Hello, well I am a lucky boy. After years of longing for a wildly painted Somec, they rarely if ever come up for sale here in the UK, I finally found one, and went and collected it yesterday.
And wow, I love rowdy paint jobs and this is amongst the wildest I've ever seen on a bike. It sure looks like a Mario Martini paint job and I hope it is. Frame is tig welded Columbus Max, it has loads of panto C-Record, including panto Campag Delta's.
It has the super heavy and widely pilloried but super pretty, (and that's not said about pedals often) Campag SGR pedals, shiny Campagnolo Atlanta wheels and shifting is 8 speed 1st Gen Record ergo, which is from about 92/93, which is the approx age I think the frame is from.
I've never owned 8 speed, but it feels great and is super crisp and fast shifting. I've only ever read about Campag Delta's and though they look lovely, and actually perform way better than I was expecting having only ever read about them, they are apparently super annoying and fiddly to set up, and I've heard of them needing totally irregular and rare 3.5mm allen keys to adjust them, so there is a steep learning curve for me with them.
This is how I rode it home yesterday. The whole package could be a dictionary definition of flamboyant Italian cycling design. I am definitely going to immediately change the bar tape and saddle to black bar tape and black Cinelli Volare saddle, I'm going to change those handlebars to some regular bend Merckx shape 3T bars, and going to try and get some wider tyres under those Delta's, 25's I'm sure can work, anyone know if anyone has managed to squeeze 28c tyres under Delta's?. I've heard they have a notch in so they can be moved up to allow for greater clearances, another part of that steep learning curve. But that's about all I plan to change...oh yes also plan to change the rear cassette to give me more than the 21 teeth up to about at least a 25/26.
The SGR pedals look amazing and as I was given a set of cleats for them I'm going to try them out for a while and see, but if they turn out to be as bad as all the reports say, I'll put them to one side and replace them with some Look Delta's that I usually use, and which Campag eventually just simply copied themselves are realising their offering was way over complicated and dumb heavy in comparison.
What is truly remarkable about the frame apart from the obviously wild paint, is the condition of the frame, it is amazing for a 30 year old frame. The guy I got it from has had it 4 years and says he's only ridden it at 1 event in that time, and whoever had it before him had obviously barely ridden it either. The only mark on it I can see is a tiny scratch across the horse in the logo on the top tube, and its a tiny scratch and has not even gone though the paint to the chrome, and that is it, its in amazing condition.
The previous owner got the bike from Germany, and says he was told it was possibly a show bike used by Somec, or a shop or demo bike, but was clear to say he had no proof and was doubtful of this himself and it could just be a cycling fairy tale.
Strangely there are no tulip cut outs in the bottom bracket shell, just a plain circular hole which actually seems remarkably plain considering everything else about this bike is about showing off their craftsmanship and artistry. The bottom bracket is stamped with L and 443, so I guess L for large, its a 61cm frame, and maybe the 44th frame of 1993?
Having read often on here how good Somec are replying to questions about their old bikes, I'm going to email Lara at Somec to confirm the year it was made, if it is a Mario Martini paint job, and any other info about the frame, so I'll report back any extra info she is able to provide, and I'd welcome any info about this bike and model from the bikeforums hive mind.
OK so enough of the chat, show them the shiny....
...different paint scheme on the other side of the fork....
It's over the top in every way and I love it.