Miloburnz

Just finished putting my Detto together and was wondering if there are any other Detto owners out there.
My bike started out as a rusty green frame i bought from a flea market , the decals are same place and style as the originals and the rear brake cable was attached on top of the frame so i converted it to go inside. Most web searches come up with the Golden Wheel Detto thats Columbus SL with Campag dropouts however this one has Gipiemme dropouts and as it takes a 26.4 seat post i'm not sure if it is Columbus as the tube sizes don't seem to correspond, i thought maybe could be Falck also ( the Columbus decals i put them on as a finishing touch as i thought it probably was Columbus tube ). I'm assuming the frame to be early 80's of reasonably good quality due to the chrome forks and stays.
Would be interesting to see another Detto with the same frame and original groupset whatever that would have been.

Mr. 66

Congratulations on your restoration it looks fabulous. I am not familiar with the brand, to me it looks to be '83-84. Is that leather bar wrap? Can you take a picture of the seat lug pinch? It could be possible that you have a post size small.

Fairlane63

Nice looking bike but I have never seen brake levers like those. Are they an accquired taste getting used to them?

botty kayer

I had no idea they even did bikes, I've only ever heard of and seen their old style leather cycling shoes.

madpogue 

^^^^^^ +1 I opened this thread fully expecting an inquiry/request for a pair of DP shoes for an eroica ride somewhere.

bikingshearer 

I believe they are called "guidonnet" levers, A quick google search will bring up pics of examples, included them being used on drop bars and porteur bars.

Acquired taste? I don't know, and I doubt I will ever find out.

DanseMacabre

Guidonnets are lovely to ride. They have a lot of leverage, since they are used from the long side. Standard road levers are often used from the top and have hardly leverage from there.
They are useless when riding in the drops, but with climbing or on long stretches of road you can still use the drops, since who needs to brake when climbing
I hadn't seen them yet on a 1980's bicycle, I thought they disappeared around 1980. I think in the 1930's they were available already, just as a piece of bent aluminium. In the 1950's the forged levers came. They were only used on French bicycles that sold in France only, as far as I know.

Lovely bicycle by the way.

tiger1964 

Great point!

Miloburnz

The levers are Mafac Guidonnet and work great , i chose them as i spend most of the time riding on the hoods, it's an easy fingertip reach to pull the brakes on with your hands on the ramps and they work good from the top position also, the Nitto Noodle bars are curved back slightly to give a better position with your hands on the tops but i'm not totally convinced that this works so good , maybe would work better with wider bars. My idea was to build a simple clean uncluttered bike and the Guidonnet levers helped achieve this .

SoccerBallXan

Fantastic cycle! Did the rusty green version still have its decals intact? Or did other hints such as the seat stays pin-point you to Detto?

Miloburnz

Mr. 66 , Here's the pinch bolt photo, the 26.4 seems a fairly snug fit although maybe could fit a 26.6 . The leather bar wrap was not so easy to fit and it started to tear slightly when pulled tight, i fitted it wet and it took about 2 ½ hours but i was expecting a tighter tidier end result, maybe the leather was a bit too soft.

Miloburnz

This is frame i bought 6 years ago , the wheels i already had for another project but it did come with a Campag SR headset, Zeus crankset and a Galli taper roller bottom bracket.

JohnDThompson 

"Guidonnet" levers. Popular on city bikes, at least since the 1940s. Dia-Compe and others still offer them. I like them when riding in winter as they'e easy to operate with mittens.

Miloburnz

I took the seat post out and opened the top slot so it was even measurement all the way down and now the seat post falls into the tube , when tightened i measure the top of the slot 1.2 mm and at the bottom 1.8 mm . I remember when i got the frame i had the 26.4 post so i tried it and it seemed to fit good so i left it with the frame but recently i cleaned the inside of the seat tube when i painted it because it had rust inside so everything is a smoother fit now hence the post falling in. I think your right and it should have a 26.6 or a 26.8 seat post fitted which would then bring it more in the ball park of Columbus tube.

Bad Lag

The DETTO part is clear, but does the "P" actually stand for Pietro? Did Detto Pietro, the shoe maker, also sell a brand of bicycles, or is this a different Peter?

Miloburnz

Detto Pietro are still in business today selling cycling shoes and bikes. Detto Pietro is the company name and not an actual person unlike other brands named after racers or maybe one of its founders was called Pietro. Detto in Italian translates to named or said and can be used as a nickname put before a first or surname so maybe thats where they came up with Detto Pietro.

Bad Lag

I went to their web site and saw the bikes.

I've been to the site many times before but only for the shoes, never noticing the bikes.