiment with painting the binder bolt. I have smoothen out the blobs a bit since I took the pix.



Applied Scotchgard paint protection film over the chainstays. It was covered with old school Scotch electrical tape before.

devinfan

That’s a great find, I can say from once having one that the craftsmanship on these bikes is amazing. Congrats.

tricky 

Ugh, I barely missed out on a $25 Strawberry frame on Offerup here in Seattle. Thankfully it wasn't my size or else it would really sting. She was also selling a complete Rodriguez for $50 because Recycled quoted her a lot of $$ to rebuild it. The Thomson seatpost on it was worth that much. :-/

https://offerup.com/item/detail/954301385/

bg18947

That's a steal. The headset is probably worth $25 alone. How come I don't come upon these. I think that looks like a very late 80s or early 90s based on the internal cabling guides.