repechage

Strong looking bike. I would be tempted to scour the nail polish aisle for some minor touch up color.

Also, I like the down tube lug casting pin hole flaw. It's Honest. No Bondo, no extra file work. Take the parts out of the box and create a frame.

Kevindale

Very handsome, and a pleasingly distinct look with all the black anodized bits.

Chombi1 

Dang!...... I want that beautiful Zeus gruppo really bad now!
Interesting "Mafacesque" solution on the problem with unobtanium brake lever hoods.....

Drillium Dude 

Agreed. Workmanlike describes the tubing connections to a T. I still wish they'd have finessed the lugs just a little more to get a more smooth aesthetic, but hey, I do plan on giving this harder rides than my nicer rigs, so it's okay. Thanks for the nail polish suggestion - I should be able to match this burgandy with something from that aisle.

DD

Drillium Dude 

It's better than nothing, but I still think I will need my best-padded gloves for rides of any duration. Plus there's that steel adjuster knob sticking out the top, too!

Levers are pretty short compared with Campy. I think that's what gives them their clunky look. They feel very solid, however, and are quite nicely made/finished.

Hopefully all the Zeus stuff performs as well as I remember from my limited experience with them (1987 to early 1989).

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thank you

I think just enough black anodizing here to put it in stealth mode. The dark anodized rims are slowly growing on me, and it's nice that I have a spare wheelset that would also look good here (black anodized Weinmann A-124 concave rims on Campy Record hubs).

DD

Drillium Dude 

Pulled the stem/bars tonight. Was able to slowly and carefully unravel the driveside bar tape and hang it up in the hope that I can get it re-wrapped as closely as possible to before (will be a bit of a trick seeing as I'd only left an inch or so extra in the bar when I got to the end). Removed and set aside the stem; working on a straight trade for a 120mm Cinelli 1A. We'll see. I need to be able to stretch out a bit on this one.

I left the front brake/cable connected so when it all goes back, all I should have to do is mate bar and stem, re-wrap and re-cable the rear brake. Then, test ride. Damn, I'm getting impatient to swing a leg over and put it through its paces!

DD

Jeff Wills

That's a beautatamous build, DD. I'm really enjoying all the research you've done on the soap opera surrounding Medici.

If you want to pursue things further, here's what I remember: Carl Weymann was owner of Adams Avenue Bicycles in San Diego in the '80's. I worked for him in (umm...) 1992, my last job in the bicycle business. I think he's out of the business, but I've contacted him through Facebook. We'll see if he responds.

Another person with close L.A. Sheriff/Medici connections is Steve Lubanski at Open Road Bicycles, now in Altadena, CA. I think he was helping supply the team in the early '90's. Steve and I worked together at Euro-Asia Imports before that.

Drillium Dude 

Is that a set of bottle bosses on the rear of the seat tube, below the binder bolt?

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thank you, but most of the credit for the build must go to the original owner. He specced it pretty much as it's seen, with the exception of a Cinelli Uni saddle and of course the original Zeus post. Unfortunately, it had an important small part broken, so I was unable to use it.

Ever since acquiring my first Medici halfway through my last assignment in the Navy I've been rather fascinated with this marque. I wasn't looking for another bike, but when I accidentally came across this bad boy I really couldn't pass it up. It was mainly the Zeus stuff, as well as the fact that the bike had hardly been ridden since new.

I think @repechage has provided the wealth of information and behind-the-scenes tidbits. My contributions beyond what I specifically know about this bike are limited to hearsay and the long, sordid tale on the CR list that many posters here are familiar with.

Thanks for reaching out for more info on the racing team. I'm looking forward to any info that may come out of that query.

DD

rccardr 

Yes, that's a third set of bosses behind the saddle. Some tri riders used it as a tool mount, others for a bottle if they used a frame pump.

qcpmsame 

DD, best of luck with the nail polish, your red should be easier to match, I imagine that your skills will accomplish the task. From the pictures here it must not be very much touch-up necessary.

Sorry the stem didn't work out for you, please just pass the bolt along with the stem however you need to do. I batted .000 on this one didn't I? Its one beautiful bike my friend. I now consider mine my Number 1 ride out of my three, I owe you big time for this bike. Your red rider with the Zeus grouppo on it has a nice, detailed appearance to it.

Bill

Drillium Dude 

Batted .000? Not at all - the bolt you provided worked just fine! The stem is just too short. And correct me if I'm wrong, but the yellow housing originally came from me, right? If so, it would've been me that cut it too short bitd

@jeirvine has a 120mm Cinelli 1A and he needs a 100mm 3ttt, so we're doing a straight swap. So it worked out for everyone in the end. I wouldn't have the correct size stem coming my way if I hadn't been able to provide a complete unit for the swap. So, yes, you came through with flying colors!

These days younger girls/women are wearing some funky colors on their fingertips - I'm kinda surprised there isn't a deep forest green in the nail polish aisle.

I looked at the old Diego Garcia Medici thread last night for my riding impressions. I noted that I found it pretty laid back - could ride no-hands easily and it tracked in a straight line effortlessly. The other impression was that I had to actively turn it vice a quick lean to get the job done. You know, that's what I'm looking for in this bike. Something that won't put me in the ditch from a moment's inattention (we have such beautiful scenery here), or if/when the gravel slides me around some. I never climbed with it as DG's highest point was the pool at the lofty elevation of 18', so that will be a revelation - as will be the descent, of course.

I'm sure by now you've had yours up/down a hill or two. What feedback did you experience?

DD

qcpmsame 

Actually, I still have the yellow housing that you included with the frame and fork. The housing I sent you is from our LBS, Tom keeps several colors of the old school small diameter cable housing in stock. Its identical to the housing you sent me, he sells a respectable amount of it to folks with older bikes the owners have hung onto for years. And, he and I go back to the early 80s when we joined the local club. He is good people and a sharp owner/mechanic.

I find the handling much the same as what you do, easy to ride and great for all day rides. Hands free is a snap, it and the Tommasini are both very stable platforms that don't demand constant input. But, they snap to right smartly if I start pushing the crank arms hard. The Pro Strada is just a bit more slack than the Tommi is as far as cornering manners. Neither is quick feeling either. I'd guess I would call them taught handling, but well mannered.

I think that switching to the 700x25 tubs helped to mellow out the Medici, more so than the Tommasini. The Tommi is the first bike I have owned that had toe overlap if I put the large length toe clips on the pedals. Its just a degree, or 1/2 degree steeper in its head angle I believe.

Looking forward to reading your next report on the shake down cruise.

Bill

Drillium Dude 

That's pretty cool that your LBS still stocks the old-school yellow housing. Sad to say I haven't found anyone around here that does the same. If I were really that worried about aesthetics on this I'd prolly hit you up as my "contact" to get some through your LBS, but the black Jagwire stuff should suffice. Maybe one day I'll want to add a little bling with the yellow, but until then this look is satisfying to me.

Funny, I had a Super Prestige for a couple years on Oahu. I found it a little slow in responding to cornering input as well. For sure my quickest cornering bikes are both Colnagos and the Somec. In the case of the Medici, I want to use it for climbing and gravel rides, so the slower response is actually a plus. I am expecting it to provide a nice, all-day feel and I feel fairly confident that's what I will find.

DD

satbuilder 

Beautiful build, and photos.

Salamandrine 

That's cool. You probably know this but just in case (and for the newbies out there): Cinelli were 26.4 not 26.0 until some time in the 90s. BITD you had to do either TTT bar and stem, or Cinelli bar and stem.

Drillium Dude 

I've always heard Cinelli stem/Cinelli bar and 3ttt stem/3ttt bar, too. But this had an old-logo Cinelli Campione del Mondo bar mated to a 3ttt stem. When I separated the bar/stem, I didn't even scratch the sleeve. In any case, the bar is from the late 70s and the stem coming is a 26.4 so all should go together just fine.

I'm assuming that Cinelli fell in line with the 26.0 standard with the XA. I use either 1Rs or 1As exclusively, so I'm using 26.4s on every bike I own.

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thank you

Now to get it on the road and see if the beauty extends to the ride.

DD

Kevindale

When I bought some leather scraps for potential saddle re-covering jobs, I got one leather piece that came with a long thin section (too thin for a saddle) that made me think it might make for a cushy bar wrap, if only there were more of it. It's a supple, thin black leather that would conform nicely to add shapes. I think you could take a piece of leather like that and fashion a set of hoods that could be adhered with contact cement, if you wanted to make that handlebar position more comfortable.

You could leave the piece of leather you have there now, and paint out the raw aluminum section with flat black paint (since it would be hard to perfectly cover it all with the black leather). Then with a scrap piece of cloth, work out a pattern that wraps the area and connects underneath and in front. Use that pattern to cut the leather, of course leaving some margins on the leather to trim later. With good contact cement it should hold, I think. And if an edge starts to come up, and you don't mind a slightly ghetto look, you could use some cloth electrical tape over the black leather.

Just a thought. It would be a bit of a project, but I know how crucial it is to have comfortable hand positions on the hoods. If you don't have a leather scrap place around, next time I'm in Shreveport I'll double check that the piece I have is big enough, and I could send it to you.

gomango

Nothing worthwhile to add here other than letting you know that's a great looking bike.

PeregrineA1 

Yes indeed.

BTW, yours is beautiful. As usual.

Drillium Dude 

You know, these brake lever bodies would be the perfect candidate for some DIY experimentation. I was positive there'd be no way to find NOS Zeus hoods, so I went my basic leather-pad route. But your suggestion leads me to believe I could fashion something even better than my stop-gap solution.

I will see if I can't find something like what you described locally. If not, and you get back to Shreveport before I find anything, we could work out a price/trade for that piece if it's big enough.

I have even considered cutting up some Newbaum's and then shellacking it around the bodies. Anything to give them a little more padding. I could even entertain bubble-wrap under the tape

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thanks, Grady - and this one is designated the get-dirty bike. Might have to go a little fatter on tires, but I'll wear these 23s out first.

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thank you kindly! You're going to do a thread on yours once you've got it together, right? Hint, hint

DD