My new "free to a good home" frame build
12-16-22, 01:29 PM
#1
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My new "free to a good home" frame build
Several months ago my husband found a guy that was giving away a 1980 Medici Gran Tourismo frame/fork and a few other small components, the catch was the frame was stripped of all paint. The guy wanted it to go to someone who would paint it, restore it and ride it. Hubby has owned a Medici since his racing days, as well as his grandpa, aunt and uncle and he really wanted me to have one. It was advertised as a 54cm and since this looked to be my size, he snagged it. At first I wasn't too thrilled as the frame was actually a 55cm and the biggest I normally ride is a 54cm, 52cm being the sweet spot. Plus the frame needed paint which meant I had to pick the color, something I am not used to having to do! I buy frames based on what they are, not how they look! Before I did anything, I wanted to build up the bike and ride it to be sure it fit and would be comfortable on long rides. We threw it together with spare parts from the parts box, used tires, used housing/cables, old bar tape and I rode it for several days. Even with a brand new saddle installed, the thing was super comfortable, not needing any adjustment. Even the saddle tension was perfect!
Now for the hard part, I had to choose the color for the frame. The original color was black and I don't care for black bikes, it would be my last choice for a bike color. Orange is my favorite color but I already have an orange bike so I looked at all of our bikes and realized we didn't have a green bike in the stable. Now we do. We also do not have a Suntour equipped bike, so this one got built with as many Suntour parts as we could find in our stash. I live and ride in the mountains so I run a triple up front and the widest 7sp I could find. The gearing works great and the shifting is absolutely outstanding! I LOVE THESE SHIFTERS! This bike is so much better than I could have imagined, it is smooth, comfortable and (I think) beautiful. I will be riding this one until I can no longer ride a bike. I do want to say something about the lugs on this bike, they are not the Confente designed investment cast lugs that are seen on most Medicis, they had run out and used these on a handful of frames to keep production going.
Special lugs since they ran out of I.C. lugs
Building it up to see if it would work for me
On the road for the first time in decades
Showing the sparkle of the color. Still needed decals and window paint.
Photos don't do the color justice...
Painting those windows was stressful! Some still need a bit of a touch up.
Now for the hard part, I had to choose the color for the frame. The original color was black and I don't care for black bikes, it would be my last choice for a bike color. Orange is my favorite color but I already have an orange bike so I looked at all of our bikes and realized we didn't have a green bike in the stable. Now we do. We also do not have a Suntour equipped bike, so this one got built with as many Suntour parts as we could find in our stash. I live and ride in the mountains so I run a triple up front and the widest 7sp I could find. The gearing works great and the shifting is absolutely outstanding! I LOVE THESE SHIFTERS! This bike is so much better than I could have imagined, it is smooth, comfortable and (I think) beautiful. I will be riding this one until I can no longer ride a bike. I do want to say something about the lugs on this bike, they are not the Confente designed investment cast lugs that are seen on most Medicis, they had run out and used these on a handful of frames to keep production going.
Special lugs since they ran out of I.C. lugs
Building it up to see if it would work for me
On the road for the first time in decades
Showing the sparkle of the color. Still needed decals and window paint.
Photos don't do the color justice...
Painting those windows was stressful! Some still need a bit of a touch up.
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12-16-22, 02:08 PM
#2
Shifting is fun!
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A very nice, and very colorful build. Well done! 
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12-16-22, 02:11 PM
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I don't know.
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my club's colors are green and orange so thumbs up.
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12-16-22, 02:25 PM
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12-16-22, 03:09 PM
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Taillight on the seat stay is redundant!
Trust me -- they'll see you.
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12-16-22, 03:42 PM
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12-16-22, 04:10 PM
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Steel is real
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congrats on a great job
12-16-22, 04:19 PM
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Touring design?
Lovely build! It looks like it has a long wheelbase, slack angles and eyelets for fenders and racks. Was this originally a touring design? With the gearing you put on it, it looks like it could go anywhere and do anything!
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12-16-22, 04:21 PM
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Gran Tourismo, duh!
I guess I should have paid more attention to you describing the model as a “Gran Turismo”
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12-16-22, 04:32 PM
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Nice one. Are those A23s? I had some Aeroheads on my Medici. Sometime when your family gets all the Medicis together, I hope you take a picture for us.
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I don't do: disks, tubeless, e-shifting, or bead head nymphs.
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12-16-22, 04:42 PM
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They are A23's. My husband built them up years ago with his Campy hubs from his original Medici build. Someday all of the family's Medicis will be together again, forever. They will be ours, just need to figure out how to get them here from different states. They haven't been ridden in decades and the aunt want us to care for them all. It will be quite fun going thru the 3 of them and getting them road worthy again. I will for sure do a post on them, could be years tho!
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12-17-22, 03:47 AM
#13
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Personally I’m a bit partial to the Ugly Betty tribute mock-up stage, but the final result is fabulous. Great work.
the dual bottles on the DT is interesting
A Medici has been on my “want to try some day” since reading about them and LA Sheriff/Chevrolet team in the early ‘90s
the dual bottles on the DT is interesting
A Medici has been on my “want to try some day” since reading about them and LA Sheriff/Chevrolet team in the early ‘90s
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
